| Eric McNally |
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| Eric McNally, born in the late 1930s, was once described as being the “gang chief” of a group of bank robbers. He was said to have had a lengthy criminal record, which included armed robbery and other serious offences. Among his close associates, according to news reports, were Danny “One-a-Day” Pelansky and James McDonald. McNally was also involved in several legitimate business ventures. He reportedly had interests in a night club, a bar, and a car dealership on St. Lawrence Boulevard. He and his girlfriend Susan Clark lived in a house on Gouin Boulevard West in Pierrefonds. McNally had two large Doberman Pinschers, both of which were rumoured to be very vicious. On one day, according to information published in the Montreal Star, a mechanic was found unconscious in the couple’s backyard pool. The mechanic spent six months in a coma before dying of his injuries. An investigation did not reveal any incriminating evidence. |
By April, 1968, police were on the look out for McNally. They wanted to question him about a stickup in an east-end bank, as well as the assault and robbery of a Montreal cab driver, in which $135 was stolen. They wouldn’t get their chance. After receiving an anonymous phone tip, police found McNally and his girlfriend Susan Clark dead in the basement of their home. McNally had been shot three times in the body, while Clark had been shot twice in the head. Oddly, McNally’s two Doberman Pinschers, as well as the couple’s Basset Hound, normally very loud, had not been heard barking by neighbours. The Basset Hound was found in the house, near the bodies, while one of the Doberman Pinschers had been locked in a room. The other Doberman had disappeared all together. A month after McNally’s death, police found the body of Gary Snor, reputedly one of McNally’s close associates, in a ditch near Lachute. Snor, who had been shot three times, was dead about six weeks, and it was speculated that he might have been killed on the same day as McNally. Authorities hypothesized that McNally may have been double-crossed and murdered after a jewellery store robbery that had taken place on the day of his death. |