Twitter yields break in fatal stabbing
2012 case had gone cold, then police turned to social media
The homicide investigation had hit a wall. Three years after Mike Pimentel was stabbed to death in Liberty Village — just hours after Toronto rang in 2012 — leads had gone dry and detectives had yet to make an arrest.
Then last December, lead homicide detective Tam Bui took an unconventional approach, one that’s “not really been tried before in our jurisdiction,” said Staff Insp. Greg McLane, head of Toronto police homicide.
Inspired by the popular true-crime podcast Serial — which revealed new clues on a weekly basis in a1999 murder case from Baltimore — Bui began tweeting out evidence from the case, hoping to spur information and attract witnesses to come forward. “Do you know this woman? She might hold the key to Mike Pimentel’s murder,” Bui wrote on Dec. 6, 2014, posting two blurry photos of a woman in a dress.
One week later, more clues, this time a photo collage of hair extensions, keys and highheeled shoes. “Who dropped these size 38 shoes?” asked Bui, including a hashtag #mikepimentelmurder.
As new clues were posted each week, Bui’s investigation by Twitter garnered international media attention — and, as Toronto police revealed Thursday, results.
After a joint effort with Calgary police and the RCMP, Toronto police have charged Calgary resident Shawn Poirier with second-degree murder.
Poirier, 30, was arrested without incident in Calgary on Dec. 3 and brought to Toronto to appear in court.
He has been remanded into custody.
“It’s very overwhelming, emotions are obviously running very high today,” said Jennifer DeFraga, who was Pimentel’s girlfriend at the time of his death, at an emotional news conference Thursday.
“A humongous thank you to the homicide team. If it wasn’t for them, for their determination and their hard work, we would not be standing here today,” she said.
Pimentel, 24, was stabbed to death early on New Year’s Day after leaving a party in Liberty Village.
McLane said police have no information to suggest Poirier and Pimentel knew each other before the attack and they believe it was a random attack after a “chance meeting on the street.”
They do not know where Poirier was living at the time of the homicide.
Police say they do not believe anyone else is directly involved in Pimentel’s death, but they are looking for a cab driver who was supposed to pick Poirier up near Lake Ontario on the morning Pimentel was killed.
The cab driver was momentarily handed a cellphone with Poirier on the line, in order to work out where he needed to be picked up. Police want to hear from the driver because they believe he has valuable information. Police did not say Thursday who the phone belonged to.
“We’re going to see more of this, because it greatly expands the channels of information and data that can be quickly shared.” PROF. CHRISTOPHER SCHNEIDER
Due to the ongoing court case, McLane did not provide details about exactly what information led to Poirier’s arrest, but said hundreds of tips flooded in from the Twitter campaign. The innovative investigative technique was “instrumental,” McLane said, in identifying witnesses and collecting evidence.
Specifically, it was vital to getting the word out about Pimentel’s case beyond the Greater Toronto Area. During their investigation, detectives developed a theory that whoever was responsible may have just been passing through Toronto, looking for a New Year’s party.
“The campaign was not only done to stimulate thought and to re-invigorate the investigation, but it was very captivating and it went international,” McLane said. “We wanted to get the information out there about this case beyond the Greater Toronto area. It was huge.”
A spokesperson from Calgary Police said Poirier had no history with police.
Christopher Schneider, a Brandon University associate professor who studies policing and technology, said law enforcement agencies have been turning to social media for nearly a decade for help piecing together crimes. More will continue to do so, as success stories like Toronto’s Pimentel case show the potential social media offers, particularly in terms of reach.
“We’re going to see more of this, because it greatly expands the channels of information and data that can be quickly shared, across and beyond the boundaries of traditional media,” Schneider said.
For Pimentel’s family, the arrest brings some closure — but it’s difficult, too, said Pimentel’s sister, Carla.
“It’s very heartbreaking to see his picture and see who killed my brother, but I’m thankful that he’s inside,” she said.
New Year’s is a difficult holiday for the Pimentel family, said his mother, Gloria Luz. “It’s not the same. It hurts my heart. I miss my son so much.” With files from Vjosa Isai and Jackie Hong