OXFAM o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-03-05 published
LOW/LOWE/LOUGH,
Georgina
Elizabeth (née
ELLIOT/ELLIOTT)
Died peacefully at home on Friday, March 4, 2005, in her 90th
year. Born August 29, 1915 in London, Ontario, the daughter of
George ELLIOT/ELLIOTT and Kathryn Farrell
ELLIOT/ELLIOTT.
Raised in Woodstock,
Ontario, she was predeceased by her loving husband John. Georgie
is survived by her children Richard of Vancouver, John of Mansfield,
Ontario, Kathryn
MONARDO of Toronto, and Peter of Ottawa, as
well as grand_sons Andrew and Eric of Mansfield. She will also
be missed by many nieces and nephews, and Friends across Canada.
Donations on her behalf can be made to
OXFAM
Canada (www.oxfam.ca)
for refugee relief in Darfur, Sudan. Friends may call at the
Turner and Porter Yorke Chapel, 2357 Bloor St. West, at Windermere,
east of the Jane Subway, on Monday from 7-9 p.m. and Tuesday
from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Funeral service will be held in the chapel
on Wednesday, March 9, 2005, at 3: 00 p.m.
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OXFORD o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-09-05 published
3 reservists charged in transient's death
Autopsy of homeless Toronto man reveals injuries consistent with
beating
By Jen GERSON,
Monday,
September 5, 2005, Page A9
Toronto -- Paul
CROUTCH, a homeless man who Friends say was harmless
and avoided trouble, spent the last night of his life in a sleeping
bag in a downtown Toronto park, weathering the wet remnants of
hurricane Katrina.
The 59-year-old had spent the past three years sleeping on the
streets, or sometimes in shelters. Until recently, Mr.
CROUTCH
spent a lot of his time on a traffic island two blocks from where
he was killed. But, worried about drug dealers, he picked up
his meagre possessions and began sleeping in Moss Park, an area
frequented by transients and close to the Moss Park Armoury,
home to the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada regiment.
He told Friends he felt he would be safer there.
But in the pre-dawn hours last Wednesday, he was beaten to death,
allegedly by three part-time members of the Canadian Armed Forces
Reserves now charged with second-degree murder.
Shortly before 5 a.m., after receiving two 911 calls, police
arrived at Moss Park and found Mr.
CROUTCH unconscious in his
sleeping bag. He was taken to nearby St. Michael's Hospital,
where he died with his case workers from a local hostel at his
bedside, said Dion
OXFORD, of the Salvation Army's Gateway Shelter.
"He didn't cause trouble, he didn't cause fights, he was harmless,"
said Mr. OXFORD, who had known Mr.
CROUTCH since he started going
to the hostel in December of 2002.
Mr. CROUTCH usually slept outdoors but periodically stayed at
the shelter, Mr.
OXFORD said. The Armoury is often used as a
shelter for the homeless, for example during this summer's extreme
heat alerts.
Toronto homicide Detective Wayne
FOWLER said there was no sign
that Mr. CROUCH put up much of a fight when he was attacked.
An autopsy showed that his injuries were consistent with being
punched, kicked or stomped upon, police said.
Det. FOWLER credited people in the area with coming forward "with
any information they had," which led to the arrests on Friday.
Jeffery HALL, 21, Mountaz
IBRAHIM, 23, and Brian
DEGANIS, 21,
all of Toronto and all members of the Queen's Own Rifles, have
been charged with second-degree murder and assault causing bodily
harm. The three appeared in court on Saturday and are expected
to be back in court later this week.
Captain Mark
GILES, spokesman for the National Investigation
Service with the Canadian Armed Forces, said that each of the
three accused had at least two years experience with the forces,
and that all were trained for combat.
"This is a tragic situation, it's a very serious matter," he
said in a telephone interview from Ottawa yesterday.
Capt. GILES said that the case is now before the courts, and
so he could offer no further details about the accused. Toronto
police and the National Investigation Service were involved in
the investigation.
Army officials confirmed that a regimental social event took
place at Moss Park Armoury last Tuesday night, but could not
confirm whether the accused men attended the party.
Police said a woman who tried to intervene on behalf of Mr.
CROUTCH
suffered bruising. The woman lives in shelters and was prompted
by members of the community to contact police, Det.
FOWLER said.
"She sought her own medical treatment," he added. "She's sore,
but she's going to be okay."
Mr. CROUTCH spent every day at the Good Neighbours' Club, a day
centre for homeless senior men located in a nondescript white
building near the Moss Park Armoury.
Mr. OXFORD said Mr.
CROUTCH was in good physical health, adding
that he last saw him at a softball game in Moss Park last Monday.
Bob SEGUIN, a support-care worker with the Good Neighbours' Club,
said Mr. CROUTCH was essentially a good man but suffered from
paranoia and could sometimes be a bit of a handful.
He had been barred from most of the local shelters and so slept
outside most of the year, only sleeping indoors during severe
weather. Mr.
CROUTCH came by the club to shower, do his laundry
and sleep.
"He slept a lot here because he didn't sleep a lot at night,"
Mr. SEGUIN said.
Mr. SEGUIN said he believed Mr.
CROUTCH ran a newspaper in a
small town in British Columbia some years ago, but fell on hard
times and suffered mental problems.
"He kept to himself," Mr.
SEGUIN added. "He had a good sense
of humour, a witty, intellectual, dry type of humour."
The
Gateway
Shelter will hold a memorial service for Mr.
CROUTCH
next week.
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OXFORD o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2005-09-04 published
3 reservists face murder charges
Homeless man beaten to death in Moss Park
By Hilda HOY,
Staff
Reporter
Three members of the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves are facing
second-degree murder and assault charges after a homeless man
was beaten to death in a downtown park and a woman coming to
his aid was attacked.
Paul Richard
CROUTCH, 59, died at St. Michael's Hospital on Wednesday
as his case manager stood nearby. An autopsy performed Friday
found the cause of death was trauma to the head, and the injuries
were consistent with being punched, kicked or stomped.
Police were called to an assault in Moss Park, near Sherbourne
and Shuter Sts., shortly before 5 a.m. on Wednesday. An unconscious
CROUTCH was rushed to hospital but died later that morning.
A woman who witnessed the beating and intervened was treated
for soft-tissue damage and bruising, police said.
CROUTCH had been a resident of the Salvation Army's Gateway Shelter,
around the corner from the park on Jarvis Street, since 2002. Gateway
will host a funeral next week.
He has family on the West Coast who have been notified.
"He was very mild-mannered and soft-spoken," said Gateway director
Dion OXFORD. "He was harmless."
Last time he saw
CROUTCH, he was watching the Gateway softball
team play in the park.
"He kept to himself most of the time," remembered Gateway chaplain
Ron FARR.
Brian DEGANIS, 21, Jeffery
HALL, 21, and Mountaz
IBRAHIM, 23,
all of Toronto, were arrested and charged Friday after a joint
investigation by Toronto police and the army's National Investigation
Services.
The three men are part-time members of the Queen's Own Rifles
of Canada, a reserve infantry unit that trains at the Moss Park
Armoury adjacent to the park where
CROUTCH was found.
Each has received at least two years of combat training, although
the exact length of their service could not be confirmed. They
had attended a "social function" at the armoury that evening
but were not in uniform, investigation services spokesman Capt.
Mark GILES said.
"Uniform or no uniform, these are very serious charges and we
take it very seriously," said
GILES.
Because the incident took place in the park and not on armoury
property, the investigation falls under city police jurisdiction.
The National Investigation Services provided support and will
continue to do so as needed,
GILES said.
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