Stories of Murder in Toronto's Gay Village
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
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
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
Eleven months after the stabbing, Assistant Crown Attorney Karen Dunlop told an Ontario Supreme Court jury that on the night of December 20, 1984, Joyce Lorraine Filshie banged on a neighbour’s door and cried, “Come quickly! I’ve stabbed Phil!” Dunlop said Joyce had blood on her hands and that a bloodstained knife lay on the … Read more
Police were called to a ninth-floor apartment on Gilder Drive in Scarborough at about 11 p.m. on Friday, January 6, 1984. The Toronto Star reported later that they found Christine Clifford, 29, with several stab wounds in her abdomen. Alanna (Maume) Smith, 25, who lived in the apartment, was unconscious on the couch. Clifford was … Read more
At about 8:30 on the morning of Saturday, October 24, 1981, a woman walking home from work found a man’s body in Allan Gardens, the Toronto Star reported. The Toronto Sun reported that the man was fully clothed and lay on a raised flower bed outside the horticultural building. Police said it was easy to … Read more
Shortly after midnight on Sunday, June 25, 1967, people living in the apartment building at 100 Maitland Street heard a man yelling. The sound came from the 10th floor, through an open door to a balcony. Police later said at least half a dozen people heard him. No one phoned the police. At about 12:45 … Read more
On Monday, February 18, 1957, Cecil William Burns did not turn up for work. He was a chef with a catering firm in East York. By about noon his employers were making inquiries. They telephoned the Edwin Hotel on Queen Street East, where Burns had lived for the past two months, and asked that his … Read more