"Strait Jacket Escape -- Winnipeg Free Press Building "

In adulation of his idol, Dean Gunnarson breaks free from the confines of a strait jacket as he dangles precariously over the parking lot of the Winnipeg Free Press Building. On October 31st, 1982, 18 year old Dean Gunnarson, was bound into a strait jacket and hoisted by his ankles over 300 feet off the ground, high above a crowd of 2,500 spectators. On February 21st, 1923, Houdini had spent two minutes extricating himself from a strait jacket while suspended from the Winnipeg Free Press Building. Dean humbly bested Houdini's escape time by 20 seconds. "I did it to honor a great man -- a tribute to Harry Houdini who died on October 31st, 1926. He was the greatest showman who ever existed." This escape would be the first of many annual Halloween Tribute Escapes for Dean Gunnarson.