Burnt Church Staircase

By John No

On 18 August 2007

Favorited 4 Times

Burnt Church Staircase

CBC News
Friday April,17 1998

Toronto police are searching for a Sunday school teacher after a series of fires and a homicide. They suspect a connection between fires at three city churches and the discovery of a man's body Thursday.

Bob Ivens, 49, was found dead in the morgue at the University of Toronto. It's a controlled area that few people have access to. Ivens worked there as an anatomy lab supervisor.

Police are now looking for Stephen Toussaint, 54. He was a colleague at the lab, and a member of one of the churches that was set ablaze Thursday. Toussaint is listed as missing and hasn't returned to his home. According to police his family is worried.

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CBC News
Friday, July 23, 1999

One of the strangest crimes ever in Toronto seems to have been at least partially resolved. Steven Toussaint's body was found yesterday in Bluffer's Park on the Scarborough bluff.

He had been missing since April 16th, 1998. The day after his co-worker, Bob Ivens was murdered at the university of Toronto. The day after a Toussaint's church burned to the ground.

Toussaint was a suspect in both crimes. A Canada-wide warrent was issued for his arrest for second degree murder. Police found his car near the bluffs the day after the murder, and they had searched the area with no luck.

Toussaint's body was clothed and badly decomposed - and police are still unsure how he died.

The burned church still lies in ruins, unable to rebuild because of disagreement with the insurance company. And many parishioners still find it hard to believe their church treasurer, the Sunday school teacher, could have been a suspect in a murder and arson.

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