Mary Steinhauser

Steinhauser was born in Duncan, British Columbia, Canada, on August 25, 1942. Mary was the elder daughter of August Steinhauser and Johanna Reisner's two children. Mary Steinhauser's father emigrated to Canada in 1925 from Ravensburg, Germany. He began farming in Edmonton, Alberta, and subsequently moved to Lake Cowichan, BC where he worked in the sawmill. Mary Steinhauser's mother immigrated to Canada in 1939 from Vienna, Austria. Mary's parents married in 1941.{{Cite news|url = https://www.sfu.ca/aq/issues/november2012/features/marys-song.html|title = Mary's Song|last = Verzuh|first = Ron|date = November 2012|access-date = November 17, 2014|newspaper = AQ Magazine}}

Steinhauser grew up in Lake Cowichan until age 5, when she moved with her family to Burton, British Columbia, a small town in the West Kootenays, where her parents had purchased a farm. Upon graduation from secondary school in Nakusp, BC, Mary began her training as a psychiatric nurse at Essondale, BC. After working at Essondale for 2 years, she moved to Toronto, Ontario and worked for one year as a nurse at the Queen Street Mental Health Hospital. Following this, she returned to BC, taking up nursing duties at Tranquille School for the mentally handicapped in Kamloops for 2 years.{{Cite news|title = Social worker slain in prison drama: 'She always gave everyone a chance'|date = June 12, 1975|journal = The Globe & Mail|issn = 0319-0714|id = {{ProQuest|1239688012}}}}

File:Mary Steinhauser 1973.jpg

Steinhauser then began work as a psychiatric nurse for the Matsqui Institution, a newly opened medium-security prison in Matsqui, BC. From 1967 to 1970, Steinhauser studied psychology and sociology at Simon Fraser University in BC, where she graduated in 1971 with a BA (Honours) in Psychology and Sociology.{{Cite web|url = http://www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/40th2nd/20140324pm-Hansard-v8n7.htm|title = Official Report of DEBATES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY|date = March 24, 2014|access-date = November 17, 2014|website = HANSARD|page = 2280}}

Immediately after attaining her bachelor's degree, she began graduate studies at the University of British Columbia in social work; Mary was awarded her Master of Social Work degree in May 1973.

On the day in question, inmates Bruce, Lucas, and Wilson made an unsuccessful attempt to escape from prison and took 15 people hostage.{{cite news|last1=Poulsen|first1=Chuck|title=Guard named in prison shooting|url=http://www.marysteinhauser.com/assets/guard_named.pdf|access-date=14 November 2014|publisher=The Province|date=January 21, 1976|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213241/http://www.marysteinhauser.com/assets/guard_named.pdf|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|title=Guard named in prison shooting|url=http://www.marysteinhauser.com/assets/guard_named.pdf|access-date=22 November 2014|publisher=The Province|date=January 21, 1976|ref=TP Jan 21, 1976|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213241/http://www.marysteinhauser.com/assets/guard_named.pdf|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=dead}}{{Cite news|url = http://bannerline.net/wiki_refs/sun-stein.pdf|title = 3 B.C. Pen inmates hold 14 hostages|date = June 9, 1975|access-date = November 22, 2014|newspaper = The Vancouver Sun|location = Vancouver, BC|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110723023138/http://bannerline.net/wiki_refs/sun-stein.pdf|archive-date = July 23, 2011|url-status = dead}}{{Cite news|url = http://bannerline.net/wiki_refs/telegraph-stein.pdf|title = Woman hostage killed as jail siege ends|date = June 12, 1975|access-date = November 22, 2014|newspaper = The Daily Telegraph|location = London, U.K.|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110723023152/http://bannerline.net/wiki_refs/telegraph-stein.pdf|archive-date = July 23, 2011|url-status = dead}}{{Cite news|url = http://bannerline.net/wiki_refs/times-stein.pdf|title = Hostage Dies as Prison Guards Recapture 3 Canadian Inmates|date = June 12, 1975|access-date = November 22, 2014|newspaper = The New York Times|location = New York, NY|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110723023201/http://bannerline.net/wiki_refs/times-stein.pdf|archive-date = July 23, 2011|url-status = dead}} Steinhauser, who was taken hostage at knifepoint, volunteered to be the principal hostage, which meant that she was held in a room outside the vault area where all the other hostages were kept. The three inmates demanded several things, including medical examinations for Lucas and Bruce, access to hot and cold water in isolation cells, and restoration of recreation yard privileges for segregated prisoners.{{cite news|title=Knife at Throat|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2194&dat=19760220&id=EWk1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=rO0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=1057,1884833|access-date=14 November 2014|publisher=Ottawa Citizen|date=Feb 20, 1976}} They also demanded safe passage out of the country.{{cite news|title=Victim had planned to quit prison job|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19750617&id=SLBEAAAAIBAJ&sjid=l9kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6716,4357628|access-date=14 November 2014|publisher=Eugene Register-Guard|date=Jun 17, 1975}}

The hostage stand-off lasted for 41 hours. During this time, the inmates kept their hostages in the penitentiary's vault, with the exception of Mary.{{cite news|last1=Hunter|first1=Ian|title=Gunfire Kills Woman Hostage|url=http://www.marysteinhauser.com/assets/gunfire_kills_woman.pdf|access-date=14 November 2014|publisher=The Vancouver Sun|date=June 11, 1975|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213047/http://www.marysteinhauser.com/assets/gunfire_kills_woman.pdf|archive-date=3 March 2016|url-status=dead}} At approximately 1 A.M. on June 11, one of the hostages tried to overpower the inmates in an attempt to escape, after which point all of the hostages except Steinhauser retreated to the vault, where they locked themselves inside.{{cite news|title=One Dies; {{sic|Se|ige|nolink=y}} Ends|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1798&dat=19750611&id=AQ0fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VI0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=5564,2114901|access-date=14 November 2014|publisher=Sarasota Journal|date=Jun 11, 1975}} Soon after, a tactical squad of prison officers attempted to rescue the hostages and fired upon the hostage-takers, fatally shooting Steinhauser, who was being held as a human shield in front of Bruce.

Police Chief Rod Keary initially informed reporters that prior to her shooting, Steinhauser had been stabbed by the inmates, per reports from the other hostages. This was proven to be erroneous by the coroner's report, which stated that Steinhauser had received two bullet wounds and also had abrasions, bruising, and recent needle marks in both forearms.

After the shooting an inquest was opened, which alleged that prison guard Albert Hollinger (who was identified by Bruce) was the officer who shot Steinhauser.{{cite news|title=Penitentiary Case .Murder Accused Wants Guard Tried|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2194&dat=19750819&id=naIyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ku0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=891,714063|access-date=14 November 2014|publisher=Ottawa Citizen|date=Aug 19, 1975}} The inquest also alleged that Hollinger had deliberately switched up the tactical team's guns in an attempt to keep from being identified as the shooter while claiming that he was collecting the guns in order to keep them away from prisoners.{{cite news|last1=Still|first1=Larry|title=Inmate names guard in Steinhauser death|url=http://www.marysteinhauser.com/assets/inmate_names_guard.pdf|access-date=14 November 2014|publisher=The Vancouver Sun|date=January 21, 1976|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141128082617/http://www.marysteinhauser.com/assets/inmate_names_guard.pdf|archive-date=28 November 2014|url-status=dead}}

In January 1976, Andy Bruce appeared in a New Westminster provincial court where he gave his account of the hostage-taking situation to Judge Philip Govan. Bruce said that after the prison tactical squad arrived all of the hostages except for Mary Steinhauser shut themselves inside a vault in the penitentiary. According to Bruce, the other hostages "acted out of fear; their only concern was to get that vault door shut and keep it shut." Andy Bruce went on to allege that, after being shot twice in the jaw by a prison guard he identified as Albert Hollinger, Mary Steinhauser crawled in front him, where "she screamed, 'Don't shoot him.'" After this, according to Bruce's testimony, Hollinger shot and killed Mary Steinhauser.

In an interview on June 11, 1975, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau commented on the hostage-taking incident. Trudeau stated how "very sorry" he felt about Mary Steinhauser's death and he discussed the federal government's commitment to not letting the inmates escape: "To make sure these guys wouldn't get off with anything...we would hound them wherever they were."

In July 1976 a jury ruled that the shooting was not intentional and that the guards, including Hollinger, were acting under the belief that Steinhauser's life was actively being threatened by the inmates.{{cite news|title=Guards Cleared Of Prison Hostage Death|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1310&dat=19760708&id=xatVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3uADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6710,1865572|access-date=14 November 2014|publisher=Eugene Register-Guard|date=Jul 8, 1976}} The jury further recommended that future, similar incidents be handled by outside teams that have been trained in hostage situations.

• The play One Tiger to a Hill by Sharon Pollock is loosely based on the incident.{{cite book|last1=Zimmerman|first1=Cynthia|title=Playwriting Women: Female Voices in English Canada (Canadian Dramatist)|date=1994|publisher=Dundurn|isbn=9780889242586|page=71|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hhDhp4TEBJoC&dq=Mary+Steinhauser&pg=PA71|access-date=14 November 2014}}{{cite book|last1=Nothof|first1=Anne F.|title=Sharon Pollock (Writers Series 1)|date=2000|publisher=Guernica Editions|isbn=9781550711080|page=50|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Iw3KqhdtllgC&dq=Mary+Steinhauser&pg=PA50|access-date=14 November 2014}}
• The incident was fictionalized in Christian Bruyère's play Walls and its film adaptation Walls."Looking at crime through the eyes of the criminals". The Globe and Mail, February 1, 1985. The Steinhauer role in those works was given the name Joan Tremblay, and was played by Andrée Pelletier in the film.
• In 2014 a stage performance entitled Brave: The Mary Steinhauser Legacy was held at the Terry Fox Theatre in Port Coquitlam.{{cite web|last1=Deutsch|first1=Jeremy|title=Event to celebrate 'Bravery and sacrifice'|url=http://www.thenownews.com/news/event-to-celebrate-bravery-and-sacrifice-1.898745|publisher=The Now News|access-date=14 November 2014}}

{{reflist}}

• {{official website|http://www.marysteinhauser.com/}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steinhauser, Mary}}

Category:1942 births

Category:1975 deaths

Category:Canadian social workers

Category:People from Duncan, British Columbia

Category:University of British Columbia School of Social Work alumni

Category:Simon Fraser University alumni