Warrant issued for murder suspect
[attach]6853[/attach]Police have issued an arrest warrant for a man they believe fled to the Philippines shortly after murdering an elderly woman last year.
In a news release, police said the warrant is for first degree murder and stems from the discovery of 78-year-old Manijeh Bostani-Khamsi’s body in her Wynford Drive condo near Don Mills and Eglinton on Nov. 17, 2012. At the time, police said the woman was discovered dead at around 9:15 a.m., and that there were obvious signs of trauma. Now, police believe the individual responsible knew the victim and was her house cleaner.
The accused and his wife came to Canada from the Philippines in 2007 as visitors, and police said they rented several apartments throughout Toronto while working as cleaners. The accused also worked as a healthcare provider for elderly people, according to police.
Further, police say that on Nov. 16 at around 11:50 a.m., the accused went to Bostani-Khamsi’s apartment. Then on Nov. 20, the accused and his wife fled Canada and are believed to be in the Philippines.
Wanted on one count of first degree murder is a 46-year-old man.
None hurt in pair of armed robberies
No injuries were reported following two gunpoint robberies in as many days in the York Mills and Leslie area.
The first incident occurred on Mar. 3, when two 12-year-old girls were on Woodsworth Road just west of Leslie at around 7:30 p.m. They reported to police that a man approached them, pulled out a gun and demanded their property. The girls complied and the man fled south on Woodsworth.
The second incident occurred two days later at around 9:45 p.m. near Kirkwood Road and Tullamore Drive. There, a 28-year-old man reported to police that a man wearing a disguise approached him, pulled out a gun and put it to his chest. The man demanded the victim’s cellphone and wallet while threatening him, but the 28-year-old managed to get away unharmed. The suspect then fled south on Farmstead Road empty-handed.
Teenager sexually assaulted
A sexual assault was reported to police after a 19-year-old woman said she was victimized near Don Mills and Van Horne. The incident occurred on Feb. 19 just after 7 p.m. The victim didn’t need medical attention.
City’s fifth homicide was a strangulation
Toronto’s fifth homicide of 2013 occurred in early February also in the Don Mills and Van Horne area.
Police were called to a home on Clancy Drive for unknown trouble in the afternoon of Feb. 2, where they discovered 23-year-old Nyumwai Caroline Mkurazhizha of Zimbabwe suffering from what they called apparent trauma to the body. She was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead.
The cause of death was determined to be manual strangulation. Police arrested an 18-year-old man at the scene and charged him with first degree murder. He appeared in court on Feb. 3.
