Bloody Jack, a song cycle featuring music by Michael Matthews and poetry by Dennis Cooley, was performed by soprano Dawn Bruch-Wiens and pianist Laura Loewen on April 27, 2023. The cycle tells the story of “Bloody” Jack Krafchenko, a notorious criminal from the turn of the 20th century who immigrated to Manitoba from Romania. Krafchenko spent much of his childhood in Plum Coulee and began his criminal activity as a child stealing watches and bicycles in the Southern Manitoba area. He then made his way through England, the United States, Germany, France, Italy, and Russia, robbing banks along the way. During the years he and his wife lived in Plum Coulee, Krafchenko continued to rob banks and ultimately murdered a bank manager, resulting in his incarceration and hanging at the Vaughan Street Jail in 1914.
