Born in Brixton in 1880, Stephen Oldacres Lawson was the grandson of the Rev. Basil Ranaldson Lawson.  He emigrated to Canada in 1903, having been a singer in the Lambeth area, and went west in the spring of 1904.   After trying his hand at ranching, he joined the Macleod police on May 7th 1907, where he later became chief of police.  At the outbreak of war, he enlisted and served overseas.  On his discharge, he became police chief of Fernie in 1920 and served with that force until his enlistment in the Alberta Provincial Police (APP) on March 12th 1922.

He was stationed at Coleman, a little mining town west of Blairmore that straddled the main highway used by rumrunners. He was added to the APP as one of fifty men specifically placed to suppress the illegal liquor traffic.

On September 21st 1922, Lawson and his partner received a tip that a popular rumrunner named Emilio Picariello, aka "Mr. Pick", was going to Fernie for a load of liquor. Another anonymous tip let the APP know that Pick was returning with his load. Constable Lawson observed Pick and his crew going both directions.

With Pick were his mechanic and his son. When they arrived at their hotel, some APP officers were waiting in ambush. The moment Pick was served with a search warrant, he sounded his horn and was off with his crew to go back across the British Columbia border. However, waiting in the middle of the road was Constable Lawson.

Pick's son refused to stop for Lawson, so the Constable shot him - in the hand. Later that evening, Pick's son was arrested and held prisoner.  Pick and Florence Lassandro, the wife of an associate, went to confront Lawson. They drove up to the police barracks in Coleman, and Stephen Lawson approached them in their car. According to Lassandro's statement to the court, an argument ensued, which turned into a fight.

Pick insisted that Lawson was going to accompany him to retrieve his son from jail. Lawson refused, claiming not to know where the boy was. Pick seized Lawson's gun in order to enforce his command. Lawson resisted and the gun went off several times. Lassandro panicked and shot Lawson. He died a few minutes later, leaving a wife, Maggie, and five children.

Emilio Picariello and Florence Lassandro were tried, found guilty and executed on May 3rd 1923.  Florence Lassandro was the first and only woman to be executed in Alberta.

I would like to thank Joene Peel for her help in enabling me to find information for this history.

Contact:  Barry Ennever