Stories of Murder in Toronto's Gay Village
Bruno Max Seidel led a quiet, mysterious life and died a mysterious, unsolved death. Police were called to a rooming house at 103 Hamilton St., where they found Seidel with three stab wounds in his chest. They originally through the wounds were self-inflicted, until they found two more stab wounds in his back. Seidel, 57, … Read more
High-school teacher Francis Desjarlais, known to police for his “homosexual tendencies,” was found beaten to death on July 17, 1966 in a $4 room at Toronto’s Walsingham Hotel at 321 Jarvis St. The Walsingham was part of a notorious section of Jarvis St. that included murder, prostitution and theft in various low-rent hotels. Less than … Read more
Alexander Bakalis was 40 years old when he met Joseph Normandin, 20, at the Ford Hotel’s cocktail lounge on May 3, 1960. They each drank seven or eight bottles of beer, according to waiter John Markovitch. Bakalis, a clothing salesman, was found May 4 stabbed to death in his basement apartment on Farnham Avenue. He … Read more