No Clear Motive

Thirty-six-year-old Diane (Brian or Bryan William) Edwards was not the only person attacked when someone broke into a house at 45 Badgerow Ave. at 4:30 in the morning on October 21, 1979. Micheline Ferland, 35, Rosemary Doohan, 30 and Casey Doohan, 6, were also beaten. Edwards was the only one who died. Edwards, whom police … Read more

Murderous Love

David Albert Manship once loved James MacDonald so much, he deliberately tried to get sent to jail just to be with MacDonald. But on April 8, 1979, Manship, 36, killed MacDonald, 35, in his King Street West apartment. Manship said the two had a tumultuous relationship that began 15 years previously. During the Christmas season … Read more

Nine Stab Wounds

James Francis McIntyre, 33, was stabbed with such force that the knife penetrated six inches into his brain. He suffered eight additional stab wounds, and died nine hours later in hospital on March 18, 1979. His lover would plead guilty to manslaughter on August 19, 1980. Paul Maurice Monette, 32, told police that McIntyre instructed … Read more

A Strange, Hollow Sound

William Duncan Robinson, 24, was found by his sister when she became concerned that he did not show up to work for two days. He was found November 28, 1978, “horribly mutilated” in his 205 Vaughan Road apartment. Robinson was a “shy, well-dressed” man who, police believe, may have met his killer at the St. … Read more

Flowers and Feathers

On Sunday September 17, 1978, Gerald Douglas White headed to a friend’s Rosehill Avenue apartment to feed some budgies and water flowers. He was beaten to death that day by Paris Colin Rogers, 23, of no fixed address. White, a salesman who lived at 44 Charles St West, had invited Rogers back to the Rosehill … Read more

Robbed And Beaten To Death

Colin Nicholson, 41, was found robbed and beaten on August 27, 1978, and died of severe head injuries on September 4. Police reported that Nicholson and his roommate Albert Homer Durnan, 56, met two men at the Stables, at 418 Church St., and brought them back for drinks to their 26 St. Joseph Street apartment. … Read more

Swimming Leads To Murder

Shirley (Peter Christopher) Hauser, 20, was stabbed to death on August 19, 1978 on the school grounds of Western Technical Commercial High at 125 Evelyn Crescent. Police reported that Hauser, who lived on Westminster Ave., was a trans woman, dressed as a woman and was undergoing a sex change. She was stabbed in the back, … Read more

Victim Was An Assailant

Police were stymied by the murder of 47-year-old Donald Rochester, a bartender and handyman for the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club, on February 13, 1978. Rochester had worked at the Club at 44 Price Street for more than 15 years and was well-liked by his colleagues. He left behind a wife and two children. Rochester was … Read more

Stomped To Death

Neil Robert Wilkinson, 35, was found beaten, stabbed and asphyxiated in his Charles St. East apartment on December 15, 1977. Wilkinson “was known to hang out at the Parkside and St. Charles” taverns. Wilkinson left the Parkside on December 9 just after 1 a.m. with two friends. He was found nude on his bed, dead, … Read more

Mugging Becomes Murder

Sixty-two-year-old Bernard Guay was murdered in Allan Gardens park at 19 Horticultural Avenue. He was discovered alive on May 5, 1977 at 12:15 a.m., suffering from blunt force trauma. He was immediately transported to hospital, and died on May 11. Newspapers described Guay as “an old, nearly blind man who was beaten to death by … Read more

Tied and Tortured

Brian Dana Latocki was 24 years old when he was murdered. On January 25, 1977, a still-unknown assailant stabbed Latocki in his home at 141 Erskine Avenue. Police said he was believed to be the “victim of a homosexual assault” after his nude body was found tied to his bed. He had been tortured, stabbed … Read more

Last Seen at St. Charles Tavern

On the morning of Monday September 20, 1976, police responded to a 911 call and found the body of James Stewart Kennedy. He had been beaten to death. Kennedy, 59, lived at 262 Jarvis St., and worked at the Department of National Revenue. He was found beaten and strangled. A towel had been knotted around … Read more

Rage At Rejection

Carmen Noel Allgrove, 40, had left his hometown of London, Ontario and recently began living in Toronto, but had no fixed address. He was an alcoholic who had been kicked out of a home for men with drinking problems. On August 29, 1976, Allgrove met Joseph Patrick Donoghue, 28, in a church park, hoping for … Read more