Part 5: Last Man (Out)standing
On September 24, 1982, Staff-Sergeant Julian Fantino and Sergeant Robert Montrose of Metro Toronto Police flew to Los Angeles. This was no pleasure trip — their purpose was to pick up two fugitive murder suspects and escort them back to Toronto.
The first of these was Robert Palmer, who had allegedly bludgeoned his father to death with a hammer.
The second was Andre Hirsh, being extradited on the orders of a U.S. federal judge. Hirsh had been charged in Toronto with first-degree murder in the slaying of North York jeweller Frank Abrams in May 1981. He had fled to the U.S. after escaping from the Don Jail in December 1981.
Fantino testified at Hirsh’s trial, which was held in October 1982. When taken into custody after the botched robbery, Hirsh had described himself as “the black sheep” of his family. He was heavily indebted to loan sharks, and “had to have the bread [cash] … or else.” He maintained that the killing was the victim’s own fault: Abrams had foolishly played “Joe Hero” by threatening to call his dogs and attempting to snatch Hirsh’s gun away from him. During a struggle with Abrams outside the store, Hirsh shot the jeweller three times, one bullet piercing his heart.
Crown Counsel Chris Rutherford was appalled. As reported in the Globe and Mail, he declared that Hirsh “should be locked up and locked up for a long time…. He killed an innocent, peaceable shopkeeper who had the absolute audacity to stand up for his property.”
Hirsh was found guilty of second-degree murder. Before his sentence was handed down on November 30, 1982, his defence lawyer read to the court a one-page handwritten letter of apology, addressed to Frank Abrams’s widow. Part of it stated: “I am not a cold-blooded vicious person without conscience…. I feel the disgust you must have for me; it shames me strongly. Please understand that there is no limit to the remorse I feel and will carry with me forever…. I’m sorry, I’m truly sorry.”
Hirsh’s letter did not succeed in altering the opinion of Mr. Justice John O’Driscoll, who remained unimpressed. “There may be some degree of remorse in you,” he told Hirsh. But “you are also more than somewhat of a con man.” He sentenced Hirsh to life imprisonment with no parole for at least 16 years.
