Stories of Murder in Toronto's Gay Village
On Monday July 14, 2008, sixty-four-year-old William Ross Magill was pronounced dead at his home on 40 Delisle Avenue. He had been stabbed. Magill, how usually went by Ross Magill, had been a gifted interior designer prior to his three-year descent into sex and drugs and alcohol. Friends said he had begun to bring home … Read more
Seventy-two-year-old Harley Walker was born in Manchester England and immigrated to Toronto in 1958 where he found employment with the CBC for 30 years. He went missing on October 13, 2006, after meeting a man, David Reid, on an internet gay chat room. The two men exchanged messages, and met for coffee for several months. … Read more
On Friday, June 2, 2006, Toronto police responded to an emergency call at a 10th-floor apartment on Strathmore Boulevard, near Coxwell and Danforth avenues. CityNews reported that police were called after reports that a man was unconscious. Inside they found Lawrence Callahan, 64. He had serious head wounds, CityNews reported. The Star reported “obvious signs … Read more
On July 20, 2005, the Canadian Civil Marriage Act received royal assent, meaning persons of the same sex could legally get married in Canada.
Although it took the jury less than four hours to acquit Ivan Mendez-Romero of killing his lover Janko Naglic, and no other person has ever been charged, Toronto police consider Naglic’s murder to be “case closed.” Naglic, 58, was murdered on October 27, 2004 and found in his home on Balliol Street. Naglic was renowned … 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
At about 6:58 a.m. on Friday, January 19, 2001, Toronto police were called to 1 Spadina Crescent, a University of Toronto building north of College Street. A caretaker had found a man on the second floor. Emergency crews tried to save him. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Det. Ken Taylor, the lead homicide … Read more
On Thursday, August 17, 2000, friends of Anthony Bennett found his body and called police, Det. Kim Carr told CBC News. The Toronto Star later reported that Bennett was due to arrive in Ireland that day to be with his family. The body was in his apartment at 40 Homewood Avenue, the Globe and Mail … Read more
At 12:45 a.m. on Tuesday, May 23, 2000, a Toronto police cruiser spotted a black 1998 Volvo near police headquarters at Bay and College streets. The Toronto Star reported that the driver ran when he saw the cruiser. Officers stopped him a few blocks away, at Toronto General Hospital, at University Avenue and Gerrard Street … 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
July 7, 1999 was seventy-two-year-old Hugh Sinclair’s last day alive. Sinclair was murdered in his 42nd-storey apartment at 44 Charles Street West in the Manulife Centre. His murderer would be convicted before his body was found. Sinclair was a retired Sun Life insurance company employee and an avid antiques collector. He met Timothy Culham, 29, … Read more
On Monday afternoon, May 24, 1999, an anonymous phone call sent Toronto police to a 15th-floor apartment at 200 Wellesley Street East. Anthony Charles Dowding, 56, was dead inside, beaten. The Globe and Mail reported that police found a trail of blood leading away from the apartment door. Homicide Det. Larry Linton said the attacker … Read more
On Friday night, May 30, 1997, a lawyer directed investigators from the Metro police homicide squad to an apartment. In the bathroom they found the body of James Edward Detzler, 54. The lawyer acted for Steven Todd Craig, 26, of Dundas Street East. The apartment was Craig’s home, the Globe and Mail later reported. Craig … Read more