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CRIME
Man caught on camera charged with murder
Widely broadcast images from surveillance video lead to arrest in slaying of 33-year-old homeless woman
TIMOTHY APPLEBY
An unemployed Toronto-area man whose picture was captured on a downtown surveillance camera and widely broadcast has been charged with first-degree murder in the slaying last weekend of a homeless woman.
Yesterday's arrest marked the third recent homicide in the city where closed-circuit cameras have played a key role in arrests.
Accompanied by a lawyer, Martin Horacio De Narvaez, 21, surrendered to police early yesterday morning after a relative recognized him from television images, Detective Chris Buck of the homicide squad told a news conference.
Later in the day, Mr. De Narvaez appeared in court at Old City Hall and was remanded in custody. He is charged with strangling and bludgeoning 33-year-old Bly Markis, the city's 19th homicide victim so far this year.
No motive was immediately apparent because the pair had just met, Det. Buck told reporters. "There was not a lot of conversation prior to the murder," he said. "They met a short distance away from where she was discovered and the incident occurred very quickly."
Police yesterday praised the role of the cameras, whose expanded use in crime hot spots has stirred some protests about an encroachment on civil liberties.
On April 11, a suspect turned himself in to police after security cameras in a Scarborough apartment building captured pictures of a fatal beating.
Also last month, TTC security cameras recorded the stabbing of a subway passenger at Kennedy station. A 26-year-old man was arrested and charged with that killing a few days later.
Ms. Markis's body was discovered early Sunday in a basement stairwell in the Xerox Centre building near the intersection of Yonge and Bloor streets. Nearby surveillance cameras provided pictures of her walking hand in hand through the concourse Saturday night with a man who was later seen nearby, allegedly carrying her purse.
An autopsy on Monday found that Ms. Markis died of "strangulation with blunt impact facial trauma."
She grew up in North York but reportedly worked as a massage therapist in Southern California's affluent Ventura County before recently returning to Toronto. Difficulties with finding work and a drug-related brush with the law had left her homeless, acquaintances said.
On Monday, Toronto police switched on about a dozen of the force's own surveillance cameras around the city, as part of a six-month pilot program. Most are located in the downtown core's entertainment district, with others positioned in Scarborough's Malvern community and the Jane/ Finch district in North York.
The closed-circuit cameras run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but rather than watching the live feeds, police say they will review the footage only when an incident is reported.
Man caught on camera charged with murder
Widely broadcast images from surveillance video lead to arrest in slaying of 33-year-old homeless woman
TIMOTHY APPLEBY
An unemployed Toronto-area man whose picture was captured on a downtown surveillance camera and widely broadcast has been charged with first-degree murder in the slaying last weekend of a homeless woman.
Yesterday's arrest marked the third recent homicide in the city where closed-circuit cameras have played a key role in arrests.
Accompanied by a lawyer, Martin Horacio De Narvaez, 21, surrendered to police early yesterday morning after a relative recognized him from television images, Detective Chris Buck of the homicide squad told a news conference.
Later in the day, Mr. De Narvaez appeared in court at Old City Hall and was remanded in custody. He is charged with strangling and bludgeoning 33-year-old Bly Markis, the city's 19th homicide victim so far this year.
No motive was immediately apparent because the pair had just met, Det. Buck told reporters. "There was not a lot of conversation prior to the murder," he said. "They met a short distance away from where she was discovered and the incident occurred very quickly."
Police yesterday praised the role of the cameras, whose expanded use in crime hot spots has stirred some protests about an encroachment on civil liberties.
On April 11, a suspect turned himself in to police after security cameras in a Scarborough apartment building captured pictures of a fatal beating.
Also last month, TTC security cameras recorded the stabbing of a subway passenger at Kennedy station. A 26-year-old man was arrested and charged with that killing a few days later.
Ms. Markis's body was discovered early Sunday in a basement stairwell in the Xerox Centre building near the intersection of Yonge and Bloor streets. Nearby surveillance cameras provided pictures of her walking hand in hand through the concourse Saturday night with a man who was later seen nearby, allegedly carrying her purse.
An autopsy on Monday found that Ms. Markis died of "strangulation with blunt impact facial trauma."
She grew up in North York but reportedly worked as a massage therapist in Southern California's affluent Ventura County before recently returning to Toronto. Difficulties with finding work and a drug-related brush with the law had left her homeless, acquaintances said.
On Monday, Toronto police switched on about a dozen of the force's own surveillance cameras around the city, as part of a six-month pilot program. Most are located in the downtown core's entertainment district, with others positioned in Scarborough's Malvern community and the Jane/ Finch district in North York.
The closed-circuit cameras run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but rather than watching the live feeds, police say they will review the footage only when an incident is reported.