Page 13 - GTA Real Estate Magazine July 2021

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lines around the world. Plausible theories and wild speculations circulated in print and online, as police, private detectives, and forensic experts conducted their investigations. Was it a business deal gone wrong? International assassins, who flew in and out of Toronto after staging a macabre scene to buy time? Or was it a simpler, more commonplace killing, involving someone they knew?
As part of my now two-and-a-half-year long investigation into the double murders for the Toronto Star I have gone to court on several occasions to learn about the Toronto Police Homicide investigation and to lift the sealing order on police documents that outlined the case. Under the watchful eyes of Justice Leslie Pringle I, a non lawyer, was allowed to cross examine Detective Constable Dennis Yim, the sole full time officer assigned to the case.
In early 2019, we had an exchange that answered one key question, while raising another.
“Detective Yim, are you making progress in this investigation?” “Yes,” Yim responded. “And what is the goal of the investigation?” I asked, lobbing a softball at the affable detective.
“To find the truth and to find the perpetrator that commit ted the crimes.” “And how do you know you are making progress?” “Additional evidence is coming in.”
Something about the way the detective was answering - he was much more at ease than the last time he’d given testimony - made me ask more probing questions. Earlier, Justice Pringle or Crown Attorney Peter Scrutton had cut me off. Not this time.
“Detective Yim, at this point, sixteen months, does the police force have a theory of the case?” Yim paused. He was silent for twenty seconds. He looked up once at the Crown and then answered, “Yes.”
To say my heart quickened is an understatement. In that moment, I saw the next day’s front page. “And what do you mean by theory of the case?” A second long pause. “An idea of what happened.”
I leaned forward on the lectern. “And have you identified any number of persons of interest?” Scrutton was on his feet. “Your Honour, I am going to object to that question.”
Before Justice Pringle could speak, I took a shot. “Your Honour, I appreciate the sensitivity, but now we have just learned the Toronto Police force has a theory of the case. That theory is an idea of what happened, and I would like to explore that. It seems to me pretty revelatory. Theory of the case. An idea of what happened. To me that equals you have a suspect or suspects.”
Justice Pringle ruled that I could not continue that line of questioning, on the grounds that for Yim to reveal whether police had a suspect would defeat the sealing order we were arguing about.
Excerpted from e Billionaire Murders byKevin Donovan. Copyright © 2019 Kevin Donovan. Published by Viking Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
GTA Real Estate JULY 2021 Page 13