CANADA Canada- Richard Clements, 72, Double amputee, Robbed & Fatally stabbed @ home, Toronto (Etobicoke) 3 Dec' 2008

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Homicide #68/2008

Cold Case Files​

Homicide #68/2008​

Victim:​

Richard
CLEMENTS
Age: 72
Gender: Male
Murdered on: December 2, 2008
Location: 22 Division

Details of Investigation:​

On Wednesday, December 3, 2008, at about 12:18 p.m., police responded to an emergency call at 1 Coin Street.

The victim was discovered inside an apartment residence, suffering from stab wounds. Despite life-saving efforts by emergency personnel, the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

 

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2009

Police offer reward in 'vicious' Etobicoke killing

Toronto police have put up a $50,000 reward to try and solve the murder of a 72-year-old disabled man whose kindliness may have unfortunately been his undoing.

toronto.ctvnews.ca

''Richard Clements, 72, had a history of opening his door to people and helping them out, Det. Brian Borg of the Toronto Police Service's homicide squad told a news conference on Thursday.

On Dec. 3, 2008, someone came to visit Clements in his south Etobicoke apartment. They found the door unsecured, with no signs of forced entry.''

"(Clements') body was found inside the apartment beside his overturned wheelchair. His prosthetic limbs were found on his motorized scooter, which had been left in the hallway," Borg said.

A post-mortem examination showed Clements died of multiple stab wounds. "There is no way to describe Richard's death as anything other than vicious," Borg said, adding, "Obviously Richard would not have had any chance against the heartless coward who killed him."

''Evidence from the scene suggests that Clements' killer robbed the suite.

"Footprints in blood suggest that this person went to an apartment (one floor below) but did not enter. There the footprints end," the detective said.

This suggests the killer was familiar with Coin Street, the surrounding area "and that other neighbour, where the footprints suddenly stop," Borg said.

Police suspect the killer was wearing Nike Edge running shoes.''

People often came to Clements to borrow money or cigarettes, "because Richard was the kind of person who would give them what they asked for," he said, adding Clements lived off a disability pension.

"It would not be uncommon for people in the building who knew Richard to show up in the middle of the day or middle of the night."

 

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March 4 2021 rbbm.

12 Years After a Brutal Murder, Police Have a Break in a Cold Case

The murder of Richard Clements has been unsolved for years. But with a new DNA lead and changes sparked by COVID-19, grieving loved ones might finally get the answers they've been longing for.

www.vice.com

''Although the likelihood of solving a historical murder is low, the discovery of new DNA evidence means Clements’ loved ones might finally get the answers for which they’ve been searching. Earlier this year, Toronto cold case investigators sent items left from Clements’ murder scene to be re-examined for DNA for the first time since he was killed. The results yielded a lead: what they believe is the killer’s DNA profile. Detectives weren’t able to find a match at the national offender databank, so now they have to work backwards, tracing people who could have been involved with the case and getting their DNA. ''

''Detectives also found more traces of blood across different floors in the building that they weren’t able to directly link to the murder. When police sent a sample of what they believe is the killer’s blood from Clements’ apartment to be re-examined for DNA this year, they were hoping it would match the DNA profile from the blood scattered around the building. Instead, they got two profiles, raising the possibility of more than one perpetrator. One thing that detectives are pretty certain of, is whoever committed this crime wasn’t a stranger to Clements and was familiar with his building.''

''Before he moved into 1 Coin Street, Clements spent a short stint as a hairdresser, and then went on to manage the small photocopy shop downtown in the 1970s. Clements was openly gay and knew the struggles the LGBTQ community faced in the ’70s and ’80s, when gay people were stigmatized due to the AIDS epidemic. He did a lot of free printing for LGBTQ-owned businesses around Toronto to help them gain traction in the wake of the gay rights movement. Bonett says that with the exception of her sister Luana Rizzo, all of his employees were queer.''

''In his free time, Clements volunteered at Casey House, the first and only stand-alone hospital for people with HIV/AIDS in Canada. He spent his time sitting with patients who were lonely—people whose loved ones wouldn’t visit.''

 

[stonedgnome]

View attachment 347819
March 4 2021 rbbm.

12 Years After a Brutal Murder, Police Have a Break in a Cold Case

The murder of Richard Clements has been unsolved for years. But with a new DNA lead and changes sparked by COVID-19, grieving loved ones might finally get the answers they've been longing for.

www.vice.com

''Although the likelihood of solving a historical murder is low, the discovery of new DNA evidence means Clements’ loved ones might finally get the answers for which they’ve been searching. Earlier this year, Toronto cold case investigators sent items left from Clements’ murder scene to be re-examined for DNA for the first time since he was killed. The results yielded a lead: what they believe is the killer’s DNA profile. Detectives weren’t able to find a match at the national offender databank, so now they have to work backwards, tracing people who could have been involved with the case and getting their DNA. ''

''Detectives also found more traces of blood across different floors in the building that they weren’t able to directly link to the murder. When police sent a sample of what they believe is the killer’s blood from Clements’ apartment to be re-examined for DNA this year, they were hoping it would match the DNA profile from the blood scattered around the building. Instead, they got two profiles, raising the possibility of more than one perpetrator. One thing that detectives are pretty certain of, is whoever committed this crime wasn’t a stranger to Clements and was familiar with his building.''

''Before he moved into 1 Coin Street, Clements spent a short stint as a hairdresser, and then went on to manage the small photocopy shop downtown in the 1970s. Clements was openly gay and knew the struggles the LGBTQ community faced in the ’70s and ’80s, when gay people were stigmatized due to the AIDS epidemic. He did a lot of free printing for LGBTQ-owned businesses around Toronto to help them gain traction in the wake of the gay rights movement. Bonett says that with the exception of her sister Luana Rizzo, all of his employees were queer.''

''In his free time, Clements volunteered at Casey House, the first and only stand-alone hospital for people with HIV/AIDS in Canada. He spent his time sitting with patients who were lonely—people whose loved ones wouldn’t visit.''

I really hope that justice is found for him and his loved ones. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, it breaks my heart and makes me emotional to read about his passion for the community and how he was tragically taken away from the people he cared about.

 

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June 3 2022