Stories of Murder in Toronto's Gay Village
On Thursday, August 17, 2000, friends of Anthony Bennett found his body and called police, Det. Kim Carr told CBC News. The Toronto Star later reported that Bennett was due to arrive in Ireland that day to be with his family. The body was in his apartment at 40 Homewood Avenue, the Globe and Mail … 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
July 7, 1999 was seventy-two-year-old Hugh Sinclair’s last day alive. Sinclair was murdered in his 42nd-storey apartment at 44 Charles Street West in the Manulife Centre. His murderer would be convicted before his body was found. Sinclair was a retired Sun Life insurance company employee and an avid antiques collector. He met Timothy Culham, 29, … Read more
At about noon on Saturday, November 19, 1994, a man walking his dog found a body in a heavily wooded part of a Rosedale ravine. The Toronto Star reported that it was badly decomposed. An autopsy found that the man had died of head injuries from a severe beating. Police counted the death as Metro … 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
On the evening of Wednesday, December 5, 1990, a woman who worked with Derek Dacosta went to his house on Gifford Street. He had not shown up that day at the hair salon where he worked. A friend found his body in the bedroom, the Toronto Star reported. The Globe and Mail put the discovery … Read more
At about 9 p.m. on Saturday, April 14, 1990, Michael Boley did not arrive at the suite of Irene Kalantarow for his regular visit. She was an elderly, handicapped resident of the 30-storey condominium on Homewood Avenue, north of Carlton Street. Boley, a fellow resident, had cared for her over many years. She got the … Read more
Shortly before midnight on Tuesday, April 14, 1987, police found Paul Lopez Monte-de-Ramos, 38, dead in his Sherbourne Street apartment, the Globe and Mail reported. The Toronto Star’s year-end list of homicides said police forced their way in and found him strangled. According to the Star, investigators had received a telephone tip that he had … 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
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
At about 8:30 on the evening of Thursday, June 10, 1982, Dale Burgess, 18, heard screams coming from Room 20 of a rooming house at 81 Charles Street East. Visitors were leaving his own room at the time. The screams were high-pitched, he testified, and mixed with them were words like “no,” “stop” and “help.” … Read more
On Monday evening, May 17, 1982, friends who had been invited to dinner at Kevin McBride’s Scarborough apartment could not get an answer at his door. The Toronto Star reported that McBride was known as a punctual man and had failed to keep the date. The friends persuaded the building superintendent to open the suite. … Read more
When At about midnight on Monday, May 3, 1982, Ottawa police stopped a car that had run a caution light in the downtown. Staff-Inspector George Zhukow told the Globe and Mail that the two men inside produced an ownership document. The officers became suspicious of the ownership and of certain contents in the car, he … 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