Stories of Murder in Toronto's Gay Village
Tess Richey, 22, was out celebrating on November 24, 2017, with friend Ryley Simard at Crews & Tangos, a Gay Village drag bar, although Richey is not LGBTQ+. They left the bar at approximately 1:30am, heading north toward Dundonald Street where they hung out with a friend of Richey’s on her front porch. With them … Read more
Police Constable Glen Wilson was the first officer into the 17th-floor apartment on Jackes Avenue, near Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue East, on Tuesday, January 6, 2004. He described what he found to the jury at a murder trial in February 2006, the Toronto Star reported. A 78-year-old man lay face down on the … Read more
Cassandra Do had arranged to meet her brother and sister on the evening of Monday, August 25, 2003. When she did not answer her door or her cellphone, they asked the building superintendent to let them in. The Toronto Star reported in 2006 that she was found face down in a bathtub full of water, … Read more
A phone call brought police to an apartment on Tyndall Avenue in Parkdale on Saturday, April 29, 2000. Inside was the body of James Campbell, 63. The Toronto Star reported that his sister had found him and that police believed he knew his attacker. James Thomas Campbell was known as Jimmy. The Star spelled it … Read more
On May 1, 2000, police discovered the body of antique dealer Neil Parker, 49, three days after he had been murdered in his apartment. Residents had called to complaint about a foul odour. His live-in partner, Christopher Partak, 24, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Parker, found in a bathtub at their 77 Maitland … Read more
At 1:30 p.m. on Friday, October 28, 1994, a woman’s body was found behind the Palais Royale dance hall on Lake Shore Boulevard West. The Toronto Star reported two days later that she had been strangled. She was Virginia Lee Coote, 33, known to her friends as Flex. The Star said the body had washed … Read more
Prostitute Julieanne Middleton, 23, was working the Parkdale neighbourhood when she was murdered. Police suspect she is a victim of serial killer Peter Dale MacDonald. She was found July 7, 1994 in Lake Ontario, just a few minutes’ walk from the Palais Royale at 1601 Lake Shore Blvd West, along Toronto’s western waterfront. Middleton was … Read more
Shortly after 6:30 on the morning of Tuesday, August 3, 1993, a long-time friend found Jack Bell dead in his house on Collier Street. The Toronto Star reported that Bell was on the second floor. The Globe and Mail reported that he was face down. The friend told police there were signs of a break-in. … Read more
Just before midnight on July 30, 1993, a trail of blood led tenants of an 80 Charles St. East apartment building to the viciously beaten body of Norman Bernard Rasky, 62, a retired dentist. Residents followed the blood trail from the lobby of one building to the underground locker room of another, adjoining building. He … Read more
The Toronto Sun reported on December 27, 1992 that Grayce Baxter had sent her parents plane tickets so they could spend Christmas with her in Toronto. They flew in from Clearwater, B.C. Their daughter was not there. Her concierge told the Sun he noticed she was missing before anyone else did. Friends came by and … Read more
On the evening of Wednesday, December 5, 1990, a woman who worked with Derek Dacosta went to his house on Gifford Street. He had not shown up that day at the hair salon where he worked. A friend found his body in the bedroom, the Toronto Star reported. The Globe and Mail put the discovery … Read more
At about 9 p.m. on Saturday, April 14, 1990, Michael Boley did not arrive at the suite of Irene Kalantarow for his regular visit. She was an elderly, handicapped resident of the 30-storey condominium on Homewood Avenue, north of Carlton Street. Boley, a fellow resident, had cared for her over many years. She got the … Read more
Charles Albert Lizotte’s body was seen being tossed out a speeding U-Haul truck on October 4, 1988. The dumping of the 30-year-old man, who lived on Shuter Street, was seen by a 9-year-old boy playing in an Ontario Hydro right-of-way in Pickering. Lizotte had been shoved into a sleeping bag thrown to the side of … Read more
Shortly before midnight on Tuesday, April 14, 1987, police found Paul Lopez Monte-de-Ramos, 38, dead in his Sherbourne Street apartment, the Globe and Mail reported. The Toronto Star’s year-end list of homicides said police forced their way in and found him strangled. According to the Star, investigators had received a telephone tip that he had … Read more
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 … Read more