The Circumstantial Evidence Of The William Robinson Trial

Martin Luther once said, “blood alone moves the wheels of history.” This is seen to be very true in the unsolved murder of William Robinson.
Race played a big part in british colonies; discrimination was subtle, but present in daily life. In the far west of Canada, on Salt Spring island, a senseless crime was committed against a man of colour. Although a native man was convicted for the murder, the circumstantial evidence was filled with gaps, as well as fallacious and the trial was prejudiced, and thus, it is possible that the convicted was innocent, and the criminal responsible was never found.

Saltspring island, a lightly populated (25 families) farm driven colony of British Columbia, desired government granted protection because of “unhappy

Last seen at Sunday church, a man who often came to assist him found William Robinson dead. Henry Sampson, the constable (and local farmer) was soon alerted and forced entry into the windowless log home, John Norton, by his side. Robinson was found lying dead on his back, still grasping his dinner knife. He had been shot in the back, the bullet pierced through his body, the exit point was found two inches higher than the entry point, on the mans chest. The bullet was presumed to have continued, marking the table, denting the wall 11 or 12 inches higher than the table. The inclined shot was deduced to have been fired by the victims

At his time of death, Robinson owned 5 pigs, which paid particularly well compared to other livestock. His net property worth was $202.87, a considerate amount which anyone would be intrigued in receiving, as saltspring was an agricultural society and farmland was expensive. A man like John Norton, who has a farm with an estimated lesser value, would have motive to murder Robinson. Moreover, Jonathan Morley had even stronger motive. After the death of Robinson, there were complaints against Morley illegally keeping Robinsons property. Although these claims against morley were deemed worthless, it is suspicious that Morley tried to claim the land. Morley couldn't find a will, which deemed strange, even to Robinson’s wife. It also seemed peculiar that the axe was found by Hambro Rinner after a suggestive tip from Mr.Morley. Although possibly a pure coincidence, Morley was present and actively involved in the cases of all three saltspring island murders. Is it possible that Mr. Morley was involved in the murder and tried to cover his acts with the life of an innocent native man? The latter explanation is nearly a theory as Morley was never looked into as a suspect, and there is little concrete evidence against