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Ontario Provincial Police
Constable
Richard M. Verdecchia
Ontario Provincial Police ~ Huntsville Detachment
January 2nd, 1981
Age: 37
Years of Service: 11
Richard M. Verdecchia was married with 1 Child.
Constable Richard M. Verdecchia
Circumstances
On January 1, 1981, two men had stolen some rifles from a cottage and proceeded southbound on Highway #11 with the intent of robbing a gas station in Burk&rsquos Falls. During the attempted robbery they shot and killed a gas station attendant. They were spotted by Constable Verdecchia just south of Huntsville and at approximately 0050 hrs. the vehicle turned onto Highway 141 where it went out of control and became stuck in a snow bank. Constable Verdecchia stopped, then approached the right side of the vehicle. He was shot through the open passenger window. His assailant then got out and fired several more shots into the officer. The assailant and his accomplice then threw the body of the officer into a snow bank and fled. His body was recovered 7 hours later. Just north of Orillia on Highway 11 Constable Neil Hurtibise stopped the fleeing suspects and exchanged fire. He was shot several times but managed to return fire. The suspects fled the scene and were apprehended later in Orillia.
Postscript
This incident along with several others during the same period was instrumental in having OPP officers issued with protective vests. The murder of an innocent gas station attendant and Constable Verdecchia were at the hands of Gary Fitzgerald. He was charged and convicted of the murders and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for 25 years. In October 1999 he escaped the minimum security Ferndale Institute in British Columbia, having served 18 years.
OPP
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2005
Michael J.A. Siydock
2004
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2004
John P. Flagg
2003
Philip R. Shrive
2003
Margaret J. Eve
2000
James C. McFadden
1999
Charles Mercier
1999
Keith A. Badger
1998
Thomas P. Coffin
1997
Michael W. Gula
1996
Kenneth Y. Roy
1995
Jean J. A. Desforges
1993
Richard M. Jean
1993
Richard E. Nystedt
1993
Andrew B. Gordon
1992
Thomas J. Cooper
1991
John R. Gregovski
1989
Maurice R. Leavoy
1986
Randall F. Skidmore
1986
Donald C. Campbell
1985
Richard J. McLaughlin
1985
Vernon L. Miller
1984
John G. Ross
1984
William F. McIntyre
1984
Bruce K. Crew
1983
Lorne I. Foran
1982
Richard J. C. Hopkins
1982
William H. Smith
1982
Kenneth M. Swett
1981
Richard M. Verdecchia
1981
Thomas Hicks
1980
William F. Shores
1980
George H. Bennett
1980
Duncan T. McAleese
1980
Paul E. Patterson
1978
Ronald E. Lee
1976
Donald R. Irwin
1976
Maurice R. J. Chatterson
1975
Gary V. MacDonald
1975
Gerald A. Thompson
1975
Vaughn B. McKay
1973
Evan V. Gilmore
1973
Clare L. Lackey
1972
John C. A. Verral
1971
Stefan H. Schultz
1970
William R. Rodgers
1970
Lorne J. Chapitis
1968
James Smith
1968
Bradford E. Browne
1968
Samuel E. Ankenmann
1968
Peter J. Kirk
1968
James I. Hamilton
1967
Thomas J. Emery
1966
John R. Maki
1966
Alexander M. Prodan
1964
Patrick C. Armstrong
1963
James S. McDonald
1962
Edward R. Wickens
1960
Calvin R. Fulford
1958
Willis J. Jacob
1958
Henry J. Harper
1957
Peter R. Sebborn
1957
Philip H. de La Rue
1957
John A.C. Behan
1956
Henry Gilchrist
1954
Harold T. Shaughnessy
1953
Reginald G. Morden
1949
George Yuile
1948
Robert W. Duncan
1945
Donald L. Pickell
1940
Harold H. Dent
1940
Alfred J. Ferguson
1940
Frederick R. T. Blucher
1939
Elmer A. Shepard
1938
Donald C. Shervill
1938
Robert D. Eddington
1938
Bartlett Smith
1937
Orval E. Storey
1936
Russell Lemon
1934
Charles Hefferon
1932
John F. Montgomery
1931
John Urquhart
1923
William Irving Jr.
1904
The Memorial Pin
The Memorial Pin is the official pin of the New Ontario Police Memorial.