Stories of Murder in Toronto's Gay Village
Auctioneer Chadwick Francis, 37, was murdered in his home in the Greenwood and Mortimer Avenues. On August 6, 2020, police were called to his home, where they found his body. He may have been dead for several days, and although police are calling it a homicide, they are not yet releasing the cause of death. … 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
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
Marlene Ann Collins, 34, was murdered on September 5, 1987 in a basement apartment on Miller Street in the Davenport and Weston Roads area. Police were responding to a woman’s call telling them they would find a body in the house. It was the house of the killers: they were calling from Montreal, where they … 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
Phillip Robert (Barbara) Filshie was murdered by his common-law wife, Joyce Lorraine Filshie, 47, in a domestic dispute on December 20, 1984. Phillip had been seeing a doctor at the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry (now named the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health) for “a long time.” At the time, the Clarke was the only … Read more
On the night of January 6, 1984, a lover’s triangle went very wrong for twenty-nine-year-old Christine Lavery Clifford. She was stabbed to death. Hers was the first murder of the year. Clifford was attacked in a ninth floor apartment of 31 Gilder Drive. She had been stabbed six times in the chest and back. She … Read more
Martha Babb was 38 years old when her roommate, David Thomas Muir, 39, grabbed her by the throat and strangled her. Babb and Muir often fought because Babb was a prostitute who would bring clients home. Babb, also known as John Alfred McDonald, was murdered on December 10, 1983, in their apartment on Wilton Street … 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