Ty Conn
Tyrone Williams "Ty" Conn (January 18, 1967 – May 20, 1999) was a Canadian bank robber. He was the only person in the last half century to escape over the wall from the Kingston Penitentiary, one of Canada's most secure prisons.
Conn was transferred to Kingston Penitentiary for acting as an informant at the Millhaven Institution. He advised security staff at Millhaven that fellow inmates were planning an escape and was therefore placed in protective custody.
Conn's escape on May 6, 1999 from inside the compound was the 26th in the history of facility. More than 50 escapees were involved in those 26 incidents. Conn employed a ladder and homemade grappling hook to scale the wall and used cayenne pepper to prevent dogs from following his scent.
Conn had already escaped from several lower-security institutions. He was found in a Toronto apartment building two weeks later and surrounded by police, only to commit suicide rather than be captured. Other theories assert that Conn accidentally discharged the stolen shotgun in his possession during the standoff while he was speaking on the telephone to Theresa Burke, a CBC producer.
Further reading
- Linden MacIntyre and Theresa Burke, Who Killed Ty Conn, 2001.
External links
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