David Fee was just going to Christmas Mass in Victoria, Canada when he was shot down by accident by a man waiting for another. After this, he has been spotted where he died as well as his grave site, especially during the Christmas season.
“Just as the clock was striking midnight, ushering in the joyous Christmas day, a crime as dark, cowardly and mysterious as ever disfigured the history of this province was perpetuated,”
– The Daily Colonist on Dec. 25, 1890.
On a chilling Christmas Eve in 1890, the quaint streets of Victoria, British Columbia, were forever marked by a sinister event that has left its ghostly imprint on Bastion Square. The story of David Fee, whose life was abruptly and tragically cut short, continues to haunt this picturesque area, drawing both curious onlookers and ghost enthusiasts.
A Night of Festivity Turns to Horror
David Fee, a young man of only 21 years, was full of holiday spirit and was in town to visit his parents. After attending a lively costume party, he set off to join his parents for midnight mass at a nearby church. Inside Victoria’s St. Andrew Cathedral there were already prayers and the Christmas caroling had already begun.
Clad in a white clown costume, he made his way through the festive streets. The bells of the cathedral began to toll at midnight, marking the transition from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day.
Read More: Check out all ghost stories from the Christmas season.
At the same time, Clarence Phelan/Lawrence Whelan, a watchman at the cathedral drank whiskey and waited on a man who had told him to take down his Irish Independence flag. He knew the man was wearing a white overcoat.
As Fee approached the corner where the cathedral stood, the atmosphere suddenly shifted from festive to menacing. A figure emerged from the shadows, a double-barrel shotgun in hand. The assailant’s voice broke the stillness of the night with a chilling declaration: “You challenged me!“
Before David Fee could utter a word in his defense, the shotgun blast echoed through the night, and he fell to the ground, lifeless. It was said by some that it went off accidentally. The people in the church rushed out and saw him in a pool of blood, covered in powder burns.
The attacker, it turned out, had mistaken Fee for another man, leading to a tragic case of mistaken identity. He turned himself in and was convicted for manslaughter.
The Haunting of David Fee Begins
From that fateful night onward, the spirit of David Fee is said to have lingered in Bastion Square on the steps of the Cathedral or in Ross Bay Cemetery were he was buried. Many believe that his soul, restless and wronged, continues to roam the streets where he met his untimely end.
Read More: Check out all ghost stories from Canada
Visitors to the area have reported sightings of a circling mist and a ghostly figure dressed in white, wandering the vicinity of the cathedral and the nearby graveyard where Fee was laid to rest. His spectral presence is particularly strong during the Christmas season, the anniversary of his death.
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References:
The Christmas Eve Murder That Shocked 19th Century Victoria – Capital Daily
West Coast ghosts share a haunted history of Victoria and Vancouver
Victoria walking tour of murder, mayhem and Christmas ghosts