‘This is a crisis’
Intimate partner violence represents one-quarter of all reported violent crime in Canada, with more than 90,000 victims annually. In Hamilton, police respond to about 20 domestic violence calls each day – and it is an underreported crime. These are some o
Holly Hamilton was found dead in the trunk of her car Wednesday afternoon, allegedly murdered by her ex-boyfriend, the father of her child. Her death adds to the grim tally of people abused by their partners. The Spectator’s Nicole O’Reilly reports on Holly Hamilton’s life and death. Jon Wells reports on the scope of intimate partner violence.
AROUND DINNERTIME Sunday evening, Holly Hamilton told her family she was going to visit a friend.
But that meeting never happened, said police homicide unit Staff Sgt. Dave Oleniuk.
Instead, the 29-year-old drove to the Barton Street East apartment of her 30-year-old ex-boyfriend, Justin Dumpfrey — the father of her fouryear-old daughter, who was with her. Hamilton wasn’t seen alive again. Results from an autopsy Friday showed Hamilton was stabbed to death.
Police said they would not release additional information about her injuries or the weapon.
Dumpfrey is charged with seconddegree murder.
Hamilton was reported missing on Monday and an intensive city-wide search began.
The day after Hamilton was last seen, Dumpfrey is captured on surveillance video attending businesses in the neighbourhood around his apartment — a basement unit on Barton at Fairfield Avenue near Strathearne Avenue.
Sometime between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., Dumpfrey allegedly drove his daughter to the home of Hamilton’s parents. The young child knocked on the door alone.
When someone answered, Dumpfrey allegedly sped off in a white car — police don’t know for sure if it was Hamilton’s 1996 white four-door Ford Escort, Oleniuk said.
Two days later, the single mother’s body was found in the trunk of her car in an underground garage on Barlake Avenue in Stoney Creek.
Dumpfrey was arrested the same day after appearing in court on an unrelated charge.
Oleniuk said the early part of the police investigation was focused on finding Hamilton and Dumpfrey. Now detectives are reaching further back to piece together their tenuous, on-and-off, five-year relationship, which was documented to be fraught with abuse.
They’re also working to clarify where Dumpfrey went after dropping off his daughter.
There was no court order around custody or access to the girl, now safely with her grandparents. Police with specialized training interviewing children have spoken with her.
Dumpfrey was known to police — he had a 2016 conviction for assaulting Hamilton. For that he was sentenced to 90 days in jail, with a probation order to keep the peace toward Hamilton. That order expired last month.
Dumpfrey, described as quiet and a bit of a loner, moved back and forth between Toronto and Hamilton, living in that Barton Street East apartment for less than a year.
He had been working at a metal business near Nash Road, but Oleniuk said he quit that job a few months ago and did not appear to be working at the time of his arrest.
Grieving family and friends have described Hamilton as quiet, loving, kind and sweet.
Childhood friend Samantha Cartel said that despite her pain and anger over the murder, she’s blessed with only good memories of her friend.
“I don’t have even one bad memory of her. We never fought, except for once in middle school. I think and it was over a sweater.”
In those days, Hamilton’s nickname was “Hollerz.” When they were about 13, Cartel ran away from home for a week and lived with Hamilton.
“I remember me and her used to just ride the buses up and down the Mountain for fun.”
As they got older, they had fun going out in Hess Village or hanging out at home. She was someone who loved and didn’t judge, Cartel said.
On Sunday around 6:24 p.m. Hamilton texted her, asking how she was. Cartel replied, but never heard back. On Wednesday, she was among friends preparing to search for Hamilton when they learned her body had been found.
“I’m so furious she was taken away from us. All I can do is pray she gets her justice,” Cartel said.
A Facebook group originally created to help organize search parties, now called In Memory of Holly Hamilton, is filled with messages of condolence, memories of growing up in Hamilton and attending Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School. Many wrote about Holly Hamilton’s big “infectious” smile and called for an end to domestic violence.
Police have left the apartment building, but a memorial of photos, flowers, teddy bears and candles out front is growing.
Holly’s brother, Cass Hamilton, thanked police for finding his sister and the public for their “overwhelming prayers and support.”
“Holly is at peace now but my family and I, along with other families affected by domestic violence will never be,” he said, asking for privacy.
A GoFundMe account — Holly Hamilton Funeral Expenses — to cover funeral expenses and support for Hamilton’s daughter had raised more than $13,000 by late Friday afternoon. The goal is $20,000.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Rich Wouters at 905546-4921. To provide information anonymously, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.