Kieran Daunt
Kiernan Daunt was one of six children born in Hong Kong to father Dr. Ivan Daunt. The family moved to England and Ireland before settling in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. Daunt attended university for two years and then worked in telecommunications. Ivan Daunt staked a claim on Bonanza Creek in 1973 and Kieran arrived in Dawson in 1976. Ivan came to the Yukon to mine during the summers and his son stayed on year-round after 1981. Robert Truswell and Kieran Daunt had neighbouring mining claims and they argued with each other for more than twenty years. Truswell thought everyone was against him. Daunt feared that his relationship with his father was threatened by a new relationship that the senior Daunt had with Truswell. On 28 August 2003, Truswell drove up to Daunt, and Daunt shot him twice in the body and killed him. Truswell was unarmed. Daunt claimed that Truswell was threatening him, and he feared for his life. Truswell had carried through on a threat in the past. In 1982, he swung a wooden plank at carpenter Gary [Hodgkinson] and cracked his head in three places. [Hodgkinson] was sent into a coma and suffered long-term dizziness and hearing loss. Truswell spent a little time in jail. Some of Truswell’s neighbours thought that he was dangerous and in need of psychiatric help. The crown prosecutor was successful in arguing that Daunt had a temper as well. A neighbour, Jim Archibald, told the court that Daunt had once asked him to kill Truswell. A jury found Daunt guilty of second-degree murder.1)