Stephen Oldacres Lawson (1880-1922)

At the time of his death, 41-year-old Stephen Lawson was a constable with the Alberta Provincial Police (APP), having joined only six months earlier. He was not inexperienced, as he had served as a police officer for over 10 years, and as the chief of police in both Macleod and Fernie, BC. He also served three years in the army in WWI and received a medal for meritorious service. He transferred to the APP in 1922, and was assigned to "D" Division, which extended from Lethbridge east to Sask., west to BC., and south to the United States border. He was stationed in Coleman in the Crowsnest Pass, in the APP district of Blairmore, home to Emilio Picariello and Florence Lassandro and one of the busiest for illegal liquor traffic. Lawson's previous police experience in the area was considered highly beneficial, and in a letter written by W.C. Bryan, Superintendent of the Alberta Provincial Police, Lawson was recommended to be "the ideal man for either Coleman or Bellevue as he knows pretty nearly every bootlegger and crook running through the Pass." A Masonic-military funeral for Lawson was held in Fort Macleod on September 25, four days after he was shot outside his home in Coleman. Besides his widow and five children, scores attended the service and in the town flags were flown at half-mast in tribute.