Man’s body severely beaten
Cyclists find corpse in brush by path near Airport Parkway
Cyclists found a man’s severely beaten body along the path between the Airport Parkway pedestrian bridge and South Keys transitway Thursday morning, just two days before the bridge opens and boosts traffic in the otherwise remote and heavily forested area.
Ottawa police detectives continue to investigate what they believe is the city’s sixth homicide of the year after the two cyclists discovered the man around 7 a.m. Thursday near the northbound Hunt Club Road on-ramp to Airport Parkway.
The man was found on his back, his clothes bloodied, lying partially in the leafless brush, but his legs were clearly visible at the edge of the path.
His backpack was also found nearby, as was a weapon. It wasn’t immediately known if the weapon was used in the killing.
The body showed signs of trauma but police have not yet determined a cause of death, although they believe the man was killed Wednesday evening or early Thursday morning.
Police believe they have identified the victim, but weren’t releasing his name, pending notification of his next of kin. The man was known to police.
Investigators have also seized 24-hour video-surveillance footage from the nearby OC Transpo transit station hoping it could show what led to the man’s death or how his body ended up off the path.
While cyclists and pedestrians use the trail — the Sawmill Creek Pathway — transit users can’t connect to the footpath directly since a wire fence blocks them from a connecting tunnel. Once the bridge opens to pedestrians, that tunnel is supposed to be accessible.
The transitway sits at the edge of South Keys Shopping Centre, where the body of 28-year-old Melissa Richmond of Winchester was found in the summer of 2013. Her husband, Howard Richmond, has since been charged with firstdegree murder.
An autopsy was scheduled for Friday morning. No suspects had been identified Thursday night.
Police ask any witnesses who were in the area Wednesday night or Thursday morning and have any information to call the major-crime unit at 613-236-1222 ext. 5493 or anonymously call Crime Stoppers at 613-233-8477.