Homicidal violence plucked Joseph Gurka, 54, as its first victim of the year.
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On Jan. 11, 1974, Gurka was discovered battered in bed in his downtown roominghouse on Robert St., west of Spadina Ave. Fellow roomies took him to the hospital.
The gravely injured man died several days later without regaining consciousness. Charles Patterson, 44, was charged with murder in the beating death.
The outcome is not known and the accused is considered innocent.
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Homicide cops in Toronto went 35-for-35 in 1974 – that’s a 100% clearance rate, likely unheard of since 1974.
Today the Toronto Police Homicide Unit still has a North America-beating 80%-plus clearance rate.
But to be fair, murders in the Watergate year of 1974 were significantly different. The victims were more likely to be white and so were the killers.
There was no gangbanging urban terrorism where a stray bullet could send you to the morgue. No, the murders were drunken beefs between low-renters, bad men and women killing their spouses. There were very few gun murders.
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The current Toronto Police Cold Case Unit boss, Det.-Sgt. Steve Smith, noted the massive difference 50 years can make.
“The murders then really give you a glimpse into a totally different time,” Smith told the Toronto Sun. “First off, there’s a big population difference, the demographics have changed and most of the murders back then weren’t whodunnits.”
The increase in population and changing demographics have made homicides tougher to investigate, even with quantum leaps in science and technology.
“One of the biggest differences, though, is the gun violence making the homicides we see today very labour intensive. Back then, the murders were mostly family violence situations,” the veteran detective said.
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Jean Guy Dessault, 44, allegedly stole rent money and it cost him his life. According to cops, the superintendent of the Spadina roominghouse and another roomer tore the door of Dessault’s room off its hinges.
For hours, they battered him about the head.
Detectives charged Lawrence Dunne, 47, and David Newson, 24, with murder. Newson was convicted of manslaughter while Dunne not down for accessory after the fact.
In leafy Leaside, Rena Whitehead, 61, was beaten to death with a hammer by her husband Percy, 63. Hubby then threw her body off the Leaside Bridge onto the DVP before jumping to his death.
Neighbours called them “an ideal couple.”
A table tennis game that soured put Kenneth Standring, 23, on the night train. Standring and pal Robert Wood, also 23, put $5 on a game, but the pair began arguing.
Wood allegedly returned with a .303 rifle and parked a bullet in Standring’s neck. He was D.O.A. The outcome is unknown.
Family violence reared its ugly head when Parkdale carpenter Alexander Wysocki, 60, allegedly shot his son Joseph, 27, in the stomach with a shotgun as the younger man tried to get him to give up the weapon. He was acquitted.
Daniel Roy Davis, 27, was charged with beating his mother Ruth, 49, to death in her Dundas St. E. and Parliament St. area apartment. Ruth went into the books as homicide No. 0081974. The outcome is unknown.
Washington Venij, 30, was hitting on a married woman and she told hubby. A motorist found Venij dead on the ground on Dovercourt Rd.
Cops said he had been stabbed to death. Seems there was a party and most of the crew fell asleep when the alleged unwanted advances were made.
Antonio Jesus Gonsalez Quicino, 30, was charged with murder. The outcome is unknown.
The young son of Linda Kulchyski, 35, of Jane St., watched in horror as his father Ronald, also 35, stabbed her in the heart with a 10-inch butcher knife. Cops said the couple were estranged and had been arguing. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
A hockey game and booze can be a combustible combination. TV repairman (remember them?) Andrew Campeau, 40, and a buddy were boozing at a Danforth Ave. watering hole before returning to his apartment to watch the game. Sidney John Shortt, 37, allegedly squeezed off three shots and one hit Campeau in the guts. The outcome is unknown.
Holocaust survivor Isaac Wertman, 52, made his dough as a gambler. His boss reported him missing after finding his blood-spattered car. Neighbours told detectives they heard gunshots and they found his charred body at a Georgetown-area farm. Estranged wife Ryama, 44, and her lover Manfred Baron, 23, were convicted of the murder.
Terasia Wissuchek, 70, and her 73-year-old husband Albert were found dead in their Annette St. home. Cops said murder-suicide.
A battle over a bottle of red wine at a house party on Rose Ave. downtown sent Joseph Gauthier, 36, to the cemetery. Rene Bigeault, 42, was charged. Bigeault was convicted of manslaughter for another murder in 1976.
The parking lot of the seedy Ulster Arms on Gerrard St. was the scene of 1974’s 15th murder. Frederick Clarke, 42, and William Gorfield Wallace, 25, allegedly brawled over a woman and the older man paid the price. The result of the charges is unknown.
Painter George Morrison, 45, hit the end of the line when he was beaten and robbed after meeting two men and a woman at the old Royal Oak on Dundas St.. Real Joseph Bertrand, 36, and Jean Claude Morin, 35, were convicted of the murder.
Hard-working immigrant Joaquim Guerreiro Felicio, 45, was found naked and very dead in Alexandra Park. His wife and daughter were on vacation in their native Portugal. He often played cards and his harmonica in the park. Cops charged Robert Ray Robertson, 28. The outcome is unknown.
Christine Dillon, 20, was charged with murder when she drove a large knife through her abusive husband Douglas Dillon’s heart. He was 27. She was convicted of manslaughter.
Frederick Mah, 56, and Hew Chew, 79, got into a beef at Dundas and Bay St. on July 29. Chew later died of a brain hemorrhage due to his injuries and Mah was sewn up with a manslaughter charge. The outcome is unknown.
Victor David Armstrong, 44, was attending a party celebrating his arrival from Belfast when he was allegedly shot to death by his brother-in-law Mervin Gracey, 35. Cops said the dead man slugged Gracey over the head with an empty bottle of booze. The outcome is unknown.
Verna Anderson, 57, of no fixed address was found dead and without her shoes in a downtown alley. Anderson died of head injuries. Three weeks later cops charged Eugene Russell Massey, 59, with murder. The outcome is unknown.
“Drugs turned my son into a crazy man,” the grieving mother of John Wesley Pacey said. Two shotgun blasts killed the 23-year-old in his East York bungalow on Nov. 18. Frederick Rendall, 23, got life in prison while Cindy Booth, 17, was acquitted.
Detectives found a hammer covered in blood and two empty gas cans. That told the sad tale of the fiery murder-suicide of Rajnikant Patel, 29, and his estranged wife Nailiniben, 25, at their Avenue Rd. apartment. Her last words were: “Oh my God.”
Edmund Arthur Welch, 59, was found beaten to death in the basement rec room of his Kendal Ave. roominghouse. Fellow roomer Harold Stevens, 23, was charged with murder. The outcome is unknown.
North York truck driver Stephen Michael Glatt, 21, was charged with murder in the stabbing death of ex-wife June Septhon, 31. Her body was discovered wrapped in a window drape along Hwy. 401 near Guelph; she had been strangled to death with pantyhose. Not guilty because of insanity.
Mother-of-two Kathleen Dawn Sabean, 20, allegedly beat her four-month-old baby Jason to death. He died of a skull fracture. The outcome is unknown.
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“It’s a lot more complicated now,” Smith said. “Now, anything happening on the street, every slight or insult, can get you killed. And they have guns.”
X: @HunterTOSun