The original white frame jail building that was erected in 1883 to serve the CPR Construction camp burned in 1892. In 1893, it was replaced by a two-storey brick building and a courtyard surrounded by a twelve-foot wooden fence. This served as an exercise yard for prisoners and on occasion, the site of the temporary gallows.
The courthouse contained 13 jail cells, a court room, judge and jury room and living quarters for the jailer.
The inmates of the jail cared for a large garden, the jail and court house grounds as well as the janitorial work in the court house. One frequent guest in the jail was a fine gardener and when trees needed pruning or flower beds were to be planted, the authorities would start looking for him. Another well known guest was a trusty sent out with a spiked stick to pick up papers on the grounds. Once, he finished the grounds and then picked his way to the Nickel Range Hotel where he was finally discovered and returned to his cell with his grounds privilege cancelled.
In 1921, John O’Neill was the acting Jailer. He lived with his family at 350 Victoria Street. The Governor of the Jail was Terrence Keaney, aged 72. His wife Bridget was the matron, aged 63. They had four children and the couple lived in the court house. There were 19 inmates, aged 13 to 61, including one female; one American and the rest Canadian.
On June 15, 1956, Robert Bruce Ducsharm was hanged for the murder of his romantic partner, Steve Klapouskchak, but it took two trials to do it. This was the last execution at the Sudbury jail.
There were five other hangings at Sudbury Jail.
- Wasyl Daybuk, 34, a Copper Cliff labourer was convicted for the murder of Mary Korenluk, 21, in the spring of 1916. Korenluk was bludgeoned with an axe outside a King Street boarding house.
- Peter Myhal hanged Dec. 12, 1929, for the downtown Sudbury shooting death of his common-law wife, Rose Karas.
- Tom Pornomarenko, 47, was executed Jan, 22, 1938, for killing Sudbury policeman Fred Davidson. The hanging was the first one in the new jail building.
- Alpha “Eddie” Proulx, 26, lost his life Jan 9, 1945 for the beating death of Joseph Dennie of Capreol.
- Adelard Latour, 50, a bush worker, hanged May 22, 1951 for the stabbing death of Cecile Rainville, 23, in her Van Horne Street basement apartment.
Arthur B. English (“Arthur Ellis”) was Canada’s official hangman (1910–1937). He adopted the pseudonym Arthur Ellis, taken from a British hangman. He performed hundreds of hangings across Canada, including in Northern Ontario. He travelled wherever sheriffs required him. His career ended after the botched 1935 Montreal execution of Thomasina Sarao.
After Arthur Ellis died in 1938, a new executioner adopted the name John Ellis. He initially lived in Cochrane, Ontario, later moving closer to Toronto. He became the primary executioner for most of Canada outside Quebec (active 1939–1950s).
