Stories of Murder in Toronto's Gay Village
Murder that occurred in Toronto, or of Torontonians
At about 10 a.m. on Friday, January 20, 1967, Toronto police answered an emergency call to a rooming house at 103 Hamilton Street, near Broadview Avenue and Dundas Street. A fellow roomer had found Bruno Max Seidel dead in his room. Police at first thought the three knife wounds in his chest were self-inflicted, the … Read more
At 1:40 p.m. on Sunday, July 17, 1966, a room clerk at the Walsingham Hotel, 321 Jarvis Street, found a body in Room 114. The room was at the end of a corridor at the back of the hotel, near the rear exit. The Globe and Mail reported that the dead man was nude and … Read more
Early on Saturday, January 9, 1965, two youths walked into a service station at Jane Street and Wilson Avenue in North York. They told the night attendant, “We just threw a man into the creek.” The attendant wasn’t sure whether to believe them. They walked off. He called police only after a body had been … Read more
On Wednesday, July 17, 1963, a black convertible carrying two youths went through a police speed trap on Lake Shore Boulevard West. Constable Grenville Dawkins chased it through Long Branch. He later testified that he was suspicious of the car. The driver turned onto a side street, pulled the keys from the ignition and ran. … Read more
Late on the night of Tuesday, May 3, 1960, a young man walked into a restaurant on North Yonge Street. His right hand was badly cut. He said later that he had come in to call the police. He met an officer coming through the door. Police testified that he alternately laughed and cried. As … Read more
On Monday, February 18, 1957, Cecil William Burns did not turn up for work. He was a chef with a catering firm in East York. By about noon his employers were making inquiries. They telephoned the Edwin Hotel on Queen Street East, where Burns had lived for the past two months, and asked that his … Read more
At about 10:45 on the morning of Friday, October 30, 1953, Robert Cowan was driving his tractor along the 10th Concession of Innisfil Township, toward the village of Stroud. He saw a coat in the ditch. “I stopped to have a closer look, saw the legs and recognized the body of a man,” he told … Read more
At about two in the morning on Wednesday, July 27, 1949, three visitors from Montreal were walking along the boardwalk at Kew Beach, looking for shelter for the night. Ralph Cragg was with Marion Nelson and her brother Herbert. They came upon a man lying motionless by the boardwalk. A young man stepped out of … Read more