London man charged with second-degree murder, community groups meet to discuss the case
CBC
The man accused of killing a woman in the home they owned together in London, Ont., will be back in court on Wednesday, a day after community agencies with expertise in intimate-partner violence meet to discuss the case.
Court documents, including the name of the female victim and the 52-year-old accused, are subject to a publication ban to protect the identity of others involved. The woman's family had not yet decided if it wanted her name released, London police said Monday.
Neighbours tell CBC News there were children living at the home.
The woman who was killed and the man charged bought the house on Billybrook Crescent together 13 years ago, documents obtained by CBC News show. The home is located on a quiet street in the city's north-east end.
If this incident is an killing involving a husband and wife, it must be called out as a femicide, said Jennifer Dunn, the head of the London Abused Women's Centre.
"The definition of femicide is when a woman is killed by a man for no other reason than the fact that she's a woman. A relationship, such as husband and wife, for example, is that type of situation, and should not be diminished," Dunn said.
London police investigators said they were sent to the Billybrook Crescent home Friday at 6:20 p.m after receiving a 9-1-1 call. When officers arrived they found the woman dead, a spokesperson said.
Several neighbours on the street said they knew the victim as a gardener, but beyond that had little contact with the residents. Marilyn Evans, who lives on the crescent, said she walked by the house with her dog often and had never seen any signs of trouble.
"It's just shocking. On Friday night, I was just sick," Evans said. "You always feel like you should have done something. Even though I don't really know this woman, I wonder if I should have seen something."
Late last year, a CBC investigation found more than one in three people accused of intimate-partner homicide demonstrated at least one warning sign prior to the killing.
The finding was one of dozens from a sweeping analysis of domestic homicide cases across Canada between January 2015 and June 2020.
More than three-quarters of victims were women. Most of the accused, 78 per cent, were men.
Community agencies with expertise in domestic violence are planning to meet Tuesday to discuss this case and its impact on London, Dunn said. It is important for people in abusive relationships to know that help is available, she added.
"If one woman is reading about this and sees that there are organizations in our community that can support her, then that is so important. It could make a difference in a woman's life," Dunn said.
A Brampton lawyer allegedly connected to fugitive Ryan Wedding was granted bail Tuesday morning by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice.
Rankin Inlet hamlet councillors recently passed a motion that has had them avoid drinking alcohol for the 12 days leading up to Christmas, with the goal of setting a positive example for the community.
Jason Jacques says he learned a lot about the importance of choosing his words carefully in his first few months as the interim parliamentary budget officer (PBO).
Durham police say a man is dead after suffering multiple stab wounds in Oshawa Tuesday morning.
An internal review of technical outages that caused significant delays at airports and international land borders this fall has exposed critical flaws with the Canada Border Services Agency's IT services.
Two people are in life-threatening condition after being pulled from a house fire in Scarborough Tuesday morning, according to Toronto Fire Services.
Whenever the door opens at the British Grenadier Bookshop, proprietor Steve Douglas doesn’t know who is going to walk through.
A northeastern Ontario potato farmer says he’s shipping more bags of potatoes to southern Ontario to make up for waning demand.
Halifax’s registry of rental properties is now available to the public online, showing what HRM staff believe are the “bulk” of rentals in the city.
A New Brunswick tenant says he’s being pushed out of his rented bungalow as retribution for complaining about his landlord, but his landlord says she’s the victim of an unfair tenancy tribunal ruling that is preventing her from using the unit to house family.
Snow and freezing rain could affect morning commutes on Tuesday, according to a special weather statement issued by Environment Canada.
Daniel Jolivet, 68, had his first taste of freedom this weekend after spending the last 33 years behind bars.
Peguis First Nation is suing former chief Glenn Hudson over allegations he failed to act in the best interest of the band and financially benefitted from breaches of duty — including claims that he enriched himself, his family and supporters.