Pathologist was brilliant investigator
Considered a pioneer in the field of pathology and criminology, Manitoba-born Dr. Frances McGill was at her core a crime sleuth.
With skilled brilliance, she probed countless deaths, first for the Saskatchewan government then the RCMP.
“Her contribution to the crime detection books of Saskatchewan is very great, and she gives freely of her knowledge,” J.L. Salterio, a lawyer in the provincial attorneygeneral’s office wrote of her in 1946 for the RCMP Quarterly.
Earning her medical degree in Winnipeg with the highest average, she became provincial bacteriologist in Regina in 1918 at the height of the Spanish flu epidemic. Two years later, she was provincial pathologist, then director of the Saskatchewan Laboratories, examining bodies and crime scenes, as well as testifying in court.
In a Nipawin case, she reconstructed a skull from 26 bone fragments to prove the victim had been shot from behind. In another from Lintlaw, she proved a suspected murder was actually a suicide, exonerating the accused. In another near the U.S. border, a fractured skull prompted police to suspect murder. But McGill discovered the man had rickets, and frost separated his weakened bones when he collapsed in frigid cold.
“When people are guilty of crime against our society, she helps to prove them guilty. But for every one proved guilty, another is proved innocent or cleared of suspicion,” wrote Salterio.
With the opening of the RCMP Crime Detection Lab in 1937, McGill’s workload decreased and she retired in 1942. But the RCMP came knocking when the head of the lab died in a plane crash in 1943. In addition to her lab work, she taught investigators from across Canada about forensic evidence analysis.
When a new lab director was hired, McGill became the force’s honorary surgeon in 1946, serving as a consultant while resuming a private medical practice.
She was never married, except to her work, travelling at all hours to crime scenes and by all means, including dog sled. In her off hours, McGill enjoyed horseback riding, fishing, hunting, camping, bridge, reading and shooting.
The 81-year-old died in Winnipeg in 1959.