GUILTY Canada - Tess Richey, 22, Toronto, 25 Nov 2017 *Arrest*

[JLD333]

Alcohol can blind your judgement. No blaming here, but they they were partying, drinking, late at night.

Yep. I'm definitely guilty of being overly friendly and forgiving of creepiness while under the influence. This case disturbs me even more because it could have literally been me or any of my friends.


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[Satchie]

Some people are more hyper-vigilant than others. It's not a good or bad thing, just different.
We can't necessarily assume that all people will interpret someone's (this guy's) behaviour the same way.

I don't want to make a big discussion about it, but I think it's more than just that some people have a personal style of hyper-vigilance.

I remember when I was that age, everyone had unprotected sex (women took birth control pills). But the AIDS epidemic was just starting, and that all changed.

By that time, women didn't generally hitch-hike alone anymore, or at least wouldn't get into a vehicle with a lone man, too many deaths and disappearances in the '70s.

I remember the carefree antivax traveller who went to Africa and very soon died from cerebral malaria. When I go to Africa, I get the vaccine.

Used to know a lot of mountain climbers and others into extreme sports, some of them died young, still the survivors defend their sport passionately as being worth it. But it doesn't appeal to me, I'm content walking on solid ground even though they call me pedestrian.

I think finding our own balance of risk with reward are decisions we take over and over in our lives, and we watch our peers closely to see what happens to them and very often adjust our decisions about risk in response.

 

[LushGerbil]

I think a big impediment to the POI being recognized at this point is that Toronto hit a pretty big cold snap between the crime and the POI's image being released. It's likely that he's now wearing a heavier jacket and a hat, at minimum. These would possibly obscure the two most recognizable elements of the POI: if the coat is long enough, his thin legs (with possibly hyper-extended knees?) and his somewhat unique headshape and hairline.

The suspect apparently headed north after the crime. Subway would have been closed for hours still since it was a Sunday. Was he parked somewhere nearby? Did he catch an Uber/taxi? Or is he local to the area? Did they ever share which direction he originally came from when he met them at the hot dog stand? I thought I read from west on Wellesley but I may be wrong.

 

[Inspektor Clueso]

I think a big impediment to the POI being recognized at this point is that Toronto hit a pretty big cold snap between the crime and the POI's image being released. It's likely that he's now wearing a heavier jacket and a hat, at minimum. These would possibly obscure the two most recognizable elements of the POI: if the coat is long enough, his thin legs (with possibly hyper-extended knees?) and his somewhat unique headshape and hairline.

The suspect apparently headed north after the crime. Subway would have been closed for hours still since it was a Sunday. Was he parked somewhere nearby? Did he catch an Uber/taxi? Or is he local to the area? Did they ever share which direction he originally came from when he met them at the hot dog stand? I thought I read from west on Wellesley but I may be wrong.

I'm hoping that any of HIS friends or family members recognizes him and turns him in. I find that unsettling as well. Not necessarily anyone who may have seen him at the hot dog stand that night.

 

[LushGerbil]

I'm hoping that any of HIS friends or family members recognizes him and turns him in. I find that unsettling as well. Not necessarily anyone who may have seen him at the hot dog stand that night.

I agree. I think that's the best shot. What I'm wondering is if he commuted from somewhere that's more distant within the GTA than Toronto proper, where the image has been shared most.

I'm also wondering if something is misleading about the CCTV images, as they are fairly pixelated. In some of the pictures he looks like he has some kind of facial hair but it may just be pixelation around his mouth if he was talking/eating, exacerbated by how upresed the footage is. Either way, it's hard to get a great idea of his exact chin/jawline for me since they seem kind of muddied by the compression.

 

[dotr]

Keeping the pics in the public eye.
http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/newsreleases/39831

 

[Inspektor Clueso]

That one image of him looks as if he's looking right at you. SCARY!!! He looks fairly young. Judging from his body language, save for possibly being intoxicated and having 'liquid courage', he looks quite outgoing and talkative. Something that would definitely draw unsuspecting people to him.

 

[LushGerbil]

In the two close-up images, especially the one where he's looking toward camera, I'd swear he has some kind of big moustache. In the larger, more upresed versions of the image, it sort of turns into a wash of pixels, but in the smaller version it's easier to make out a shape there above his mouth.

I messed around with the image a little, brightening it and upping contrast, and it sort of pushed me further in this direction but it was pretty inconclusive and I wouldn't want to put the altered images out there in case they were misleading. The picture on the left is what throws this majorly into question, because he looks pretty clean-shaven in that one. But his face is also pretty blown out in it.

Anyway, it was Movember so it's entirely possible that if he did have a moustache he would have shaved it off by now or it's not something he usually has.

Also in some of these shots it looks like his hair is pretty sparse on the top past his temples, maybe with sporadic bald spots? But this too could be a trick of the light.

 

[dotr]

Not necessarily likely but, could it be that the suspect usually presents as female, or is female presenting as male in the photo?

As suggested up thread, could the perp be from another city where Toronto news might not be widely known or received?

Since LE seems to be quiet about the suspect right now, hoping that means they are quietly watching him, but in the meantime - is the area safe, is any area safe?
imo, speculation.

 

[Grey-St]

http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/...-find-missing-people-in-torontos-gay-village/

 

[LushGerbil]

Not necessarily likely but, could it be that the suspect usually presents as female, or is female presenting as male in the photo?

I get where you're coming from since it's the Village and he also seems to have been sighted around mainly drag bars. But my gut says it's way more likely that, if this is some kind of predator who has attempted or is planning to attempt to do this more than once, it's a cis, traditionally masculine-presenting guy who sees the Village and drag bars in particular as a place where there's going to be a large crowd of vulnerable women who have been drinking and might have their guards down.

I think the other possibility, that this was someone who had a fixation on Richey and targeted her specifically, would also lead me toward a gut feeling the female-presenting theory is probably not true.

Since LE seems to be quiet about the suspect right now, hoping that means they are quietly watching him, but in the meantime - is the area safe, is any area safe?
imo, speculation.

I'm wondering how many tips they're having to sort through and if any have borne fruit. It's possible they've got the guy under surveillance or have even spoken to him but are taking a while to make sure it's the guy and get an arrest warrant. I don't really have much confidence in that though.

 

[dotr]

http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/...-find-missing-people-in-torontos-gay-village/

Great article, will post link on these threads too.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...-same-Toronto-ON-neighborhood-2010-2012/page7
3 men missing in same Toronto ON neighborhood, 2010-2012



http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...3&p=13749782&highlight=Cassandra#post13749782
Canada - Cassandra Do, 32, Toronto, 25 August 2003

 

[Inspektor Clueso]

I think the Mclean's article has some weird verbiage like "People don't just disappear".

Yes. Yes, in fact, they do. Maybe not totally in these cases outlined in the MacLeans article, but we can't possible know for sure if those two men left entirely on their own.

Unrelated, think back to the Miriam Makniashvilli case. She LITERALLY disappeared without a trace. Just her backpack was left behind. *No other clues*. She was found *2 years later* to have taken her own life since her fall was consistent with a jump.

Then we have Eugene Kim, who's also found in Websleuths as currently missing. He had communications with his wife, and then never returned home. He's completely VANISHED. Without a trace.

So yes, people DO vanish without a trace for various reasons. It's about what are we doing as a community...what is LE doing as an organization to minimize the length of time that goes by before we actually give these incidences the attention they need, and how can we improve this?

Just my opinion

 

[Grey-St]

I think the Mclean's article has some weird verbiage like "People don't just disappear".

Yes. Yes, in fact, they do. Maybe not totally in these cases outlined in the MacLeans article, but we can't possible know for sure if those two men left entirely on their own.

Unrelated, think back to the Miriam Makniashvilli case. She LITERALLY disappeared without a trace. Just her backpack was left behind. *No other clues*. She was found *2 years later* to have taken her own life since her fall was consistent with a jump.

Then we have Eugene Kim, who's also found in Websleuths as currently missing. He had communications with his wife, and then never returned home. He's completely VANISHED. Without a trace.

So yes, people DO vanish without a trace for various reasons. It's about what are we doing as a community...what is LE doing as an organization to minimize the length of time that goes by before we actually give these incidences the attention they need, and how can we improve this?

Just my opinion

RBBM. I think that's what the author was getting at.

I was actually enthused that he used the statement "people don't just disappear". I got what he meant. I'm so incredibly sick of hearing LE, especially TPS, state that "people often go missing on their own accord". NO THEY DON'T, and the more they push that narrative, the more they make excuses for there lacklustre investigative measures. Even if someone did take off to start a new life, they would leave a footprint. We leave a footprint, digital or otherwise, everywhere we go, all over this world. You would find them, even just to assure they are alive and well, and move on. If ever those footprints stop, it's a great cause for concern. Suspicious circumstances to say the LEAST. How likely is it really, that the missing men from the village, and Eugene Kim, are off somewhere, disregarding their own missing persons reports, causing pain and anguish to their loved ones?

And the other phrase LE enjoy using, "there's nothing to suggest that foul play was involved". Well no kidding, you haven't found them, so how can you make that statement? That's the most misleading statement I've ever heard. It's irresponsible to the public to push a narrative suggesting that "you're all safe, no cause for alarm, nothing suggests foul play". There's also nothing to suggest that we should rule it out? If your footprints stop, it's likely that something nefarious has happened, and that shouldn't be dismissed.

 

[LushGerbil]

I'm wondering whether the murderer had made a plan to use this stairwell for this purpose or if it was entirely a crime of opportunity.

The thing is that the stairwell was not really visible from the street. You'd most likely think it was just a standard driveway/alley if you hadn't scoped it out a bit first. I'm wondering what occasion the killer would have had to check out this property if that's the case and if there's previous video of him at the scene, maybe by day. I imagine it would have been deleted by now though, or at least would be incredibly cumbersome to find amidst all the other footage.

On the other hand, if this was premeditated, why pick THIS spot and then just leave the body there? He's gotten extremely lucky so far, but the place being loaded with visible cameras makes it such a bizarre choice.

The other possibility is that they were just exploring and stumbled upon this spot and it was a crime of opportunity. But it seems like an odd spot to explore. Half of the house was boarded off, but I had previously assumed someone was still living in it or working out of it while under construction based on the driveway/door being left clear.

The other monkey wrench is ordering the Uber. I wish it had been made clearer whether she cancelled it or the driver did. I find it unlikely that if you ordered an Uber at that time of morning, you'd be able to be talked into exploring some random construction sites. But MAYBE you'd be willing to go check out this one weird spot the guy was describing to you that he found.

I don't know. None of it makes sense to me and I hope there's an arrest soon.

 

[Russian Blue]

I'm wondering whether the murderer had made a plan to use this stairwell for this purpose or if it was entirely a crime of opportunity.

The thing is that the stairwell was not really visible from the street. You'd most likely think it was just a standard driveway/alley if you hadn't scoped it out a bit first. I'm wondering what occasion the killer would have had to check out this property if that's the case and if there's previous video of him at the scene, maybe by day. I imagine it would have been deleted by now though, or at least would be incredibly cumbersome to find amidst all the other footage.

On the other hand, if this was premeditated, why pick THIS spot and then just leave the body there? He's gotten extremely lucky so far, but the place being loaded with visible cameras makes it such a bizarre choice.

The other possibility is that they were just exploring and stumbled upon this spot and it was a crime of opportunity. But it seems like an odd spot to explore. Half of the house was boarded off, but I had previously assumed someone was still living in it or working out of it while under construction based on the driveway/door being left clear.

The other monkey wrench is ordering the Uber. I wish it had been made clearer whether she cancelled it or the driver did. I find it unlikely that if you ordered an Uber at that time of morning, you'd be able to be talked into exploring some random construction sites. But MAYBE you'd be willing to go check out this one weird spot the guy was describing to you that he found.

I don't know. None of it makes sense to me and I hope there's an arrest soon.

Well in my youth, that age, I could think of a lot of reasons to go back behind a building, smoke a joint, do a line, or do something else of that nature and not be seen or, take a leak, hate to admit but have done that in a dire emergency. She or he could of said "come back with me and be my look out so no one sees me". Or, to make out with him or who knows another encounter of that nature. No judgement, but if she willingly goes back and the footage doesn't show any struggle or been forced it's probably a reason along one of these lines. They picked a spot not to be seen, and it worked for him.

I think it was premeditated in the sense that this guy (my gut feeling) is a hunter and has probably done this before, was looking to do this to someone, but that the place and circumstance and most likely victim was not planned. He found a victim and one thing led to another for it to be the perfect opportunity.

It really wasn't until this case that I became aware of how many cameras may actually be on abandoned, boarded up or sites under construction. I was talking to a friend who converts apartment buildings to condos and he said first thing we do is put up surveillance and depending on the site, add dogs or a security guard because construction materials are constantly getting ripped off, or once they gut a building guys come in and grab the exposed copper plumbing old or new, etc. When a place is being worked on no one thinks when a construction truck or one of those white utility vans come by and stuff is going in and out.

I know there are cameras everywhere now. I was sitting in a cafe across from an el station and I could see 8 cameras that just blend into the background. But I had not really thought at all about an uninhabited place until now. Maybe he didn't either.

And to your point I sure hope they have earlier days and that day footage in case he did scope it out before hand or has been there before and we can get a clearer picture. But I think the one they have is pretty clear, doesn't someone know him????

And yes I want more info about the uber. I bet LE has more info about that.

 

[LushGerbil]

Well in my youth, that age, I could think of a lot of reasons to go back behind a building, smoke a joint, do a line, or do something else of that nature and not be seen or, take a leak, hate to admit but have done that in a dire emergency. She or he could of said "come back with me and be my look out so no one sees me". Or, to make out with him or who knows another encounter of that nature. No judgement, but if she willingly goes back and the footage doesn't show any struggle or been forced it's probably a reason along one of these lines. They picked a spot not to be seen, and it worked for him.

I think it was premeditated in the sense that this guy (my gut feeling) is a hunter and has probably done this before, was looking to do this to someone, but that the place and circumstance and most likely victim was not planned. He found a victim and one thing led to another for it to be the perfect opportunity.

It really wasn't until this case that I became aware of how many cameras may actually be on abandoned, boarded up or sites under construction. I was talking to a friend who converts apartment buildings to condos and he said first thing we do is put up surveillance and depending on the site, add dogs or a security guard because construction materials are constantly getting ripped off, or once they gut a building guys come in and grab the exposed copper plumbing old or new, etc. When a place is being worked on no one thinks when a construction truck or one of those white utility vans come by and stuff is going in and out.

I know there are cameras everywhere now. I was sitting in a cafe across from an el station and I could see 8 cameras that just blend into the background. But I had not really thought at all about an uninhabited place until now. Maybe he didn't either.

And to your point I sure hope they have earlier days and that day footage in case he did scope it out before hand or has been there before and we can get a clearer picture. But I think the one they have is pretty clear, doesn't someone know him????

And yes I want more info about the uber. I bet LE has more info about that.

Right. Didn't mean to bring her motives for going with the guy into question again and want to make clear there's no judgment. I've had many of those nights myself and can definitely see the ton of reasons why you'd look for a secluded spot at night.

What I'm questioning is whether, without pre-planning of some sort, you'd ever find THIS particular spot. I'm just not sure this would've been a place you could've even known was there based on the street geography unless you'd seen it before. And it's right across from the park and lots of other more optimal secluded space.

It's totally possible the guy just got lucky and they stumbled onto the ideal spot for him to do what he wanted to do. But if the other potential sighting of him outside Crews shakes out to have been true, I could see him having scoped parts of the neighbourhood out in advance for doing something like this.

And I'm a little baffled that no one seems to have recognized him yet. It makes me think he either commuted from somewhere far enough away that no one there is seeing the pictures or else maybe something is misleading about the CCTV images.

 

[lcid]

I'm wondering whether the murderer had made a plan to use this stairwell for this purpose or if it was entirely a crime of opportunity.

The thing is that the stairwell was not really visible from the street. You'd most likely think it was just a standard driveway/alley if you hadn't scoped it out a bit first. I'm wondering what occasion the killer would have had to check out this property if that's the case and if there's previous video of him at the scene, maybe by day. I imagine it would have been deleted by now though, or at least would be incredibly cumbersome to find amidst all the other footage.

On the other hand, if this was premeditated, why pick THIS spot and then just leave the body there? He's gotten extremely lucky so far, but the place being loaded with visible cameras makes it such a bizarre choice.

The other possibility is that they were just exploring and stumbled upon this spot and it was a crime of opportunity. But it seems like an odd spot to explore. Half of the house was boarded off, but I had previously assumed someone was still living in it or working out of it while under construction based on the driveway/door being left clear.

The other monkey wrench is ordering the Uber. I wish it had been made clearer whether she cancelled it or the driver did. I find it unlikely that if you ordered an Uber at that time of morning, you'd be able to be talked into exploring some random construction sites. But MAYBE you'd be willing to go check out this one weird spot the guy was describing to you that he found.

I don't know. None of it makes sense to me and I hope there's an arrest soon.

re: the Uber - I agree the phrasing has been vague. Have read it written that she missed her Uber though which makes me think that she didn't cancel it but that something happened to her right after she ordered it and the driver was left there waiting. It seems like a VERY narrow window though. OR, he ordered it with her phone before walking away... it's been said again and again that her phone had been shut off. He definitely had his hands on it.

 

[LushGerbil]

re: the Uber - I agree the phrasing has been vague. Have read it written that she missed her Uber though which makes me think that she didn't cancel it but that something happened to her right after she ordered it and the driver was left there waiting. It seems like a VERY narrow window though. OR, he ordered it with her phone before walking away... it's been said again and again that her phone had been shut off. He definitely had his hands on it.

Thanks, I missed the detail that her phone had been turned off. I had wondered why no one heard it ringing when people were looking for her the next day and assumed the battery had died.

I've been looking through Instagram posts tagged in the area from around the time she died in case the suspect had been captured in the background of any. I found a video that shows a lot of the street outside Crews that night, but I couldn't spot the victim or suspect in anything. Someone also uploaded a pretty eerie shot of the house on the night of the 24th, but it didn't seem to contain any useful information and seemed like just a creepy coincidence.

 

[JLD333]

I'm wondering whether the murderer had made a plan to use this stairwell for this purpose or if it was entirely a crime of opportunity.

The thing is that the stairwell was not really visible from the street. You'd most likely think it was just a standard driveway/alley if you hadn't scoped it out a bit first. I'm wondering what occasion the killer would have had to check out this property if that's the case and if there's previous video of him at the scene, maybe by day. I imagine it would have been deleted by now though, or at least would be incredibly cumbersome to find amidst all the other footage.

On the other hand, if this was premeditated, why pick THIS spot and then just leave the body there? He's gotten extremely lucky so far, but the place being loaded with visible cameras makes it such a bizarre choice.

The other possibility is that they were just exploring and stumbled upon this spot and it was a crime of opportunity. But it seems like an odd spot to explore. Half of the house was boarded off, but I had previously assumed someone was still living in it or working out of it while under construction based on the driveway/door being left clear.

The other monkey wrench is ordering the Uber. I wish it had been made clearer whether she cancelled it or the driver did. I find it unlikely that if you ordered an Uber at that time of morning, you'd be able to be talked into exploring some random construction sites. But MAYBE you'd be willing to go check out this one weird spot the guy was describing to you that he found.

I don't know. None of it makes sense to me and I hope there's an arrest soon.

I seem to remember getting the sense from MSM articles that the Uber driver arrived and Tess wasn’t there so he/she canceled the ride. Maybe I just assumed that, but that’s the sense I got.

I’m wondering if she rebuffed him and he murdered her in a rage and then saw the staircase and used it to try to make it look like an accident. How could he have known the house they went to after leaving the hot dog stand would be so close to this alley? I don’t think it was all planned out to happen the way it did, but he may be very familiar with the area.

I’m wondering if maybe she didn’t want him coming home with her/want to go home with him and that set him off. Seems like that conversation would take place around the time an Uber is called. I’d love to see their body language before/while going into the alley and the suspects when he emerges. I think it could be telling.

Does anyone have any thoughts on if he’s done this before? Surely he has, I would think, but have there been many other missing/murdered girls in this area? I know there have been quite a few gay men that have gone missing, but other than Alloura(who falls into at least a slightly different category IMO) I’m personally not aware of any similar cases.


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