The day after Martha Babb died, David Thomas Muir stopped a friend on the street, the Toronto Sun reported. Sergeant Neale Tweedy of Metro police later testified to what Muir said: that “he had killed a girl and she was in his bathtub.”
The friend phoned police. Officers went to the apartment and found the body just as Muir was returning.
The papers named the dead woman as John Alfred McDonald and said she was known as Martha Babb. She was 38. The Sun gave the date of her death as December 10, 1983.
Tweedy testified that Babb was unemployed. He told prosecutor Kerry Evans that she had taken medical treatment that led to the growth of breasts. “He always wore women’s clothes and felt he was a woman in a man’s body,” the Toronto Star quoted him as saying. Both papers used “he” and “his” for her.
Muir was 39 and lived on Wilton Street, the papers said. The Star called him a long-time alcoholic. The Sun called him unemployed. His lawyer, Brian Jones, told the court he had several previous convictions for burglaries and other offences.
The account of the killing came from Jones and from Tweedy, in Ontario Supreme Court on Friday, May 11, 1984. Jones said the friction between the two roommates came when Babb brought clients home for prostitution. They quarrelled. Jones said Muir grabbed Babb by the throat to stop her shouting.
When Babb went limp, Jones said, Muir thought she was faking and put her in a bathtub filled with water to revive her. Tweedy testified that Muir placed a blanket over the body in the bathtub “and kitty litter on top of that” and left the apartment. He began drinking heavily, Tweedy said, and then told his friend.
Jones also told the court, the Sun reported, that Muir knew McDonald “was male” and that it “didn’t affect their friendship.”
Muir was originally charged with second-degree murder. He pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of manslaughter. The Star reported on May 12, 1984, that he had been sentenced to five years in prison.
Mr. Justice John O’Driscoll told Muir, “You strangled a human being.” The judge said, “The fact he was screaming is no excuse.” He said Muir and Babb were both “heavily intoxicated.” The Sun quoted him as saying, “Drunk or sober this was a vicious act on your part.” He told Muir that if he was ever going to straighten out his life, now was the time.
The Star’s headline over its report read “Man gets 5 years in transvestite killing.” Its first sentence called Babb Muir’s “transvestite room mate.” The Sun headed its item “Strangler gets 5-year term” and opened by calling Babb Muir’s “transvestite roommate.”
Beside it on the page, the Sun reported that a 29-year-old man who pleaded guilty to raping his former common-law wife at knifepoint received a suspended sentence for the rape and six months in jail for attempting to obstruct justice.
Vital statistics
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Name | Martha Babb; also reported as John Alfred McDonald |
| Age | 38 |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Prostitute; the Sun also called her unemployed |
| Date of death | December 10, 1983 |
| Manner of death | Strangulation |
| Location | Wilton Street, Toronto |
| Accused | David Thomas Muir, 39 |
| Charge | Second-degree murder, reduced to manslaughter |
| Defence counsel | Brian Jones |
| Crown counsel | Kerry Evans |
| Judge | Mr. Justice John O’Driscoll |
| Verdict | Pleaded guilty to manslaughter |
| Sentence | Five years in prison; reported May 12, 1984, for a hearing the Star dated “yesterday” (May 11) |
Sources
- Toronto Star, May 12, 1984, p. A8
- Toronto Sun, May 13, 1984, p. 84
Murder Village Map
* We use Martha Babb’s birth name for the sake of genealogy searches.
It’s embarrassing to say but Muir was my Dad…he was an extremely abusive alcoholic and the smartest thing my mother ever did was leave his pathetic ass! I am entirely convinced that had she not left when she did that he most certainly would have killed her and I. If its any consolation he received his karma, he was sentenced in May 1984 and died a painful death from cancer that December…handcuffed to a hospital bed in Kingston.