RCMP exhibit showcases historical crime artifacts
Dressed in a custom-fitted red serge and sporting a devilish grin, Oliver promises to keep his eyes on all who dare enter the Black Museum.
Although just a puppet, Oliver’s steady gaze invites visitors to the RCMP Heritage Centre to peruse the museum’s darker items.
From a cache of weapons seized from prisoners to the noose used to hang “Bloody Jack” Krafchenko — a notorious bank robber and suspected murderer — in Winnipeg on July 14, 1914, the annual exhibit is different than traditional Halloween-themed displays.
“When you go through a haunted house, those items are usually fake, but these items are real — from real cases,” said RCMP Heritage Centre spokeswoman Dani Anderson.
“I think it adds more of a creepy effect to the museum.”
Modelled after Scotland Yard’s notorious Black Museum of British crime, the RCMP’s Black Museum gives visitors a chance to explore some of the macabre and chilling pieces from its historical collections.
Items showcased include a revolver used in the attempted murder of the Red Deer police chief in 1911, confiscated tongs used to hold cattle rustlers by the neck and pens that concealed tear gas guns.
There’s also a display featuring the death masks of the three Benito Bandits. They tormented people in Western Canada after murdering two men and leading the RCMP on a lengthy manhunt in 1935.
The knife and bayonet they used in said murders is also on display.
“We have those types of artifacts, but they don’t actually come out in our regular displays,” Anderson said.
Kalen Hammermueller and Vanessa Mansey said Saturday that seeing the old artifacts was interesting.
“Like nothing I’ve seen in this museum before,” Hammermueller said.
Mansey described some of the weapons on display as “barbaric,” including an old school version of brass knuckles with the pointed end of screws protruding out of the weapon.
As cadets, they appreciated the exhibit and the history behind them.
“I think the fact that all these things are held onto is more of an appreciation because you can see how far different sections (of the RCMP) have come, like identification and forensics,” Mansey said.
The exhibit will be on display until Oct. 31.