Mary Steinhauser

In January 1976, Andy Bruce appeared in a New Westminster provincial court where he gave his account of the hostage-taking situation to Judge Philip Govan. Bruce said that after the prison tactical squad arrived all of the hostages except for Mary Steinhauser shut themselves inside a vault in the penitentiary. According to Bruce, the other hostages "acted out of fear; their only concern was to get that vault door shut and keep it shut." Andy Bruce went on to allege that, after being shot twice in the jaw by a prison guard he identified as Albert Hollinger, Mary Steinhauser crawled in front him, where "she screamed, 'Don't shoot him.'" After this, according to Bruce's testimony, Hollinger shot and killed Mary Steinhauser.

In July 1976 a jury ruled that the shooting was not intentional and that the guards, including Hollinger, were acting under the belief that Steinhauser's life was actively being threatened by the inmates. The jury further recommended that future, similar incidents be handled by outside teams that have been trained in hostage situations.

In an interview on June 11, 1975, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau commented on the hostage-taking incident. Trudeau stated how "very sorry" he felt about Mary Steinhauser's death and he discussed the federal government's commitment to not letting the inmates escape: "To make sure these guys wouldn't get off with anything...we would hound them wherever they were."

Steinhauser then began work as a psychiatric nurse for the Matsqui Institution, a newly opened medium-security prison in Matsqui, BC. From 1967 to 1970, Steinhauser studied psychology and sociology at Simon Fraser University in BC, where she graduated in 1971 with a BA (Honours) in Psychology and Sociology. Immediately after attaining her bachelor's degree, she began graduate studies at the University of British Columbia in social work; Mary was awarded her Master of Social Work degree in May 1973.

Mary Steinhauser (August 25, 1942 – June 11, 1975) was a Canadian social worker and prison classification officer who was killed during a hostage-taking at the B.C. Penitentiary in 1975. On June 9, 1975, Steinhauser was one of 15 people that were taken hostage by three inmates, Andy Bruce, Dwight Lucas and Claire Wilson, who were attempting a prison breakout. Prior to the hostage-taking and her death, Steinhauser was an outspoken advocate against solitary confinement.

Steinhauser was born in Duncan, British Columbia, Canada, on August 25, 1942. Mary was the elder daughter of August Steinhauser and Johanna Reisner's two children. Mary Steinhauser's father emigrated to Canada in 1925 from Ravensburg, Germany. He began farming in Edmonton, Alberta, and subsequently moved to Lake Cowichan, BC where he worked in the sawmill. Mary Steinhauser’s mother immigrated to Canada in 1939 from Vienna, Austria. Mary's parents married in 1941.