An inquest into Alexander Kindness' death took place on May 4, 1912, with Coroner George Sanson again presiding. The first witness was Forest Loring, who described the events of May 3rd in detail, but indicated he could not identify the man who shot Alexander Kindness, since "his back was to us all the time". Loring could indicate only that the man "looked to be a short, thick, stout fellow". William Ritchie was next ...

The Coroner's jury found that Alexander Kindness came to his death by a bullet wound, "said wound being caused by a bullet from a rifle in the hands of one person at present unknown but we believe the shooting to have been done by Moses Paul or Paul Spintlum and we strongly recommend that the Provincial Government give this district better police protection than we have had in the past".

Alexander Kindness had been living in the Clinton area for 4 1/2 months at the time of his death. He had been in charge of the Clinton jail. Described as a "splendidly put up chap of six feet two inches, with a clear complexion and a Scotch accent", Kindness was reportedly well liked, and was thought to have made a number of improvements at the jail since his arrival. Prior to his arrival in Clinton, Kindness, who was born in Bognell, Banffshire, Scotland, had been four years with the Ayrshire Constabulary in Scotland, and spent some time as a motorman with the British Columbia Electric Railway Company. He worked for one year with the Vancouver Police Department, from which he resigned in May 1911.

Kindness was buried in Vancouver on May 8, 1912. Vancouver citizens turned out by the thousands, lining the streets to watch as Kindness' remains were conveyed from Green & Merkley's undertaking rooms, escorted by a squadron of one hundred Vancouver policemen and BC Electric Railway representatives. Twenty members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and a contingent from the 72nd Highlanders were also present, as were fifty local firemen and a squadron of the BC Provincial Police. Marching slowly along Hastings Street, the procession moved to the strains of the dead march and muffled drums, to the First Presbyterian Church, where the funeral service was given by Reverend Fraser. All flags at local fire stations and police headquarters were at half mast during the day. The service was described as "short but solemn".

The rest of this article lives at http://www.boothill.ca/paul.html