GUILTY Canada - Nighisti Semret, 55, Rigat Ghirmay, 28, murdered, Toronto, 2012 & 2013

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Snoopster

Snoopster

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This case looks like a random act. The suspect is caught on video, following her up an alley as she walked home from work. This woman is a recent immigrant to Canada, working the night shift as a housekeeping supervisor at a Delta hotel, trying to earn enough money to bring her husband and 4 kids here. :(

A woman fatally stabbed in Cabbagetown Tuesday has been identified by police as 55-year-old Nighisti Semret.

Semret was killed while walking home after finishing her night shift as a contracted supervisor-cleaner at the Delta Chelsea hotel on Gerrard St. E.

Det.-Sgt. Gary Giroux updated the media Wednesday morning on the city’s 43rd homicide victim, saying video footage from a camera at the end of the laneway where Semret was walking showed the suspect following her.
Click to expand...

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/10/24/live-police-update-on-cabbagetown-murder


Link to the video showing the victim, with a male appearing shortly after, walking up an alley.
http://youtu.be/atB5Z8U1qmY

Police have described the suspect as a white man, 5-foot-10 to 6-foot-2, 150-200 pounds, with a medium build, wearing a dark full-looking three-quarter length coat that buttons up the front, with a light-coloured scarf around his neck, dark hat with a peak, dark pants, and dark shoes.

LE believes he is local and is familiar with the area.
 
Nighisti Semret, 55, was on her way home from an overnight shift at the Delta Chelsea hotel early Tuesday morning, when a man with a knife approached her from behind and stabbed her. Witnesses told the Star she was stabbed at least 10 times with a long serrated blade as the suspect cursed violently. One man attacked the suspect with an umbrella, causing him to flee.
Click to expand...

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/crime/article/1276433--cabbagetown-alley-stabbing-police-identify-victim

Giroux said police believe Semret’s killer “lives, frequents and is known to the Cabbagetown and Regent Park area.” He said the same person may have panhandled or snatched purses in the area because it is unlikely the suspect would escalate to stabbing without prior incidents.
Click to expand...

Interestingly enough, when I went to google street view near the intersection of Ontario St and Winchester, there is an alley heading toward Bleeker St. On street view there is a homeless person sitting in the alley and a woman walking through the alley.

https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=winchester+and+ontario,+toronto+ontario&hl=en&ll=43.665054,-79.371082&spn=0.00482,0.00825&sll=42.778454,-81.193424&sspn=0.078244,0.132008&hnear=Ontario+St+%26+Winchester+St,+Toronto,+Toronto+Division,+Ontario+M4X+1M8&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=43.665142,-79.371116&panoid=EiHpqPLvmGmYU_HPCdHhGw&cbp=12,246.94,,2,1.67


Rest in peace "Nikki". You were so strong for your family, trying to do what's best for them. You came to Canada for a better life, escaping a difficult environment, only to be a victim of violence. So tragic.
:rose:

I would like to thank the good samaritan, who beat off the murderer with an umbrella, with all my heart. I hope we find out who he is.
 
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/t...efore-stabbing/article4634123/?service=mobile
"Little is known about Ms. Semret who came to Canada in 2010. Joan Bell, who lives in a Toronto Community Housing unit on Winchester Street, said Ms. Semret was her next-door neighbour. Ms. Bell said she would see Ms. Semret, who moved in about two years ago and lived alone, cooking in the community kitchen everyday.

“She seemed very nice and very kind,” she said. “She would give you the shirt off her back.”

The two would exchange greetings, but did not talk much as Ms. Semret spent most of her day sleeping. She never saw her socialize with friends.

Lena Wins, who lives on the second floor above them, echoed Ms. Bell’s sentiments about Ms. Semret being a quiet and nice person. Both of them said they are shocked, sad and scared.

“I’m not gonna be walking alone no more,” said Ms. Wins.

Ms. Semret worked for Andorra Building Maintenace Ltd. a company contracted out by the Delta Chelsea Hotel. A woman answered the phone, but declined an interview."
 
I would make a terrible eye witness. I can't, for the life of me, come up with the description of the suspect that LE did based on the video surveillance tape at the link I posted above. I saw on some news media sites that commenters talked about the suspect wearing his cap backwards. Do any of you see that?

I can't believe that we have this guy on video and he hasn't been caught yet!
 
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/cri...agetown-alley-stabbing-police-identify-victim
"Giroux said police believe Semret’s killer “lives, frequents and is known to the Cabbagetown and Regent Park area.” He said the same person may have panhandled or snatched purses in the area because it is unlikely the suspect would escalate to stabbing without prior incidents".

“Someone in that particular area knows who this person is,” said Giroux, who added that police are talking to local homeless shelters like Seaton House.

Giroux said it was possible the attack was random and there wasn’t any evidence to suggest the suspect and victim knew each other.

The suspect is described as a white male, between 5-foot-10 and 6-foot-2, 150 to 200 pounds with a medium build.

He was wearing a dark, long coat with buttons and a white scarf or garment around his neck, along with a dark hat, pants and shoes.
 
untitled-18.jpg


Does it look like he is wearing sunglasses?

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/10/24/cabbagetown-murder-suspect-could-be-a-serial-offender-toronto-police-say/
 
http://www.globaltoronto.com/toront...ims+relatives+in+africa/6442740893/story.html
"TORONTO - Police say the family of a woman who was stabbed multiple times in a Toronto laneway earlier this week have been notified of her death.

Const. Tony Vella says investigators contacted the woman's mother, brothers and children in Uganda late Wednesday


Read it on Global News: Global Toronto | Toronto police contact Cabbagetown murder victim's relatives in Africa"
 
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/10/25/are-cabbagetown-murder-robbery-suspect-the-same-man
"TORONTO - The comparables are eerily bizarre.

But could a suspect police are looking for in a series of recent robberies of women in the same area as Tuesday’s vicious Cabbagetown stabbing murder, be a guy homicide detectives would like to talk with?

Anything and everything is pursued in such a mystery.

For example with this clue, everything lines up just perfect — except for one thing.

Race.

The person in surveillance pictures in the previous robberies appear to show a black man. The man in the video appears to be white"
 
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2012/10/25/20309156.html

"TORONTO - Nighisti Semret was butchered in a Cabbagetown laneway with such ferocity that it’s hard to imagine her killer was a stranger, a crime expert said Thursday.

Toronto Police said they have yet to find evidence the 55-year-old woman’s brutal slaying Tuesday was anything but random, but Ross McLean said he suspects otherwise.

“There was rage and anger, which usually implies a reason and in some way previous contact between the victim and the attacker,” the former cop said. “So I doubt very much it was just a random assault.”


Snip


“I am sure police will, or should, be checking for any missing knives from the hotel kitchen,” he said, adding detectives should also check soup kitchens in Cabbagetown.

Police are now urging area business and home owners to check their property for the knife and they are asking anyone with surveillance cameras in the area to look at the footage between 6:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. for anything suspicious"
 
Is the Delta Chelsea an older place? I'm trying to remember where I stayed in Toronto (20+ years ago; loved it). It was just off Yonge and within easy walking distance of Maple Leaf Gardens, I recall. (Saw a game there when it was still the Leafs' home.)
 
wfgodot said:
Is the Delta Chelsea an older place? I'm trying to remember where I stayed in Toronto (20+ years ago; loved it). It was just off Yonge and within easy walking distance of Maple Leaf Gardens, I recall. (Saw a game there when it was still the Leafs' home.)
Click to expand...

Yes, same one very near the old forum, close to hospitals, Ryerson U.ect.
 
I happened to be at a conference in Toronto earlier this week. Monday was glorious, but Tuesday was wet, dreary and cooler. With the dreary, bleak lighting and the late sunrise it was darker than normal.

still find it difficult to imagine that walking about at 7:00 in the morning was at all risky. I certainly wouldn't worry about walking around at that time. (Admittedly, the Regent Park area, next to Cabbagetown, is a less-than-safe area, with gang activity.)

By that time of the morning the early commuters are heading to their jobs, trying to get to the office ahead of the traffic crunch. While Cabbagetown isn't an 'office area' it isn't that far from it.

I hope they catch this fellow soon!
 
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/10/26/police-keeping-open-mind-in-cabbagetown-murder
Police are also trying to work leads stemming from an unclear video showing the disguised killer stalking his victim just steps before murdering her.

The more you look at this horrific slaying, the more it looks like an organized ambush.

Of course the police are weighing all scenarios but if you stroll down the pedestrian walkway murder scene, you will see for yourself that the spot where she was stabbed five times was the most secluded possible spot for a murder"
 
http://www.680news.com/news/local/a...-cabbagetown-murder-victim-s-clothing-suspect
TORONTO, Ont. - Police have released new photos related to Tuesday morning's murder of Nighisti Semret in Cabbagetown.

The 55-year-old woman was stabbed to death in an alleyway as she was walking home from her overnight cleaning shift at the Delta Chelsea Hotel.

The suspect remains on the loose and police are hoping these images will trigger someone's memory, and lead them to come forward with any information"
 
http://www.cp24.com/news/police-release-new-photos-in-cabbagetown-stabbing-1.1014115
"Initial surveillance footage released by police last week showed a suspect following behind Semret. He’s described as white, 150-180 lbs., with a medium build and dark eyebrows. He was wearing a heavy, three-quarter-length dark jacket with circular buttons on the cuffs, a dark hat with a peak which possibly was leather, a light-coloured scarf tied at the back. He also wore dark pants that appear to be baggy at the knee and lower leg. His shoes were dark and worn-looking, with laces.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7400, or to call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).


Read more: http://www.cp24.com/news/police-release-new-photos-in-cabbagetown-stabbing-1.1014115#ixzz2Acog7cRb
 
The photo of her umbrella is so disturbing. To see Nicky in the video walking along with a perfectly fine umbrella, and then to see it twisted and crushed, is somehow very upsetting.

Regarding the route she took home from work, it would help to know where the video camera is located. By the time we see the suspect he is clearly 'locked on' to his goal. If Nicky was walking eastward up the lane, and by the vigil photos, presumed to have been killed fairly close to Ontario St., it might be possible that the suspect was sitting in the park/greenspace just before the final laneway out toward Ontario St, just waiting for a victim.
 
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