This Day in History, 1964: An escaped convict surrenders to The Vancouver Sun

On Sept. 2, 1964, convicted rapist Larry Kanester escaped from a ward for the criminally insane at Essondale mental hospital in Coquitlam. He evaded capture for two months but gave a phone interview to radio reporter Pat Burns on Oct. 28.

“The cops can’t get me — I’m just too smart for them,” he told Burns. “I’ll go (in) when it suits me, not when it suits anyone else. I can stay free as long as I like.”

The police tried to trace the call and staked out two houses in Vancouver but Kanester eluded him.

But he knew his time was running out. So at 10:23 p.m. on Oct. 29, he surrendered to Vancouver Sun city editor Bruce Larsen outside The Sun Tower at 500 Beatty St.

“Escaped rapist Larry Kanester surrendered meekly to The Sun Thursday night, fully aware that the rest of his life could be spent behind bars,” Larsen wrote in a story published the next morning. “He surrendered to me on the sidewalk in front of The Sun Building through a deal that took 55 hours of discreet arranging.

“Kanester at first had demanded cash for his surrender and exclusive story. He settled for a deal that involved no money.”

Larsen took Kanester to the fourth floor editorial offices, and then inside managing editor Erwin Swangard’s office. Swangard, reporter Jes Odam and photographer Danny Scott were inside.

“As arranged, we made two prompt phone calls — one to the police to tell them Kanester was in our office, one to Kanester’s mother so she could come to the office to say goodbye,” Larsen wrote.

The police call went to RCMP Sgt. Al Brown, who had led the manhunt for Kanester with Vancouver police Insp. Ian McGregor.

“When Brown walked into the office, he stuck out his hand and said, ‘Hello Larry, I’m sure glad to see you,’ ” said Larsen.

Larsen and Odam then let Kanester tell the story of his escape, which was published in the Oct. 30 Sun.

“As we started our interview upstairs, The Sun Building was ringed with police and outside newsmen,” wrote Larsen. “Brown sat in on a two-hour interview session. No attempt was made at any stage to place Kanester in handcuffs or other restrainers.

“In dealing with The Sun, Kanester asked for a chance to tell his side of the story, and then be driven in a Sun vehicle to Essondale.”

Kanester was given a byline for his story. He said he hadn’t planned to escape, but when he went into a mop room and started washing some mops hanging out the window to dry, the window fell out.

“Somebody had cut it out, all ready to go and I went,” wrote Kanester. “I actually stole some other guy’s way out — I don’t know whose, but I’ve got ideas.

“The window was 20-odd feet above the ground. I hit the ground and split my chin open. When I came down I hit so hard I drove my chin on to my knees.”

He passed out for a few seconds then “took off.” He spent a month in Edmonton, where he got a job at a co-op “in the deep freeze.” A woman tipped off the police and he fled back to Vancouver.