Theodore Pleasant

Theodore Pleasant
Actor	Peter Donaldson
Seen	Hangman
Gender	Male
Status	Living
Relationships	Unnnamed wife
Job	Executioner (formerly)

Theodore Pleasant was an executioner working at the Don Jail in Toronto, introduced in Season 3 of Murdoch Mysteries, portrayed by Peter Donaldson.

Appearances and Mentions

Hangman

• He did his job for many years, even though it shattered his marriage, but developed doubts after being charged with executing a young man named Michael Worketin. Worketin had been accused of killing his girlfriend and though Worketin's pleading look raised doubts Pleasant executed him. One month later a man named Freddie Duckworth was also about to be executed; Duckworth gloated that he had been the one who had committed the murder that Worketin had been executed for.
• Consumed with guilt and frustration, Pleasant confronted Judge Enoch Mead with the new information. Unbeknownst to Pleasant, he had in fact succeeded in encouraging the judge to reexamine the case, and Mead had discovered that Crown Prosecutor Dillard had essentially paid a prostitute to make up the damning eyewitness testimony. After the judge was murdered by Dillard, Pleasant was in charge of executing Cecil Fox (whom Dillard had framed). Seeing the same look in his eyes that he had seen in the Worketin case, Pleasant taught Fox how to survive the hanging. When his part in Fox's escape was discovered, Pleasant told Brackenreid and Murdoch what he believed, which prompted them to reopen the Fox and Workentin cases.
• After Dr. Julia Ogden proved Fox's innocence, Pleasant was discharged from his job. Dillard panicked and attempted to frame Pleasant for Mead's murder by stealing one of his gin bottles and leaving a shard with Pleasant's fingerprint on it for the constabulary to find. When questioned why he didn't mention he had an argument with Mead, Pleasant was brought in for questioning. When Brackenreid accused him of having the argument the day Mead died, Pleasant insisted that it was a week before. Brackenreid convinced Murdoch to consider that Pleasant was innocent, leading them to exposing Dillard for both his murder of Mead and his misconduct in the Worketin case. This brought closure to Pleasant, who swore off drinking. When Brackenreid came by to visit, the Inspector told Pleasant that his replacement, Gideon Catchpole, botched the hanging, causing Dillard's head to pop off. Pleasant lamented that hanging is a nasty business.