It was the scene of one of Alberta’s most notorious crimes, and now efforts are underway to restore the building where it happened. In 1922, in the final months of the prohibition era, two bootleggers gunned down Const. Stephen Lawson in front of the Alberta Provincial Police Barracks building in Coleman. On Wednesday, the Crowsnest Historical Society launched a project to restore the famous barracks and preserve the memory of the tragedy. Here are five things to know about the infamous crime:
Emilio Picariello, “Emperor Pic”, Blairmore, Alberta. Whiskey runner in Coleman area. Convicted of murder, 1922 and hanged.
Date: 1922 Photo: Courtesy, Glenbow Archives
• Like Chicago’s Al Capone, Emilio Picariello, a.k.a Emperor Pic, was an opportunist who became wealthy from government prohibition of liquor. He moved the popular product of illicit British Columbia distilleries to Alberta via the Crowsnest Pass.
Automobile near location of gunning down of Constable Steve Lawson, Alberta Provincial Police officer, Coleman, Alberta. Automobile, probably McLaughlin, Known as a “Whiskey Six.” Emilio Picariello and Florence Lassandro (or Filumena Losandro) were convicted of Constable Steve Lawson’s murder.
Date: 1922 Photo: Courtesy, Glenbow Archives
• To sneak by Alberta Provincial Police roadblocks at the provincial border, Picariello typically ran two-car convoys. The decoy vehicle in front would carry no liquor. When it was stopped, the second car, loaded with booze, would sail past the preoccupied cops. Florence (Filumena) Losandro was a regular decoy passenger.
Mrs. Florence (Filumena) Losandro, 1922 also known as Filumena Constanzo., a young italian woman was tried in Calgary and hanged in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, in 1923 at age 22. (Glenbow Museum)
• On Sept. 21, 1922, Picariello heard Lawson had shot the bootlegger’s son, Steve. Not knowing it was only a minor hand wound, Pic and Losandro drove from Blairmore to Coleman to confront Lawson. Local residents still debate who shot the unarmed Lawson, but one of the bootleggers definitely put a bullet in the 42-year-old constable. He died within the hour.
Corporal Steve O. Lawson, Alberta Provincial Police. Corporal Lawson was murdered outside of the Alberta Provincial Police barracks, Coleman, Alberta, on September 21, 1922, by Florence Lassandro (or Filumena Losandro) and Emilio Picariello.
Date: September 18, 1922 Photo: Courtesy, Glenbow Archives
• Picariello and Losandro chose to be tried together. Pic apparently thought they’d stand a better chance of a non-capital sentence by sharing the prisoner’s dock. Neither took the stand. Their lawyer also hoped contradictory testimony about arrest statements would confuse the jury.
Telegram about a manhunt for Emilio Picariello and Florence Lassandro after the fatal shooting of an Alberta police officer in 1922.
• Picariello and Losandro stood trial in Calgary and on May 2, 1923, both went to the gallows in Edmonton, where they were buried in unmarked graves. Losandro claimed innocence right to the end. She was the only woman ever to be hanged in Alberta. She was 22.
Source: Postmedia archives
Alberta Provincial Police office and residence of Constable Steve Lawson, Coleman, Alberta. Emilio Picariello and Florence Lassandro (or Filumena Lossandro) were convicted of Constable Steve Lawson’s murder. This photograph was used in the court case, see annotation in upper left corner, “Exhibit 4.” Date: 1922
Photo: Courtesy, Glenbow Archive
