Rex vs. Robert Hughes, John Petryk, William G. Billamy, and Floyd Berrigan

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File contains entire Appeal Book for Rex vs. Robert Hughes, John Petryk, William G. Billamy, and Floyd Berrigan, for the murder of Yoshyuki Uno on 16 January 1942 in his family’s confectionary store at 305 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver. Hughes fatally shot Mr. Uno during a robbery. The four men had robbed another store called "Chapman’s" prior to their arrival at the Uno business. All four men pled not guilty. Yoshyuki’s mother, Oiyo, brother Yukio, and sister Yaeko were among the witnesses called to testify. A Mr. Tanaka was briefly mentioned during the direct examination of Detective H. Whalen but ultimately not called to testify. In the Charge to the jury the court described the Uno business as “humble” before reminding them that “I know of only one law in Canada that is administered, and that is the law administered through the whole of Canada, and of course that law protects all alike, the last, the loneliest and the least, just as the greatest and noblest and the best, and therefore, this Japanese is entitled to every consideration at your hands just as the four accused men in the box are entitled to every consideration in your deliberations when you decide whether or not they are guilty of this crime.” (Page 280 of pdf.) The jury came to a verdict of guilty but recommended “the strongest possible pleas for mercy for the four men.” (Page 309 of pdf.) All the accused were sentenced to death, including Petryk, who was 17 years old on the day of the murder. Hughes responded to the sentence with a tirade: “I hope you guys are happy and feel good because you want to string up four boys for some lousy Jap.” (Page 310 of pdf.) Appeals were filed in May, and the Court of Appeals granted new trials on 30 June.

The Provincial Government of British Columbia created this archive.

The digital copies of the records were acquired by the Landscapes of Injustice Research Collective between 2014 and 2018.

This record was digitized in full.