All eight victims from GTA
No comment on possible link to biker gangs
Apr. 9, 2006. 02:21 PM
RICK BRENNAN AND PETER EDWARDS
STAFF REPORTERS

SHEDDEN, Ont. - All eight men slain in Ontario's worst mass murder are from the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario Provincial Police investigators confirmed today.

The bodies were found in four vehicles in this small, rural community near London early Saturday by a local resident.

"We are condifent that all the victims were known to each other and from the Greater Toronto Area," OPP Det.-Supt. Ross Bingley told reporters this morning.

The identities of the victims are not expected to be released for a couple of days, Bingley said.

Police remain tight-lipped, saying they don't want to do anything that might jeopardize the investigation into what is being described as the province's worst multiple killing.

"Obviously, we’re not used to having eight people at one homicide scene," Bingley said.

"(In) 27 years of policing, I don’t recall that number of people at any one location, so obviously it’s fairly significant."

Bingley refused to speculate about the possible cause or causes of death. Other than saying all the victims were white, male adults, he also refused to say what ages they were.

Toronto West regional coroner Dr. David Evans confirmed Sunday that the bodies were in the city and that post-mortem examinations would take place Monday, but he refused to discuss what condition the bodies were in.

“We’re undergoing our routine protocol for doing homicide autopsies,” Evans said.

“It’s going to take a bit of time — it may take all day and sometime into the evening to have it all completed.”

The vehicles — identified as a grey Pontiac Grand Prix, a silver Infiniti SUV and a green Chevrolet Silverado tow truck with a silver Volkswagen Golf attached to the hitch — have been taken to provincial police headquarters in Orillia.

Police have so far refused to discuss any possible links to organized crime. The area in surrounding Elgin County has a history of biker activity. Several motorcycle clubs have been known to populate the area, including the Loners, the Bandidos and the Hells Angels.

"The Hells are present in Ontario; everybody knows that," Bingley said.

"But as far as me discussing the Hells or anybody else, we’re working on this murder case, and we’re not talking about the Hells."

Police have been stopping cars to ask drivers what they have seen.

On Saturday, an aerial view showed the vehicles parked within 200 metres of each other, the bodies still inside. One body was clearly visible, lying curled on its side in the trunk of the SUV.

The SUV was found in a field about 20 metres off a dirt road. About 100 metres away, the tow truck bearing a Superior Towing logo on the side was found parked on the shoulder, the Volkswagen hooked to the back.

The owner of a Superior Towing in the Toronto area denied Saturday that the truck was part of his fleet.

Police escorted members of the media beyond the barricades this morning for a closer look at the area where the cars were found, but there was little left to see.

"We’ve never had anything like (this), to the best of my knowledge, in Ontario," said police Const. Doug Graham.

The scene will remain off-limits for at least another several days as investigators continue their search for clues — "clothing, identification, any evidence that may help us ascertain who they are," he added.

"We wouldn’t want the farm owner to encounter (evidence), or anyone from the public," Graham said. "We want to gather any other evidence and want to make sure there are not other victims we haven’t found yet."

It’s not the first time that the hallmarks of violent crime have been discovered in the isolated area.

In separate incidents in 1994 and 1998, the bodies of a man and a woman were found dumped in county fields. Both had been beaten to death and neither of the murders were ever solved.

In October 1999, there was a shootout on Highway 401, apparently the result of a rift inside one of the gangs.

But residents whose homes border the crime scene said they were unaware of any biker activity, although most found it too unbelievable that such a large-scale killing could have been at the hands of anyone they knew.

Mayor James McIntyre said police have assured the village’s 800 residents they were not in any danger.

Darlene Deslandes, who has lived in the area all her life and had a full view of the vehicles from her back window, called the murder scene scary and wildly out of character.

"It’s quiet and calm, nothing ever happens here," Deslandes said.

During a service at the Orthodox Presbyterian Grace Church Sunday morning, Rev. Dale Colission said a prayer of strength for parishioners.

“These things shake up people,” he said, adding that the community has concerns but is not living in fear.