Randomness of subway push is chilling

No wallet. No phone. No ID.

And so the victim who was pushed off the eastbound subway platform at Bloor and Yonge on Monday morning, in front of horrified commuters, remained a John Doe for hour after hour after hour.

From the emergency department at St. Michael’s Hospital, where the man succumbed to his injuries, to the autopsy table, to a morgue drawer — unnamed, unclaimed.

So sad, in this city of nearly 3 million, there are people who lead such apparently isolated lives that nobody misses them as time stretches. Investigators wwere seriously considering releasing a “cleaned up” photo of the deceased, in hopes somebody would recognize the middle-aged male. “That’s the last line in the sand,” said homicide Det.-Sgt. Gary Giroux.

By midday Tuesday, lead Det. Rob North told reporters police were fairly confident they had just established the victim’s identity but wouldn’t release a name until next of kin had been notiffied. In late afternoon, the victim was f formally identified as 73-year-old

Toronto the Still, platform not resident a clue into why Yosuke the he path was Hayahara. of shoved an on- off coming not know. train, allegedly by a man he did w

Can there ever be a sane why for berserk happenstance?

On a subway system used by about a million passengers a day? The randomness of the act is chilling pened “To tragic.” “It’s remain terrible, to him,” unclaimed it’s Giroux tragic had is that equally said this earlier. hapA crime without a known motive.

The man who died after being pushed off the platform at Bloor-Yonge station on Monday has been identified as Yosuke Hayahara, a 73-year-old Toronto resident, Toronto police said in a news release Tuesday evening.

Toronto homicide Det. Rob North said Monday that Hayahara was on the eastbound platform about 10:15 a.m. when he was pushed onto the tracks as the train entered the station.

Police said Hayahara was injured on the tracks and taken to hospital, where he later died.

The suspect accused of pushing Hayahara to his death appeared briefly in court Tuesday.

John Reszetnik, 57, was charged with one count of first-degree murder in Monday morning’s incident at BloorYonge station.

Police called the incident “a completely unprovoked attack.”

Keiko Hayahara, Yosuke’s ex-wife, told the Star she was notified by police Tuesday.

She said she hadn’t spoken with him in 25 years, despite the pair having a daughter.

Keiko said Yosuke “was a good man.”

“I’m just crying for my daughter, because my daughter was very close to him,” she said. “It’s very, very shocking. I just feel like it’s senseless, whoever did this. I just don’t understand why.”

Keiko said her daughter was in a “state of shock.”

“There’s absolutely no way to speak to her today,” she said. “I just rushed to her side, held her, she kept crying.”

There is no apparent motive for the incident, North said outside a Toronto court after a brief hearing where Reszetnik’s case was put over to next month.

“The incident took place in a very quick fashion and ended very quickly,” North told reporters.

Officers have spoken to four or five witnesses but believe there were about 25 more on the station platform at the time — seven or eight of whom would have directly witnessed the victim’s fall, North added.