Murder charge against man who tortured pair
Alexander Bates – the convicted sex offender sentenced last week to 13 years in jail for terrorizing two people in a Smithville home in 2018 – has been arrested again.
This time Bates, 47, is charged with murder.
On Dec. 21 in Mississauga, Peel Regional Police found Mary Araujo, 83, unresponsive inside a home on Green Meadow Crescent.
They said Araujo showed obvious signs of trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Monday Bates was charged with first-degree murder.
He was already in custody after being handed the 13-year sentence on Aug. 12 for his role in the Smithville incident, which occurred Dec. 21, 2018 – the same day Araujo was slain in Mississauga.
Peel and Niagara police say they believe the two incidents are related. The Standard’s sister paper the Mississauga News reports a police source said there is a family relationship between Araujo and one of the Smithville victims.
On that day, Bates drove to Smithville and, carrying an imitation gun, forced the father of a girl he had sexually abused years before into the basement of his home.
Bates, a Mississauga native, bound and gagged his former friend, as well as the man’s mother-in-law who arrived later, and for several hours beat and tortured both of them.
When police arrived they confronted Bates outside the home and shot him when he pointed the imitation gun at them. Bates’ injuries left him a paraplegic and wheelchair-bound.
The Special Investigations Unit investigated, and found the officers were justified in defending themselves. Bates was later convicted on two counts of attempted murder.
Investigators are still appealing for the public’s assistance in the Mississauga slaying.
Anyone with information can contact Peel police's homicide and missing persons bureau at 905-453-2121, ext. 3205.
— With files from the Mississauga News