THE BEATLE BANDIT
A Serial Bank Robber’s Deadly Heist, a Cross
Country Manhunt, and the Insanity Plea that
Shook the Nation
By Nate Hendley
Paperback 9781459748101 • $21.99
epub 9781459748125 • $10.99
The sensational true story of how a bank robber killed a man in
a wild shootout, sparking a national debate around gun control
and the death penalty.
On July 24, 1964, twenty-four-year-old Matthew Kerry Smith
disguised himself with a mask and a Beatle wig, hoisted a semi
automatic rifle, then held up a bank in North York, Ontario.
The inteligent but troubled son of a businessman and mentaly il
mother, Smith was a navy veteran with a young Indigenous wife and
a hazy plan for violent revolution.
Outside the bank, Smith was confronted by Jack Blanc, a former
member of the Canadian and Israeli armies, who brandished a
revolver. During a wild shootout, Blanc was kiled, and Smith escaped
Nate Hendley is a journalist and author.
His books include The Boy on the Bicycle,
The Big Con, and Bonnie and Clyde. He
lives in Toronto.
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— only to become the object of the largest manhunt in the history of
the Metropolitan Toronto Police Force.
Dubbed “The Beatle Bandit,” Smith was eventualy captured, tried,
and sentenced to hang. His murderous rampage had tragic
consequences for multiple families and fueled a national debate
about the death penalty, gun control, and the insanity defence.
With this absorbing, deeply researched tale of a troubled, gun
obsessed bank robber-turned-killer in 1960s Toronto, veteran
true crime writer Nate Hendley has scored another triumph.
—Dean Jobb, author of The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream and
Empire of Deception
A fascinating, bizarre, important story told by one of the
country’s top true crime writers. What’s not to enjoy? The
Beatle Bandit is a hit.
—Peter Edwards, Toronto Star crime reporter and co-author of The
Wolfpack: the Millennial Mobsters who brought Chaos and the Cartels
to the Canadian Underworld
The Beatle Bandit is a fascinating true crime story that weaves
meticulously
researched
facts
and
compassionate
observations into a gripping narrative that is as much historical
as entertaining. Nate Hendley’s eye for detail provides the
reader with an engaging account of life in 1960s Toronto, a
bank robbery gone bad, mental illness, the Canadian judicial
system, and the individuals who were a part of those places.
—Desmond P. Ryan, Retired Toronto Police Detective and author of
The Mike O’Shea Crime Fiction Series and The Mary-Margaret Cozy
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