{"id":3040,"date":"2024-11-02T10:23:25","date_gmt":"2024-11-02T14:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wenetwork.ca\/site\/?p=3040"},"modified":"2025-02-03T14:49:06","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T19:49:06","slug":"breakfast-speaker-february-15-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wenetwork.ca\/site\/breakfast-speaker-february-15-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Breakfast Speaker February 15, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"THE BEATLE BANDIT
\nA Serial Bank Robber’s Deadly Heist, a Cross
\nCountry Manhunt, and the Insanity Plea that
\nShook the Nation
\nBy Nate Hendley
\nPaperback 9781459748101 \u2022 $21.99
\nepub 9781459748125 \u2022 $10.99
\nThe sensational true story of how a bank robber killed a man in
\na wild shootout, sparking a national debate around gun control
\nand the death penalty.
\nOn July 24, 1964, twenty-four-year-old Matthew Kerry Smith
\ndisguised himself with a mask and a Beatle wig, hoisted a semi
\nautomatic rifle, then held up a bank in North York, Ontario.
\nThe inteligent but troubled son of a businessman and mentaly il
\nmother, Smith was a navy veteran with a young Indigenous wife and
\na hazy plan for violent revolution.
\nOutside the bank, Smith was confronted by Jack Blanc, a former
\nmember of the Canadian and Israeli armies, who brandished a
\nrevolver. During a wild shootout, Blanc was kiled, and Smith escaped
\nNate Hendley is a journalist and author.
\nHis books include The Boy on the Bicycle,
\nThe Big Con, and Bonnie and Clyde. He
\nlives in Toronto.
\nSTAY CONNECTED
\n#BeatleBandit
\ndundurnpress
\n\u2014 only to become the object of the largest manhunt in the history of
\nthe Metropolitan Toronto Police Force.
\nDubbed \u201cThe Beatle Bandit,\u201d Smith was eventualy captured, tried,
\nand sentenced to hang. His murderous rampage had tragic
\nconsequences for multiple families and fueled a national debate
\nabout the death penalty, gun control, and the insanity defence.
\nWith this absorbing, deeply researched tale of a troubled, gun
\nobsessed bank robber-turned-killer in 1960s Toronto, veteran
\ntrue crime writer Nate Hendley has scored another triumph.
\n\u2014Dean Jobb, author of The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream and
\nEmpire of Deception
\nA fascinating, bizarre, important story told by one of the
\ncountry’s top true crime writers. What’s not to enjoy? The
\nBeatle Bandit is a hit.
\n\u2014Peter Edwards, Toronto Star crime reporter and co-author of The
\nWolfpack: the Millennial Mobsters who brought Chaos and the Cartels
\nto the Canadian Underworld
\nThe Beatle Bandit is a fascinating true crime story that weaves
\nmeticulously
\nresearched
\nfacts
\nand
\ncompassionate
\nobservations into a gripping narrative that is as much historical
\nas entertaining. Nate Hendley\u2019s eye for detail provides the
\nreader with an engaging account of life in 1960s Toronto, a
\nbank robbery gone bad, mental illness, the Canadian judicial
\nsystem, and the individuals who were a part of those places.
\n\u2014Desmond P. Ryan, Retired Toronto Police Detective and author of
\nThe Mike O\u2019Shea Crime Fiction Series and The Mary-Margaret Cozy
\n@dundurnpress
\ndundurn.com
\nSeries<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 \u2022 $21.99 epub 9781459748125 \u2022 $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 … Continue reading Breakfast Speaker February 15, 2025<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breakfast-speakers-2025"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t