CANADA Welland, Ont.John Horvath, 75, retired shop teacher, beaten body in basement, 4 Jan 1999

[dotr]

June 7 2019
ONTARIO COLD CASE: Snowy driveway alerts neighbours to teacher's murder

"It was the driveway that tipped the neighbours off.

When John Horvath — a 75-year-old retired shop teacher — failed to shovel it following an early January snowfall, those he knew in his Welland neighbourhood became worried.

Horvath had lived in the red brick bungalow on Norway Avenue for nearly 50 years, and he could always be counted on to keep his property maintained.


On Jan. 4, 1999 when police swung by to check in, the neighbourhood’s fears were confirmed: Horvath was dead.

His body was found at the bottom of the basement stairs, lying in a pool of blood, and it was clear he had been badly beaten. Police said he died of blunt force trauma to his head, and signs of forced entry at a rear door to his house led them to believe it happened 48 hours before he was found.

Horvath, who lived alone, had been visiting family in Thunder Bay over the Christmas holidays, but cut his usual trip short and headed home a few days earlier than planned. Police believe his death may have been the result of a burglary gone wrong."

 

[dotr]

John Horvath - Homicide - Niagara Regional Police Service

"John Horvath was found murdered in his Norway Avenue residence in Welland, in early January 1999. A rear door to the residence had been forced and he had been beaten. It is believed he had interrupted a break-in at his home.

Mr. Horvath was in his mid-seventies and lived alone. He was a former shop teacher, retired from E.L. Crossley Secondary School.

If You Have Additional Information:

Anyone with any information regarding this unsolved homicide is asked to contact

Homicide Unit at 905-688-4111 Ext. 4200

Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477

www.crimestoppersofniagara.com

You can also contact the Homicide Unit by email to Major Crime Unit"

 

[dotr]

July 5 2023

ONTARIO COLD CASE: Snowy driveway alerts neighbours to teacher’s murder

John Horvath, a 75-year-old retired shop teacher, was found dead at the bottom of the stairs in his home 20 years ago.

www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com

John Horvath's January 1999 murder remains unsolved. - Niagara Regional Police Photo

Niagara Regional Police investigators approach the Norway Avenue home of John Horvath, who was found dead Jan. 4, 1999. - Tribune File Photo

''It was the driveway that tipped the neighbours off.
When John Horvath — a 75-year-old retired shop teacher — failed to shovel it following an early January snowfall, those he knew in his Welland neighbourhood became worried.''

ONTARIO COLD CASE: Snowy driveway alerts neighbours to teacher's murder

John Horvath, a 75-year-old retired shop teacher, was found dead at the bottom of the stairs in his home 20 years ago.

www.toronto.com

''Horvath, who lived alone, had been visiting family in Thunder Bay over the Christmas holidays, but cut his usual trip short and headed home a few days earlier than planned. Police believe his death may have been the result of a burglary gone wrong.

In the 20 years since his death, no primary suspects have been named. No arrests have been made. And no answer has been found to the question haunting the community: Who killed John Horvath?

It’s an investigation police believed was "solvable." At least, that’s how Jim Prinsen saw it when the now-retired detective sergeant assumed the investigation in 2007.

“We still believe it’s a solvable case,” he told the Welland Tribune at the time.

After sorting through the case files, which includes more than 200 interviews and reports stuffed into nearly 20 boxes of files, he said there had been a number of suspects over the years, but no one person they were keying in on at that point.''