Fredericton’s Last Execution: The Murder of Norman Burgoyne

Dark Poutine - True Crime and Dark History

Curiouscast

Documentary, True Crime, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 4 August 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Episode 378: Fredericton, New Brunswick, in the sultry summer of 1949, was a community caught between the relief of peacetime and the tensions of post-war hardship. Along the margins of this tidy city lived George Hamilton (25) and Rufus Hamilton (23), two young black brothers whose lives had been fraught with poverty, exclusion, and desperation. These would be factors in the horrific actions they took, which would soon propel them into local infamy as the last men ever executed in Fredericton. At the heart of this tragedy was Norman Burgoyne: a respected, 35-year-old taxi driver, decorated war veteran, and devoted family man whose sudden, violent death would shatter the sense of safety in the city. Podcast Promo:Brew Crime Podcast Episode Sources:Norman Burgoyne - Search - Newspapers.com™May 20, 1949, page 8 - Daily Gleaner at Newspapers.comJul 27, 1949, page 9 - Daily Gleaner at Newspapers.comJul 27, 1949, page 1 - Telegraph-Journal at Newspapers.comThe O'Ree and Lawrence FamiliesBlack New Brunswickers reflect on past and modern racism | CBC NewsBlack History Walking Tour“bad characters”: The Execution of George & Rufus Hamilton in Fredericton, 1949 | AcadiensisLast hanging in FrederictonGeorge and RueView of Grieving the Ungrievable: Negation and Recognition in Execution Poems | Borders: Undergraduate Arts JournalExecution Poems : The Black Acadian Tragedy of George and Rue | Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS)View of Whips, Hammers, and Ropes: The Burden of Race and Desire in Clarke’s George & Rue | Studies in Canadian LiteratureDefinitely not Butch and Sundance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Mike here. I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to Dark Poutine early and ad-free on Amazon music, included with Prime.
0:12.9	Welcome back to Dark Poutine. I am Mike Brown. You sounded unsure about that.
0:26.5	Did I?
0:28.5	I'm Mike Brown. I'm Mike Brown. And I'm Matthew Stockton.
0:33.5	Yes, you are, Matthew Stockton. Do you like my goldfish shirt today?
0:38.1	I do like your goldfish shirt, but the goldfish aren't gold.
0:41.9	They're sort of reddy in pink.
0:43.7	I like this shirt.
0:44.6	I've kind of thought that we should add something new to the podcast.
0:48.9	Uh-oh.
0:49.4	And we'll do it right out of the gate every week, but I want to feature a podcast promo every week. And so this
0:56.6	week, our promo is our good friend, Mike Garson, from Brew Crime. Mike's a good guy.
1:03.4	Mike is a good guy. So let's listen to their promo. Welcome to Brew Crime, a True Crime and Beer
1:08.3	Podcast. Join me, Mike. And me, J.T. As we explore the world of
1:12.9	crime, conspiracies, or whatever catches our attention. This is a podcast where we pick a theme,
1:17.6	cover a few cases, and pair them with a brew. Between themes, we do what we call brew crime news.
1:23.3	A funny look at current news stories, be it crime, animals, sports, or even celebrities.
1:29.1	You can find us on all social media at brew crime. Our website is brewcrime.com.
1:33.9	And you can find us on any podcast app at Brewcrime Podcast.
1:37.9	Join us as we discuss the horrible crimes that surround us. And maybe, definitely, tip a bottle or two back as you do it.
1:47.0	Drink with us weekly.
1:49.8	So they're like the drunk version of dark puteem then.
	...

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