St. Catharines woman dead, man charged with first-degree murder
Police called to home in north end after receiving report of assault
Niagara Regional Police homicide detectives are continuing to investigate the death of a woman in a north-end St. Catharines home on the weekend.
Yellow police tape surrounded the property, and a large black, forensic services van, along with several other police cruisers, was parked in front of the house on Densgrove Road near Vine Street for much of Saturday.
Police charged Gregory M. Tkachyk, 60, of St. Catharines, with first-degree murder.
A media release from police said officers were called at about 4:40 p.m. Friday to investigate an assault. When they arrived at the home, they found a deceased woman and arrested a man at the scene.
“We saw a friend drive up and go to the door on Friday afternoon,” a neighbour said. “A little while later, the police showed up.
“They brought the man who lived there out in handcuffs, and they put him in the back of the cruiser. There was no drama or anything like that.
“The only indication something was wrong was that the officers put on gloves when they went back into the house.”
Neighbours identified the man who lived at the home as a retired firefighter from Toronto.
The Toronto Fire Service listed a man with the same name on the Sunshine List as a captain as recently as 2018. A media relations officer with the fire service is checking their records.
Tkachyk had a video bail hearing Saturday at the Robert S. K Welch Courthouse in St. Catharines.
A publication ban was imposed in bail court.
Police said they aren’t identifying the victim at the request of the next of kin.
“She was just a very nice woman,” a neighbour said. “When we moved in, she was the first one who came over and welcomed us to neighbourhood. She was friendly.
“He was less friendly. There was nothing wrong. He just wasn’t the kind of neighbour who liked to stop to talk or chat. He kept to himself and liked to work on his gardens in the morning. He has a dog that would follow him around.
“He lost a lot of weight recently. The kind you have when there is an illness. It was a dramatic weight loss. When I saw him, I didn’t even recognize him at first. That is how much he had lost.”
A police media release said the investigation is in the hands of detectives from the homicide unit with assistance from the St. Catharines detachment’s detective office and the forensic services unit, and the coroner.