TORONTO LEG AND TORSO VICTIM IDENTIFIED

Husband arrested in body parts case
Identity not released

Melissa Leong
National Post
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Toronto police have identified the woman whose body parts
were found in two separate locations last month and have
arrested her common-law husband for her murder.
Police did not release her identity last night, or the identity
of the 50-year-old man who was taken into custody,
because officers were still trying to notify next-of-kin who
live outside of the Greater Toronto area, but within Ontario.
"She's definitely not a street person," said
Detective-Sergeant Gary Giroux.
"She was living a traditional lifestyle and she was
involved in a domestic [dispute] that went horribly
wrong and as the result of that, this individual
finds himself in the cells."
The man, who was being held at 14 Division in the Parkdale
neighbourhood, where an 80- to 90-pound torso was found
early on Nov. 12, is charged with second-degree murder.
He is expected to appear in court today.
Det. Sgt. Giroux said the arrest came after a tip from a
Parkdale resident.
"The member of the community that phoned in, is not a family
member, but did hear an explanation with regards to the reason
that this individual was missing and was not satisfied with it,"
he said at a news conference late last night. He said more
information would be made available today.
Police originally suspected the body parts belonged to a
prostitute or homeless woman, but pathology and
toxicology reports revealed the white, middle-aged female
had no illegal narcotics in her system when she died,
only trace amounts of codeine and valium.
A vertical scar on the victim's lower abdomen revealed
she had had a hysterectomy, but not recently enough to
account for the pain medication. Pathologists could not
determine whether the woman had ever given birth.
Police told Global News the woman's head has been located
but detectives are looking for remaining body parts; police also
said that fibres found on her body helped their investigation.
Homicide investigators went through many reports of missing
persons, including street people and prostitutes, and would
eventually locate them, Det.-Sgt. Giroux said.
They were becoming increasingly frustrated that they could not
identify the woman, who was in her 40s, he added.
"It's a great, great deal of relief to find out who she is."
Police have been conducting door-to-door searches inside
homes that relied on co-operative residents rather than
court-issued search warrants to get investigators through
the front doors.
The man arrested was not interviewed by police; however,
he is from within the search area, Det.-Sgt. Giroux said.
Some members of the neighbourhood and privacy advocates
raised concerns this week about the police task force's tactics.
Benedikt Fischer, a Parkdale resident, told the National Post
on Monday he agreed to let officers look around his home,
but was surprised at the speed with which investigators
scoured his property once he provided consent.
A task force of 25 Toronto police officers has banged on
doors daily in Parkdale since the torso was found at the dead
end of a gritty alley near Queen Street West and Elm Grove
Avenue.
The discovery came 13 hours after a worker at the Bermondsey
Road waste transfer station unearthed the woman's left leg.
Police found the victim's right leg when they searched the
rest of the transfer station.
Police said last month the victim's hair was dark brown with
blond streaks -- something determined by examining hairs
on her torso.
She is believed to have been 5-foot-6 to 5-foot-9, and between
150 and 170 pounds.
Homicide detectives had been looking for Avon salespeople
who might have sold her the dainty gold-coloured anklet found
on her left leg.
© National Post 2005

The police are making it sound ...
ONLY LIKE A DOMESTIC DISPUTE
NOT MURDER?
No wonder this keeps happening!