Suspicious death
Cape Breton Regional Police investigating possible homicide in Sydney
Cape Breton Regional Police have released few details about what they believe is a homicide in Sydney.
Police responded to a Prince Street address around 11 a.m. Tuesday after receiving a report of a deceased person.
Upon their arrival at the scene, officers discovered the body of man in his fifties inside his apartment.
At this point, police say the death is suspicious in nature and they are treating it as a homicide.
Around noontime on Tuesday, a portion of Prince Street in downtown Sydney was cordoned off between Charlotte and Bentinck streets, while a police officer in a blue protection suit could be seen walking in the area.
Additional police resources were dispatched, including a sniffer dog that could be heard barking inside a nearby vehicle. By about 4 p.m., the roadblock remained in place and at least three officers remained on scene.
A server who was working inside the nearby Prince Street Market said police would tell them nothing about their investigation, but asked that they stay inside.
A secondary door to the multiuse building was also taped off, although customers were able to enter the space through a door on Bentinck Street.
Police are expected to provide additional details as they become available. Members of the force’s major crime unit and forensic identification units are continuing with their investigation.
Anyone with information about this crime is asked to contact the Cape Breton Regional Police dispatch centre at 5635151 or Crime Stoppers at 562-8477 or www.capebretoncrimestoppers.ca.
Murder charges have been laid in two cases in Cape Breton so far this year.
The first occurred in Gardiner Mines on April 18 when Richard Wayne McNeil was charged in the first-degree murder of his common-law partner, SaraBeth Ann Forbes.
A psychiatric assessment concluded that McNeil is fit to stand trial but that he is not criminally responsible for his actions because at the time of the offence he suffered a disease of the mind.
According to family members, McNeil was previously diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He has waived his right to a preliminary hearing. His trial is expected to begin on April 1, 2018.
On July 14 in Sydney Mines, Kimberly Ann O’Dea allegedly ran down her former partner, Dana Marie Jessome, with a vehicle. O’Dea currently faces charges of second-degree murder, criminal negligence causing death and dangerous driving causing death.
O’Dea was released from custody on a host of conditions earlier this month. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 18.