Guard Anton Martinsen Fladeby
Correctional Service of Canada
Federal
End of Watch: Sunday, May 11, 1919

Biographical Info
Age: 29
Tour of Duty: Not available
Badge Number: Not available

Incident Details
Cause of Death: Stabbed
Date of Incident: Friday, May 2, 1919
Incident Location: Manitoba
Weapon Used: Edged weapon
Suspect Info: Charged and convivted of manslaughter.

Anton Martinsen Fladeby came to Canada from Norway in the spring of 1909, a few of months prior to his 20th birthday and, at the age of 25, he enlisted as a guard at Manitoba
Penitentiary on December 1, 1914. In January 1918, he joined the war effort and saw action in the muddy trenches
and ruined villages of Amiens and Cambrai. In 1919, he was one of 5,000 soldiers to return to Canada on board the SS Olympic, sister ship of the ill-fated Titanic. After a brief month of rest, Anton Fladeby returned to duty at Manitoba Penitentiary

On the morning of Friday, May 2, 1919, only 10 days after his return to his work as a penitentiary officer, and a month before his 30th birthday, he was checking inmates in
and out of the barbershop area when a male inmate saw him. The inmate was serving a three-year sentence and was considered a low-risk case. However, Guard Fladeby had
just searched Johnson’s cell and discovered a letter that Johnson was writing, complaining about the ill treatment of inmates at Manitoba Penitentiary. Since this was considered contraband at the time, Anton Fladeby followed his sense of duty and confiscated the letter. The inmate apparently harboured some resentment towards guard Fladeby for that confiscation.

Armed with a small knife he had gotten from the institutional hospital to “cut his fingernails”, the inmate , without any
warning, suddenly exclaimed, “ I’ll get you”, and lunged at guard Fladeby, stabbing him in the neck, severing the artery on the right side. The inmate then ran down the hospital
corridor and returned to his cell. Immediately, two inmates attended to guard Fladeby before the arrival of the penitentiary surgeon. After an hour, he appeared to be resuscitating and was transferred to the Winnipeg General
Hospital. However, on Sunday, May 11, 1919, Anton Fladeby succumbed to his wounds. He was buried with full military honours in the “Field of Honour” at Brookside Cemetery
in Winnipeg.

The inmate was found guilty of manslaughter and received a life sentence. He was later transferred to Kingston Penitentiary where he remained for 16 years until his
deportation to the U.S.