Stories of Murder in Toronto's Gay Village
On July 23, 1992, John Patrick Somerton, 42, was found beaten to death in his own apartment above a store at 3465 Lakeshore Boulevard. He died from 11 blows to the head with a metal bat made while he was sleeping. Just days later, a 14-year-old boy was arrested. There was evidence of a “sexual … Read more
On March 24, 1991, Michael Henry Vadeboncoeur, 42, was stabbed to death in his home at 7 Hilltop Road. Vadeboncoeur was a former CBC radio comic called Boncoeur. He was found with multiple stab wounds in a blood-splattered apartment. A 16-year-old youth arrested two weeks later and charged with first-degree murder in his death, and … Read more
On the afternoon of Wednesday, February 13, 1991, Toronto police went to a house on Thorncliffe Avenue, near Danforth and Broadview Avenues. Relatives and friends had reported that Norman John Cardwell had failed to show up for work. Police found him dead, shot in the head. Cardwell was 51, a salesman born in Toronto. Neighbours … 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
Apparently, fifty-five-year-old Dennis McDonald inspired such terror in his killer, he was stabbed 10 times. In the back. Then he bled to death. The killer, 19-year-old Guy Simon, was “absolutely thrilled” when he was acquitted of the murder. On December 18, 1989, moving company owner McDonald was attacked by Simon, who was 17 at the … Read more
At about 10 a.m. on Friday, October 27, 1989, Metro police were called to an 11th-floor apartment at 800 Richmond Street West to investigate a “person who was ill,” the Toronto Star reported. Ambulance attendant Annie Cavally later testified about what she and her partner found. “He was cold,” she said. “He was very pale. … 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
Twenty-two-year-old David Madden was an X-ray technician at a chiropractic clinic who had moved into a new Scarborough apartment just three weeks before his death. On March 19, 1988, Michael Edwin Linhart, 29, stabbed Madden 64 times including in the heart. His body was found by his roommate in their Prudential Drive apartment. Police said … Read more
A fight over which side of the floor cushions they would sleep on, cost Charles Robert Welbanks, 38, his life. Welbanks’ on-and-off lover of eight years, John Ralph Taylor, 46, stabbed him four times in the heart over the dispute on February 6, 1988. Welbanks, whom police thought was a woman because of the clothing … Read more
Early on Sunday, September 6, 1987, police went to a house on Miller Street in the Davenport and Weston Roads area of Toronto. A woman had telephoned to say they would find a body there, the Toronto Star reported. In a basement apartment they found Marlene Ann Collins, 34, with a plastic grocery bag tied … Read more
Allan Charles North, 54, was found murdered seven to ten day after his death on approximately May 3, 1987. North was a hairdresser, and his body was found in the back of his hairdressing salon, the House of North at 398 Dundas St. East. A postmortem examination showed he died of asphyxia. North lived with … 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
At about four in the afternoon on Monday, March 2, 1987, Metro Toronto police answered a call for help at a basement apartment on Northcote Avenue. Constable Leon Johnson found Lisa Black on a bed. Two years later he told a jury he could detect only a faint pulse. He said he came to recognize … Read more
David and Clara Kasdan found their son on the floor of his Blackthorn Avenue condominium on Wednesday, August 6, 1986. David Kasdan told Canadian Press that Edwin was just inside the front door, face down and fully clothed, and that they saw blood on his face when they turned him over. Edwin Kasdan, 55, had … Read more