Early on Sunday, March 18, 1979, James Francis McIntyre was stabbed repeatedly in the head and body with a 10½-inch knife. Police arrested his roommate at the scene, in the Gerrard St. E.–Sackville St. area, and charged him with attempted murder.
McIntyre died at Wellesley Hospital 13½ hours after the stabbing, the Toronto Star reported. He was 32. That night the charge against his roommate was raised to first-degree murder.
The accused was Paul Maurice Monette, 31. The Star, which spelled his name Paulo Maurice Monetee, identified him as a Gifford St. man.
On Monday, March 19, the Star ran the case as a short item in its News Digest. McIntyre’s death was Metro’s eighth homicide of 1979, the paper noted, compared with 12 at the same point the year before. In that report, the two men were roommates.
On Monday, May 26, 1980, Monette, now 32 and still of Gifford St., pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the Supreme Court of Ontario.
Crown attorney Paul Culver told the court McIntyre had been stabbed nine times, including once in the temple. The knife went six inches into his brain, Culver said. He said McIntyre died in hospital nine hours after the stabbings.
Staff Sgt. Jack Press of the Metro police homicide squad testified about Monette’s statement to police. Monette had said he was beaten by some people on McIntyre’s instructions.
“Then we were alone and we had an argument and we had a fight,” Press quoted Monette as saying. “He was cursing at me and I went into the bedroom and he would not shut up so I stabbed him.”
That statement is the only account of the night in the Star’s reports. It came from the accused, read into the record by a police officer. In it, the first violence was a beating Monette said McIntyre had arranged.
In 1979 the Star had called the two men roommates. Its 1980 report called McIntyre Monette’s “male lover,” under the headline “Guilty of killing his lover.”
Sentencing was set for August 19, 1980.
The Star’s two reports differ in places. McIntyre is 32 in the first and 33 in the second. He died 13½ hours after the stabbing in one account and nine hours after it in the other.
Vital statistics
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Name | James Francis McIntyre |
| Age | 32 or 33 |
| Gender | Male |
| Date of death | March 18, 1979 |
| Manner of death | Stabbing |
| Location | Stabbed in the Gerrard St. E.–Sackville St. area; died at Wellesley Hospital |
| Accused | Paul Maurice Monette (Paulo Maurice Monetee in the 1979 report), 31 or 32, of Gifford St. |
| Charge | Attempted murder, raised to first-degree murder |
| Crown counsel | Paul Culver |
| Verdict | Pleaded guilty to manslaughter, May 26, 1980; sentencing set for August 19, 1980 |
Sources
- Toronto Star, March 19, 1979, p. A3
- Toronto Star, May 27, 1980, p. D6
Murder Village Map