In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Toronto was shaken by a wave of violent bank robberies carried out by the Boyd Gang. At the centre of the police response was Edmund Tong, a respected detective sergeant with the Toronto Police Force.
Tong’s work brought him into direct conflict with Edwin Alonzo Boyd and his associates, a criminal group that had grown increasingly bold after Boyd’s first successful bank robbery on September 9, 1949. Even imprisonment failed to stop them. Boyd escaped from the Don Jail with fellow inmates Steve Suchan, also known as Valent Lesso, and Lennie Jackson, who had concealed hacksaw blades inside his artificial foot. Once free, the men regrouped and resumed their crime spree, spreading fear across the city.
On March 6, 1952, Detective Sergeant Tong’s pursuit of the gang turned deadly. During a confrontation, Tong was shot by Steve Suchan. Though he initially survived the shooting, his condition worsened, and he died 17 days later. The official cause of death was pulmonary embolism. He was 48 years old.
Tong’s death marked a turning point. Police intensified their efforts, eventually capturing Suchan and Leonard Jackson in Montreal. The remaining members of the Boyd Gang were also rounded up and returned to the Don Jail. Even then, the criminals attempted one last escape—again using hacksaw blades—but were recaptured just over a week later at a farm in North York.
Justice followed swiftly. Steve Suchan and Lennie Jackson were tried and convicted of Detective Sergeant Tong’s murder. On December 16, 1952, they were hanged back-to-back at the Don Jail. Edwin Boyd received a life sentence, though he ultimately served 12 years.