Lucy Black Reviews The Castleton Massacre: Survivors’ Stories of the Killins Femicide by Sharon Anne Cook and Margaret Carson, Dundurn Press, 2022
In a small Ontario town on May 2, 1963, four women, two of whom were pregnant, were brutally murdered by a former United Church minister. The Castleton Massacre is part case study and part family memoir. The two authors, both intimately involved in the case, have written a scholarly, yet very readable book that explores in detail domestic violence, stalking, femicide and familicide. Complete with the history leading up to the gruesome killing spree and including the family background of the victims and the murderer, the work provides an overview of the treatment of domestic violence in Canada, as well as brief commentaries on the nature of PTSD, stalking and mental illness as they relate to such events.
Robert Killins was much celebrated in his family as a young man with promise. He was the first in his family to attend university and, after a break in his studies, the first to graduate with a degree. Despite an anomalous lack of interest in the church, he became a United Church minister. Slights real and imagined were his nemesis, and he became increasingly resentful and pugilistic. After marrying Florence, he also became controlling and increasingly violent and physically abusive. In fear for her life, she eventually fled with their young daughter and attempted to become established in a new town, but without funds and support from her family, she struggled to maintain herself and her daughter.
Robert tracked his wife to her new home and began to stalk her aggressively. Florence had by this time fallen in love with another man, A.D. Hall, and was now living with him under his protection. Despite this, Robert continued to pursue both his wife and his daughter, inserting himself into their lives and terrorizing the new family unit for twenty years. Robert’s threatening behaviours became increasingly alarming but there seemed little for the new family to do other than relocate in an to effort to escape him, which they did frequently. Robert always found them.
Florence and Hall were unable to marry, as Robert would not agree to a divorce. Despite this, Florence had three children with Hall. When he died, Florence was left without income and was completely vulnerable. In an era before women’s shelters and prior to a national discourse on domestic violence, Florence was isolated and destitute. The Canadian society of the day viewed her as a woman of questionable morals who had left her husband to “live in sin” with another man.
Margaret Carson, one of the authors, was also one of two children who survived the night of violence. Florence’s daughter by Hall, Margaret was still legally considered to be Killins’ child. She hid from him under a bed while he deliberately searched for her. Once orphaned, she was taken in by her uncle’s family, along with her brother, Brian. The second author, Sharon Ann Cook is her first cousin, and someone who helped to welcome the two traumatized children into her own family, where the three were raised together in a loving and supportive home. Although little was known at the time about how to care for children who had experienced such trauma, the family found a way through by providing a stable and loving safe space, exposing them to enriching experiences, and surrounding them with gentle care. That Margaret and Brian both went on to pursue successful careers and establish themselves in loving families of their own is a true testament to the interventions that took place on their behalf.
Among the fascinating aspects of The Castle Massacre is its clear description of psychopathy as it developed in Killins. As a young child, he was given to out-of-control displays of rage which were indulged and never challenged. As a student at school, he was considered something of a local prodigy and was humoured despite a marked lack of empathy or the accompanying social skills. Throughout his development as a young person, he was notably self-absorbed and thoughtless towards others. Killins was known to be argumentative, and often shouted down anyone who attempted to disagree with him. At university, he discovered that he wasn’t nearly as bright as the other students or as well prepared for academic study. Instead of working hard to remedy this, he blamed those around him, withdrew even further into himself, and felt unfairly persecuted by others. Killins left university after one year and took up manual labour. He returned to university after a break of several years, and struggled to achieve a degree. During his time there, he did not attempt to make friends or participate in any of the social opportunities that would have been available to him. Despite not being a church-goer, Killins entered the ministry. It is thought that he most enjoyed those aspects of sermonizing which afforded him the opportunity of telling people what they should do. His tenure in any of the churches he served was fraught with tension about his salary and what he perceived to be a general lack of respect and appreciation for his gifts. He withdrew his services as a minister and did the bare minimum until he parted ways with all of his congregations. Moreover, all of these partings were welcomed as a reprieve by the faithful he left behind. Throughout this time, his uncontrolled rages and fits of physical violence continued to escalate unchecked by any around him. Unfortunately, his young wife often became the victim of his irrational temper and extreme cruelty. When the exhausted and battered Florence eventually left him, he became obsessed with getting her back and continued to spiral as he tracked her, shadowed her movements by building lean-tos and trespassing on private property in order to diarize his observations, all while focusing every aspect of his life on a murderous plot for revenge.
The book tells a clear tale of domestic violence punctuated by descriptions of mental illness and menacing stalker behaviour. Based upon oral histories, interviews, official records and newspaper articles, the material has been pulled together into a cohesive and fluid narrative. The writing is clear and reporter-like without dwelling unnecessarily on the gruesome details. The true crime as it unfolds, involves not simply the horrific rampage that took place in one family, but also the historical treatment of women in society of the time, the lack of support for victims of domestic violence, and a deficit in the treatment of trauma for those who survived the ordeal. This is an important book about female agency. Recommended.
Reviewer’s Bio
Lucy E.M. Black is the author of The Marzipan Fruit Basket, a collection of short stories (Inanna Publications, 2017) and Eleanor Courtown, a work of historical fiction (Seraphim Editions, 2017). Her novel, Stella’s Carpet (Now or Never Publishing, 2021) is a study of intergenerational trauma. The Brickworks (Now or Never Publishing) will be released in Fall 2023. Her award-winning short stories have been published in Britain, Ireland, USA and Canada in literary journals and magazines including Cyphers Magazine, the Hawai’i Review, The Antigonish Review and others. She is a dynamic workshop presenter, experienced interviewer and freelance writer. She lives with her partner in the small lakeside town of Port Perry, Ontario, the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island, First Nations.