'Dedicated' teacher found dead in Vaughan home, husband charged with murder
CBC
A woman found dead inside her Vaughan home early Wednesday has been identified as a Toronto school teacher.
Officers were initially called to a home on Isa Court, near Highway 27 and Langstaff Road, around 12:30 a.m. after receiving calls from concerned neighbours, York Regional Police said in a news release.
They arrived to find a 64-year-old woman with serious injuries. Despite life-saving measures, she was pronounced dead on scene, police said.
Police later identified her as Estella Wheeler.
A 68-year-old man was arrested at the scene and later charged with second-degree murder. The accused is Wheeler's husband, spokesperson Const. Lisa Moskaluk confirmed to CBC Toronto.
Wheeler taught Grade 7 and 8 at Africentric Alternative School in North York, a Toronto District School Board school where she had worked for more than seven years.
"Ms. Wheeler was a well-known, dedicated team member at Africentric Alternative School who cared for all her students. During her time at our school, she developed strong relationships with students and staff, and will be remembered as an incredibly kind and giving person who was friends with everyone," the school's principal wrote in a letter to parents and guardians on Wednesday.
The school said support and resources were available for staff and students, particularly for those in her class, and that school social workers were at the school Wednesday.
"The Africentric community will come together to show our respect and support for the family based on their wishes in the weeks ahead," the letter said.
Moskaluk did not provide any further information about the nature of the woman's injuries or her cause of death. She said an autopsy is scheduled for the coming days.
Moskaluk could not say whether anyone else was inside the residence when officers arrived or if they recovered a weapon at the scene.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact York police or to leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers.
A proposal for a hydrogen-powered passenger rail connecting Calgary and Banff has been submitted to the federal government in the hopes of having it fast-tracked.
The P.E.I. Green Party is calling on government to release the fall fiscal update. The checkup on the province's finances is typically released sometime in October.
A main road in Inuvik, N.W.T., is closed and water is shut off for part of the town after a utilidor leak.
Immigration Minister Lena Diab sparred with her Conservative critic at a tense House of Commons committee meeting Thursday as the two disagreed on everything from immigration levels and deporting non-citizen criminals to what kind of salad they prefer.
A report by the City of Calgary presented to councillors says blanket rezoning has so far required only "minimal" upgrades to infrastructure.
Changes are coming to residential recycling in Toronto starting in the new year, two councillors announced on Thursday.
Before a bitumen pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia’s northwest coast can be built, there's another box that needs to be checked: a massive investment in carbon capture and storage in central Alberta.
Jeremy Tunraluk, president of Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. (NTI), is on leave from his position after he was charged with assault.
The head of Canada's Leaders' Debates Commission says the independent body should stop organizing post-debate news conferences and will make changes to how it decides what leaders to invite after this spring's leadership debate was surrounded by controversy.
The Alberta Health Services CEO who took over after a controversial firing in January is now himself off the job.
Standing inside her non-profit managed rental unit in central Windsor, Ont., Sue Pare points to a crack in her kitchen floor she can’t get fixed.
Five people were sent to hospital, including one person with life-threatening injuries, after a fire broke out at a fraternity house near Western University prompting a police investigation.
A rusting and derelict ship that’s been looming large over the waterfront in Springdale for years will soon be removed and disposed of by the federal government.