View source for Ty Conn

{{Short description|Canadian bank robber (1967–1999)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Ty Conn
| image              = 
| caption            = 
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1967|01|18}}
| birth_name         = Ernest Bruce Hayes
| alias              = Tyrone Williams Conn
| birth_place        = [[Ontario]], [[Canada]]
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1999|05|20|1967|01|18}}
| death_place        = [[Toronto]], Canada
| death_cause        = [[Self-inflicted gunshot wound]]
| body_discovered    = 
| education          = 
| occupation         = Bank robber
| spouse             = 
| partner            = 
| known_for          = Escaping from [[Kingston Penitentiary]]
}}

'''Tyrone Williams "Ty" Conn''' (January 18, 1967 – May 20, 1999), born '''Ernest Bruce Hayes''',<ref name=Hann/> was a [[Canadians|Canadian]] [[bank robbery|bank robber]]. He was the only person in the last half-century to escape over the wall from the [[Kingston Penitentiary]], one of Canada's most secure prisons.

==History==
Tyrone Conn was born in 1967, as Ernest Bruce Hayes, to an Ontario 15-year-old mother and a father from [[Newfoundland and Labrador]]. Soon after his birth, his mother abandoned him to the care of his father, who in turn abandoned him to the care of his maternal grandparents. They placed him for adoption at the age of three.<ref name=Ruby/> He was adopted by a [[Belleville, Ontario]] psychiatrist, Dr. E. Bert Conn,<ref>Died in 2013, at the age of 80, without visitation or service, at his request. [http://www.yourlifemoments.ca/sitepages/obituary.asp?oId=711091 Obituary of Dr. E. Bert Conn]; www.yourlifemoments.ca. Retrieved 2014-10-20.</ref> and his wife. Dr. Conn's wife was described as mentally unstable. Tyrone Conn remained with Dr. Conn and his wife for eight years before being returned to the care of the local Children's Aid Society.<ref name=Bradbury/> He then spent the balance of his adolescent and teenage years in foster homes, group homes, and youth detention facilities, starting at the Brookside Training School, at the age of fourteen.<ref name=Ruby/> During his time with his adoptive parents, Conn had developed a habit of compulsive stealing, starting with food and escalating, by his teens, to cars.<ref name=Bradbury/> From the age of thirteen to his death, nineteen years later, Conn was only "legally at large" for a total of sixty-nine days.<ref>[[Mike Heffernan]], [http://theindependent.ca/2011/07/27/review-who-killed-ty-conn/ Who killed Ty Conn: A case study of failure]. ''[[The Independent (Newfoundland)|The Independent]]'', July 27, 2011. Retrieved 2014-10-26.</ref> Conn had also been "illegally at large" by escaping from a number of lower-security institutions.

In 1998, Conn was transferred to Kingston Penitentiary for acting as an [[informant]] at the [[Millhaven Institution]]. He advised security staff at Millhaven that fellow inmates were planning an escape and was therefore placed in protective custody.<ref name=Bradbury/>

Conn's escape on May 6, 1999, from inside the compound was the 26th in the history of facility. More than 50 escapees were involved in those 26 incidents. Conn employed a ladder and homemade grappling hook to scale the wall and used [[cayenne pepper]] to prevent dogs from following his scent.<ref name=Bradbury/>

==Death and aftermath==
Conn was found in a [[Toronto]] apartment building two weeks after his escape. Surrounded by police, he committed [[suicide]], rather than be captured. Other theories assert that Conn accidentally discharged the stolen shotgun in his possession during the standoff, while he was speaking on the telephone to [[Theresa Burke]], a [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]] producer. Burke and journalist [[Linden MacIntyre]], both associated with the television program ''[[The Fifth Estate (TV)|The Fifth Estate]]'', later published ''Who Killed Ty Conn'' ([[Viking Press]] Canada, 2000;<ref>[https://www.amazon.ca/Who-Killed-Conn-Linden-Macintyre/dp/0670891037 Publication details of ''Who Killed Ty Conn'']; [[Amazon.ca]]. Retrieved 2014-10-18.</ref> reissued 2011, [[Creative Book Publishing]], [[St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador|St. John's]]<ref name=Bradbury>[[Tara Bradbury]], [http://www.thetelegram.com/Arts%20-%20Life/2011-07-09/article-2642805/Who-killed-Ty-Conn/1 Who killed Ty Conn?]; ''[[The Telegram]]'', July 9, 2011. Retrieved 2014-10-18.</ref>). MacIntyre had met and befriended Conn in 1994, during the course of researching an investigative story on the effects of child abuse. At the time, Conn was serving a 47-year sentence, principally for bank robbery.<ref name=Bradbury/> The length of the compound sentence was despite the lack of violence in his criminal record.<ref name=Ruby>[[Clayton Ruby]], [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/born-to-run-and-die/article770873/ Born to run...and die (Review of ''Who Killed Ty Conn'')]. ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', November 11, 2000. Retrieved 2014-10-26.</ref> MacIntyre arranged for Conn's funeral and also gave a eulogy at the service.<ref name=Hann>[[Kevin Hann]], Escaped con 'paid his price'. ''[[Ottawa Sun]]'', May 29, 1999: 7.</ref><ref name=Bradbury/>

::He often told me how badly he felt about the people he frightened.
:::Journalist Linden MacIntyre at Ty Conn's funeral, 1999.<ref name=Hann/>

==References==
<references/>

== External links ==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20000525092828/http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/9950/TyroneConn.html Life overview of Ty Conn]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Conn, Ty}}
[[Category:1967 births]]
[[Category:1999 deaths]]
[[Category:1999 suicides]]
[[Category:Canadian bank robbers]]
[[Category:Canadian escapees]]
[[Category:Escapees from Canadian detention]]
[[Category:Fugitives wanted by Canada]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing]]
[[Category:Suicides by firearm in Ontario]]