Suspect arrested in Cape Breton homicide

NEW HAVEN, Victoria County — Nova Scotia RCMP say they are investigating the suspicious death of a 77-year-old New Haven man Monday night as a homicide and have arrested a suspect.

“The arrest was early afternoon (Wednesday),” said Cpl. Chris Marshall.

Marshall didn’t know where the individual was arrested but said it was without incident.

He said the suspect will remain in custody overnight Wednesday and will likely be charged Thursday morning, once the information is filed with the court.

“At that time we’ll be releasing the individual’s name, where they are from and the charges,” he said.

ISOLATED INCIDENT

At around 9:05 p.m. Monday evening, Ingonish Beach RCMP responded to a report of a sudden death at a residence on New Haven Road in New Haven.

On Tuesday, RCMP announced they were investigating the death of a 77-year-old man that they considered suspicious.

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

RCMP had said there wasn’t a reason for the community to be concerned, describing it as "an isolated incident."

Earlier Wednesday, Marshall said they were still waiting for the results of an autopsy by the medical examiner’s office before determining how the investigation would proceed. RCMP confirmed the incident involved two individuals known to each other.

Marshall said he understands the frustration and anxiety of a community looking for information when these types of incidents occur, but investigators need time to do their work.

“There is always a lot of work that has to be done, especially in the first few days after an incident like this occurs,” he said. “Investigators need to be given time to do their work, to collect evidence to make a determination what happened.”

Now with the news of an arrest Wednesday, Marshall said he hopes this brings some relief not only to the community but also to the victim’s family as well.

“Just because we have someone in custody doesn’t mean our work ends,” he said.

“Our work will continue in an effort to bring closure to the victim’s family, to collect as much evidence

as possible.”

EVERYONE LIKED HIM

The victim was not only someone everyone in the tiny village knew but was well-liked.

Almost everyone spoken with had a story.

One resident of a neighbouring community remembered seeing him regularly pick up bottles from the side of the road for the recycling depot. Another remembered how he’d wave to every car passing by.

David Dowling, manager of Neils Harbour Co-op, said the deceased man used to visit his house.

“We used to have a cup of tea together, a little bit to eat and watch a few episodes of Gunsmoke,” he said. “He did that in a lot of homes around the community and everybody really liked him."

The man enjoyed fishing, hunting and cutting his own wood and was still very active.

“At 77-years-old, you’d never find any other person that was in the kind of shape he was in,” Dowling added.

He said the victim was very friendly, would stop and have a conversation with anyone, no matter who they were. He enjoyed talking about fishing, hunting — everything.

“He was the same to everybody as he was to his own family,” Dowling said. “He’s going to be sadly missed, there’s no doubt about that.”

THE COMMUNITY

Although Neils Harbour wasn’t in lockdown Tuesday, many businesses were reported to have closed on their own.

The hospital was on lockdown and the Co-op, the Chowder House, post office and ice cream parlour closed. The hospital and pharmacy doors were locked but customers were being let in.

Dowling said if in such incidents he decided not to close down the store and something happened, the onus would be on him.

“I can’t put myself or my staff or the public in that kind of harm’s way,” he said.

On Wednesday, businesses appeared to be opened again.

Dowling said along with the sadness being expressed in the community Wednesday, people were also concerned by the way the investigation was handled. The incident happened Monday night, but the word didn’t get out until late Tuesday. He said the RCMP should have alerted the community something was going on earlier.

“I think the alerts should go out a little bit faster than they are,” he said.

“Even if it’s not life-threatening, sometimes those alerts should go out just in case they might turn lifethreatening.”

In the meantime, he said everyone has the victim on their mind.

“We wish for everybody to lock their doors, stay safe and just think of and remember the family.”

The Northeast Nova major crime unit is asking anyone who has information about the case to contact them at 902-896-5060 or Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers toll-free at 1-800222-TIPS (8477), a secure web tip at www.crimestoppers.ns.ca, or through the P3 Tips App.