Stories of Murder in Toronto's Gay Village
Peter Elie, hard-working Toronto DJ/VJ who worked under the name Blue Peter. He was found dead after a fire in the laundry room of his midtown Toronto apartment building. He lived at 155 Balliol Street. He had been murdered, and the killer attempted to cover up the crime with a fire. Elie, 52, had been … Read more
Julie Berman was an internationally known trans rights activist living in Toronto. Fifty-one-year-old Berman was found in her Brunswick Avenue and Harbord Street area home on Sunday, December 22, 2019. Police had been called to the scene, where they found her suffering from “significant” face and head injuries. She was pronounced dead in hospital. Berman … Read more
Tess Richey, 22, was out celebrating on November 24, 2017, with friend Ryley Simard at Crews & Tangos, a Gay Village drag bar, although Richey is not LGBTQ+. They left the bar at approximately 1:30am, heading north toward Dundonald Street where they hung out with a friend of Richey’s on her front porch. With them … Read more
At about 8:30 on the morning of Tuesday, September 12, 1995, the superintendent of an apartment building on Cosburn Avenue, near Pape Avenue in East York, let a Metro police officer into a third-floor apartment. A friend had asked police to check on the tenant after no one heard from him over the weekend, the … 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 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
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 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
At about 10 a.m. on Friday, October 27, 1989, Metro police were called to an 11th-floor apartment at 800 Richmond Street West to investigate a “person who was ill,” the Toronto Star reported. Ambulance attendant Annie Cavally later testified about what she and her partner found. “He was cold,” she said. “He was very pale. … Read more
At 4:44 a.m. on Sunday, December 4, 1983, Charles Furlong heard Thomas Cahill call out his name. Furlong, 47, was a tenant and friend at the Berkeley Street house. He went downstairs and found Cahill lying in a pool of blood in the hall, the Toronto Star reported. He called police. The National Post later … 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
On Saturday night, March 19, 1983, Graham Hugh Pearce went out with a friend. They had a drink at Boots, a gay bar, and went on to Stages, a disco on Yonge Street. The Body Politic reported that they danced until 3:15 a.m., walked up Yonge to Wellesley Street and parted there at 3:30. Pearce … Read more
David Murphy, 61, was found dead in his bedroom at Brimley Acres, a senior citizens’ apartment building at 2950 Lawrence Avenue East in Scarborough, on Monday, June 29, 1981. The Toronto Star reported that the superintendent found him after Murphy did not answer his phone. The Body Politic reported that police found the body just … Read more