Nancy Alice Edward Eaton (May 28, 1962 – January 21, 1985) was a Canadian heiress, the great-great-granddaughter of Timothy Eaton

Timothy Eaton

Timothy Eaton was a Canadian businessman who founded the Eaton's department store, one of the most important retail businesses in Canada's history.-Early life and family:...

, founder of Eaton's

Eaton's

The T. Eaton Co. Limited was once Canada's largest department store retailer. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an Irish immigrant. Eaton's grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada, with stores across the country, buying offices across the globe, and a catalogue...

 department store

Department store

A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...

s. She was the only daughter of Edward Eaton and Nancy Leigh Gossage Eaton of Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

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Murder

On January 21, 1985, Eaton was stabbed twenty-one times and then raped in her apartment in Toronto. An acquaintance of Eaton's, Andrew Leyshon-Hughes, who was himself a member of the Osler family, admitted to murdering her, but was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He was remanded to the custody of a psychiatric hospital, where he will remain until his release.

In popular culture

In 2003, the television film The Death and Life of Nancy Eaton, was released. The film was based on the book A Question of Guilt, by William Scoular

William Scoular

William Scoular is a stage director, writer and filmmaker.He was born in Glasgow, Scotland and is a graduate of Oxford University where he read English at Lincoln College. He first attracted attention for his assured direction of a professional production of The Importance of Being Earnest at the...

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See also

• Eaton Family
  Eaton family
  The Eaton family of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, were owners of the Eaton's department stores, a national chain that was founded in 1869, and became bankrupt in 1999. At the family's height, their net worth was around $2 billion...