. . . "Archibald McLaughl in the sen- tence of this court is that you shall be taken from here to the common jail, whenceyoucame, there to remain until thel1 3 th day of July, when you will be hanged by the neck until dead, and may the Lord have mercy on your soul." S i x t y - two years old, these words w e r e s poken by a judge in the Whitby Cou n t y Court House on May 20, 1910. The se ve ry words imposed the first s e n tence of hanging in Ontario County for the first murder in a number of years in that era, and even to this day, the y are the only words condemning a riman to hang after a Whitby trial, recor- ded in the town archives. Though spoken more than six decades a go, the setting on that fateful day in the historically significant building we inow call the Centennial building is not too difficult to imagine. In a room smelling faintly of dust and paper, the condemned, reported in the old "Oshawa VindicatorlI to have taken hi s sentence l'stol idl yI", must have stood somewhat shakily in what was then the j u d ge's chamber and now the Sir John A. Macdonald Theatre. W h i t e -haired ancd austere, the judge would have ap- peared unfl1 inching even after the terri- ble silence i n the room had been shat- tered b y an audible gasp from the gal- I e r y where some ladies waited behind stilled paper and lace fans. After deliberating one hour and twen- tyminutes, the jury had brought back a verdict of guilty for what 'the judge later WHITBY FREE PIRES- Thursday, February 0th, THE' s HEAT termed, "themost horrible crime in the annals of Canadian history. " The murder, which included a much- talked about love triangle, resulted in the carefully planned strychnine pois- o i n in g o f h i s wife by Archibald Mc- Laughlin. Shortly after the poison was admin- istered, McLaughlin set fire to his Ux- bridgehome. He had previously arran- g e d h i s wife's body in her bed before setting the fire, but had been interrup- ted by an unexpected visit by some neigh- bours. Feigning shock, McLaughlin did not indicate the whereabouts of his wife and two small sons to his neighbours. Leaving his wife IA. LLD E and sons to die in the house, he-wheel- ed his baby daughter outside to safety. The fa c t th a t his wife's body was f o und in a bed meticulously arranged, and the later discovery of the stry- ch n i ne weighed heavily in the hearing of his case. .. . For ty-five years after the Mc- L au g hl1 in t rial, in 1955, the judge's cham ber , through a Town of Whitby Ce ntennial project, was converted in- to the Sir John A. Macdonald Theatre. Theproject, which cost nearly $16, upon completion, was carried out at a t i me when a Whitby drama group, dis- persing soon after, was still active. But even $16, 000rennovation has not been able to completely erase the char- a c t e r of the old judge's chamber, and th at character adapts well to the room in its new role. Where t h e room once rang wi th the echo of a judge's gavel, sounds such as the piercing screams of Diane McLurg in h e r role of the frightened "Tessie" in Anderson School rehearsals of the ch i 1ll ing Shirley Jackson play, "The Lottery ", now prevail. AI on g with area school presentat- i o ns, if ail goes well, this year a tal- ented group of York University stud- en t s will rehearse and present drama over an eight week period, and will u n do u b t edly make the lure of theatre a highlight of summers in Whitby. Athlete of the Year Entertains "Timmy" Ontario'sAthlete of the Year, Fergie Jenkins, and Canada's National "Timmy " for 1972, 13-year-old Stephen Layton, 1 i sten closely as Texas millionaire Lamar Hunt demonstrates o n e o f t h e f i ner points of tennis a t t h e a n n ual Sports Celebrities Dinner in Toronto's Royal York Hotel. A sell-out event This annual'event- whichwas a com- pl ete sell-out this year - is the first official appearance for Timmy prior to the Easter Seal Campaign which opens March 2 and runs until Easter Sunday. This year's objective is $l, 627. 500. Stephen, who contracted polio as a baby, earlier that day escorted Jenkins from ahectic schedule tovisit the young- and five other top athletes on a visit to sters. the Ontario Society for Crippled Chil- Impressed with youngsters detemination dren. This interested group toured the t r e a t ment areas and signed scores of Others in the group includedNancy Robertson, I3etsy Clifford, Don Jonas autographs for an excited group of handi- and Wayne Harris, and ai were most capped youngsters. impressed atthe youngsters' determin- This was the second time within a ation to overcome their disabilities, a y r te ih taken..t.ime. out,.. f a c t they r e peatedly mentioned at the Dinner. Stephen is a Grade 8 student at Mt. E I g i n Public School and he has hopes o f on e d a y b e c oming a professional m u sician. He plays the Spanish guitar and is an avid baseball and hockey fan. T h r e e years ago, Stephen learned to skate wearing leg braces and using his crutchee for balance.