Wikipedia:Today's featured article/January 11, 2012

Mathew Charles Lamb (1948–1976) was a Canadian spree killer. Seventeen days after his release from jail in June 1966, Lamb took a shotgun from his uncle's house and went on a shooting spree around his home-town of Windsor, Ontario, killing two strangers and wounding two more. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity in January 1967, so he avoided Canada's mandatory death penalty for capital murder, but was committed for an indefinite time in psychiatric care. He displayed a profound recovery over the course of six years at Penetanguishene Mental Health Centre's maximum security Oak Ridge unit. The Executive Council of Ontario released Lamb in early 1973 on the condition that he spend a year under the supervision of Dr Elliot Barker, his long-time psychiatrist at Oak Ridge. With Barker's encouragement, Lamb volunteered for the Rhodesian Security Forces in late 1973. He served with distinction in the Rhodesian Light Infantry and Special Air Service until he was killed in action on 7 November 1976, soon after his promotion to lance-corporal. He received what Newsweek called "a hero's funeral" in the Rhodesian capital, Salisbury, before his ashes were returned to Windsor. (more...)

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