Stories of Murder in Toronto's Gay Village
David Murphy, 61, was found dead in his bedroom at Brimley Acres, a senior citizens’ apartment building at 2950 Lawrence Avenue East in Scarborough, on Monday, June 29, 1981. The Toronto Star reported that the superintendent found him after Murphy did not answer his phone. The Body Politic reported that police found the body just … Read more
The Toronto Star reported that a resident of an apartment building at 35 Wynford Heights Crescent, in North York, found a man lying in a pool of blood just inside the doors of the underground garage. It was about 4:45 on the morning of Sunday, March 1, 1981. The man had been stabbed several times … Read more
Early on Friday, October 26, 1979, the building superintendent let a 15-year-old girl into her brother’s apartment on Ontario Street. The Globe and Mail reported that she had failed to reach him by telephone. She found the body of James Edward Downing, 23, lying on a bed. Police said he had died of a stab … Read more
On the evening of Saturday, October 20, 1979, Micheline Ferland, 25, spoke to the Toronto Star on the steps of a house on Badgerow Avenue in east-end Toronto. Her left arm had been broken by a baseball bat that morning. “He was after Diane in particular,” she said. Diane Edwards was 36. At about 4:30 … Read more
On Monday, April 9, 1979, David Albert Manship went to a Toronto lawyer. The information he gave led police to the body of James MacDonald. MacDonald, 35, had been shot once with a sawed-off .22-calibre rifle. The Globe and Mail reported that he was found in Manship’s apartment on King Street West. The Toronto Star … Read more
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. … Read more
On Tuesday, November 28, 1978, Duncan Robinson failed to turn up for work for the second day in a row. His sister, Catherine, asked police to check on him. Officers forced their way into his apartment on Vaughan Rd. and found his body in the bedroom. Toronto police records give the time of the call … Read more
On the evening of Wednesday, September 20, 1978, three men kicked in the door of an apartment on St. Joseph Street in downtown Toronto. Their friend had not answered their knocks or their phone calls. They found him in the bedroom, the Toronto Star reported. The Toronto Sun said he was lying in a pool … Read more
Early on Monday, September 18, 1978, Gerald Douglas White was found in a pool of blood in a 15th-floor apartment on Rosehill Avenue in Toronto. The apartment belonged to a friend who was away on holiday. White had been looking after it, the Toronto Sun reported, visiting every day to check the security and feed … Read more
Early on the morning of Sunday, August 27, 1978, in an apartment on St. Joseph Street, a man who had fallen asleep woke to find his room-mate unconscious and bleeding from a head injury. The injured man was Colin Nicholson, 41. That was how the Toronto Star told it after he died. The evening had … Read more
At 7:05 a.m. on Saturday, August 19, 1978, Nick Yasynowycz, 69, was walking his dog across the grounds of Western Technical-Commercial School on Evelyn Crescent. Near a flower bed on the west side of the school, he saw someone lying on her side. “I thought she was asleep at first,” he told the Sunday Star. … Read more
At about seven on the morning of Monday, February 13, 1978, Bill Petkos arrived for work at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club on Price Street. On the second floor he found his co-worker Donald Rochester dead. Rochester had been shot in the head. He was wearing only his undershirt. The rest of his clothes were … Read more
On Thursday, December 15, 1977, Neil Wilkinson’s employer called Metro Toronto police. He worked the midnight-to-8 a.m. shift at the Royal Bank, and he had not been to work for four days. Calls to his home had gone unanswered. Police went to his second-floor apartment on Charles St. E., near Church St. They found him … Read more
Just after midnight on Thursday, May 5, 1977, three youths attacked a man in Allan Gardens. They beat him and kicked him in the head. When people came toward them to help, the three ran. The man’s wallet was left on the ground beside him. At about 12:15 a.m., police were called to the area … Read more
At about 9:40 a.m. on Tuesday, January 25, 1977, Toronto police answered a call to check an address at 141 Erskine Avenue. A young bank employee had not come to work, and the apartment superintendent had been asked to look in on him. Police found Brian Latocki dead in his bedroom. He was nude and … Read more