Stories of Murder in Toronto's Gay Village
On Monday, January 29, 2018, Det.-Sgt. Hank Idsinga told reporters that Toronto police had laid three more counts of first-degree murder against Bruce McArthur, a 66-year-old landscaper. The new charges named Majeed Kayhan, Soroush Mahmudi and Dean Lisowick. McArthur was already charged in the deaths of Andrew Kinsman and Selim Esen. “What kind of case … 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
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
Shawn Keegan was just 19 years old when they was murdered by Toronto spree killer Marcello Palma. Keegan, described as a “transvestite prostitute”, was killed with the same gun as “female prostitute” Brenda Ludgate, 25, and “transsexual prostitute” Deanna (Thomas) Wilkinson, 31, within about three hours, on May 20, 1996. Keegan had lived for some … Read more
On Monday, September 19, 1994, at about 5 p.m., an ambulance crew climbed to a 14th-floor apartment on Sherbourne St. A friend had gone there looking for Harry Ronald Isaac, 50, who had not turned up for work at a hotel on Lombard St. The friend found him dead. The Toronto Star reported the next … Read more
On May 7, 1994, John Beverly “Bev” Wilson, 60, a well-known stage manager who once worked with the National Ballet of Canada, was found dead in the laundry room of his Eglinton Avenue West and Avenue Road apartment building. He was found in a large pool of blood, dead from a single stab wound. Wilson, … Read more
Shortly after 6:30 on the morning of Tuesday, August 3, 1993, a long-time friend found Jack Bell dead in his house on Collier Street. The Toronto Star reported that Bell was on the second floor. The Globe and Mail reported that he was face down. The friend told police there were signs of a break-in. … 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
Former Alderman and accountant Donald William Weir died on April 5, 1983. He was found naked in his bathtub with more than 40 injuries. A banana had been shoved in his mouth. Weir, 50, was found by firefighters who had rushed to his apartment in response to a security staff person’s call: a fire alarm … Read more
Twenty-four-year-old Torontonian Charles Edward Palmer was shot in the head and chest with a .22 calibre rifle at his family cottage on Bob Lake near Minden, Ontario. He bled to death. Several rifles, a gold bracelet and his wallet were stolen. Palmer, who lived on Shier Drive in Scarborough, was found lying dead on a … Read more
Early on Monday, November 16, 1981, a man came home to the sixth-floor apartment he shared at 550 Jarvis Street. His roommate, John Henry Martin, was on a blood-soaked couch with stab wounds to the chest and face, the Toronto Star reported. The roommate, Ross Ball, 33, had been away for the weekend. A knife … 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
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
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
On Saturday, July 15, 1967, a farmer named Antonio De Freitas found a body in one of his fields near Markham. It was a young man, naked, lying in grass three feet high. The coroner, Dr. Ralph Johns, examined the body where it lay. He said the death “might well be a murder,” the Globe … Read more