“The most atrocious crime of the century”

In many cases, these stories were described in headlines as being the most dis­gusting crimes in Canadian history. For example, in the case of Phoebe Camp­bell (1871, Ontario),9 the London Free Press wrote that proof “renders this woman the most atrocious criminal of our century” (8 August 1871). But more important, judges also participated in this construction even though, in the name of justice, they were meant to be fair, impartial, and objective. The judge’s address to the jury in Marie Beaulne’s case10 in 1929 (Quebec) illustrates the subjective, value-laden, and unfair treatment of women: “We have to study together the story of a crime, maybe the most atrocious one in our judicial records.” Comments made by the trial judge in the case of Tommasina Teolis in 1934 (Quebec)11 also stand as an example of the inappropriate conduct of judges and of the lack of objectivity afforded to women on trial: “We are in the presence of a hateful crime, perhaps the most brutal one registered in our annals of justice.”12