Man charged 8 months after death of 83-year-old woman

Police have charged a man with firstdegree murder eight months after an 83-year-old woman was found dead at a Mississauga home.

Peel police were called to the home on Green Meadow Cres., near Cawthra Rd. and Silver Creek Blvd., where they found Mary Araujo with obvious signs of trauma on the morning of Dec. 21.

She was pronounced dead at the scene, police said at the time.

Alexander Bates, 47, of Mississauga, was arrested Monday.

“It doesn’t happen that often,” Const. Heather Cannon said in an interview.

“But sometimes investigations can take very long — and arrests aren’t made until much later, especially with complicated murder cases.”

Bates was previously charged on Dec. 29 with two counts of attempted murder for an incident in Smithville, Ont., the same day as the homicide in Mississauga.

The two incidents were related, Peel and Niagara police said at the time.

In Smithville, Niagara police responded on Dec. 21 to a disturbance at home on Anastasia Blvd. after receiving a 911 call from a woman who said two people were tied up in the basement, according to police reports.

Niagara police said there was an interaction with a man who attempted to flee the scene and was subsequently shot by an officer.

Two other people were sent to hospital in critical condition.

The incident was investigated by Niagara regional police as well as the province’s Special Investigations Unit, the agency that probes the serious injury or death of civilians when police are involved.

Anyone with information is asked to contact investigators at (905) 453-2121, ext. 3205, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).