Stories of Murder in Toronto's Gay Village
Christopher John Andrew Skinner was 27 when he was purposefully struck and killed by an SUV on October 28, 2009. He was killed in Toronto’s Entertainment District at Adelaide St. East and Victoria Street and police immediately began searching for CCTV and security video footage from businesses in the area. He was engaged and planning … 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
On Monday afternoon, May 24, 1999, an anonymous phone call sent Toronto police to a 15th-floor apartment at 200 Wellesley Street East. Anthony Charles Dowding, 56, was dead inside, beaten. The Globe and Mail reported that police found a trail of blood leading away from the apartment door. Homicide Det. Larry Linton said the attacker … Read more
On Friday night, May 30, 1997, a lawyer directed investigators from the Metro police homicide squad to an apartment. In the bathroom they found the body of James Edward Detzler, 54. The lawyer acted for Steven Todd Craig, 26, of Dundas Street East. The apartment was Craig’s home, the Globe and Mail later reported. Craig … Read more
On Monday, January 29, 1996, Les Aykler went to check on the superintendent of his family’s apartment building at College Street and Roxton Road, just east of Ossington Avenue. Tenants had last seen Clayton Russell on Saturday. Aykler had spoken to him that day too. Now neither the residents nor the realty firm could reach … 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
At about 5:30 on the morning of Saturday, February 26, 1994, Dr. Stephen Kirby left an after-hours club on St. Joseph Street in downtown Toronto. Just before, he had been involved in a minor confrontation with another man inside the club, Metro police said. Outside, he was knocked to the ground and kicked in the … 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
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
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
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
Late on Monday, December 16, 1985, a resident on the 16th floor of a Carlton St. highrise grew worried about the newspapers piling up outside a neighbour’s door. The building superintendent, Harry Lucas, checked the apartment. In the bedroom he found the partially clad body of Peter Ager, the Toronto Star reported. Ager was 31. … Read more
Public school librarian Kenneth Zeller, 40, was mobbed in High Park by five teenage boys. He would be found later, slumped in his car. He had been chased by five young men, caught and beaten, dying of head injuries. They left him unconscious. It was the last day of school for the killers before summer … 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