Suspicious death shocks small fishing village

NEW HAVEN, Victoria County — A small Cape Breton community was reeling after the suspicious death of a wellknown senior on Monday.

At around noon on Tuesday, Nova Scotia RCMP announced they were investigating the death of a 77-year-old New Haven man that occurred Monday evening.

New Haven is a village in northern Cape Breton situated northeast of Neils Harbour, about 165 kilometres from Sydney.

“Everyone's in shock here,” said Greg Organ of Neils Harbour and the former fire chief.

“First, we are in shock because of what happened, the death. Personally, I'm sure a lot of people are in shock because the RCMP haven't given us any information.”

Organ said he didn't hear about the death until Tuesday afternoon and still, nothing had been released to the community.

“After 9 p.m. last night (Monday) they didn't do a call out, a lockdown, and still nothing (Tuesday),” he said. “We have a hospital here, we have a special care home here, there are a lot of seniors living alone.”

Organ said the deceased man was born and raised in New Haven and everyone knew him.

“He was well known and well-liked,” he said.

He said the victim was the youngest of the family — among the last of his family in the area as his brothers and sisters had died — but did have some nieces and nephews including a niece who looked after him and would take him grocery shopping.

“He was active, always on the road and waving to everybody,” he said.

In his younger years, he said the man enjoyed cutting wood and could be found down at the wharf.

Since learning of the death, Organ said the RCMP is saying there's no immediate threat to the community but he's still hearing concerns from residents.

“The community should have been notified after it happened,” he added.

RCMP Cpl. Chris Marshall confirmed the death.

At approximately 9:05 p.m. Monday evening, Marshall said RCMP received a complaint of an incident at a residence on New Haven Road. Ingonish Beach RCMP responded and found the man deceased. Marshall said investigators have since deemed the death to be suspicious and the investigation is ongoing.

“It involves parties known to one another,” he said.

When asked about why an alert wasn't issued, Marshall said, “There was and is no risk to the greater public related to this incident.”

Marshall said there was misinformation being spread around the community involving multiple victims, multiple suspects and an active shooter, all of which is inaccurate.

“Whether or not we're looking for a suspect I can't really say but we have investigators on the ground actively investigating this incident,” he added.

A worker at Doucette's Market and Eatery in Ingonish said shortly after noon on Tuesday a man with a lot of tattoos came into the store wearing a red hoodie and ordered two pizza burgers.

“We actually got word he was the guy (alleged suspect) from someone who ordered food and was waiting in their vehicle in the parking lot – they called us inside and told us,” said the employee, who isn't being named.

“We tried to call a police officer on their cell but couldn't get hold of them. Then he got up and left quickly without eating his second pizza burger.”

The worker said she didn't know the name of the alleged suspect and the first she'd heard of the incident was when the call came in from the customer in the parking lot.

In the meantime, a resident of a neighbouring community to Neils Harbour said the community is well aware of the alleged suspect and she herself knows him well.

“I don't know if he has ever been in trouble with the law before, but I know he is trouble,” she said.

Although Neils Harbour wasn't officially in lockdown Tuesday, she was talking to residents who said people were worried, and many were closing their businesses on their own.

Neils Harbour, located between Ingonish and Dingwall on Cape Breton's Cabot trail, became a popular fishing base for both Scottish and French settlers beginning in the 1700s and remains a fishing community with a fish plant, processing plant, many seasonal homes and a population that rises upwards to 250 residents in the summer.

The Northeast Nova major crime unit is asking anyone who has information about this incident to contact them at 902-896-5060. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous can call Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers toll-free at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), submit a secure web tip at www. crimestoppers.ns.ca, or use the P3 Tips App.