Toronto: Police pull concrete-encased body in barrel from Lake Ontario (ID'd)

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Toronto police pull concrete-encased body in barrel from Lake Ontario
  May 23, 2010 – 3:03 pm

TORONTO — Acting on a tip, police in Toronto pulled a body — which was encased in concrete inside a steel barrel — from Lake Ontario on Sunday.

Police made the discovery after receiving a tip about a body being dumped in the lake. The homicide squad worked with the police marine unit to find the barrel, police said in a news release.

Police weren’t giving out many more details about the incident, but said the body would be taken to the coroner’s office to be examined.

The barrel was found in the water near Toronto’s Redpath Sugar building on Queen’s Quay Street East, police said.

Police don’t expect to know the victim’s identify for at least two to three days.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/05/23/concrete-encased-body-pulled-from-lake-ontario/

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updated 3 hrs. ago -Lake Ontario tomb for remains encased in cement

Toronto Police are tight-lipped concerning a tip that led the Marine Unit and homicide detectives to 125 Queen's Quay East to locate a body placed in Lake Ontario this morning.
The harbourfront along the area is secured by fences for local businesses including the Redpath Sugar Company. Homicide detectives found a body inside a barrel. The body had been encased in cement.
The area is not accessible by land. The waterway is used by the local factories for transporting their products.

At mid-afternoon police confirmed via a phone call that a barrel had been removed from the water containing human remains.

Constables at the front desk of the Marine Unit said that they were only involved as far as removing the barrel from the water and that the case is now in the hands of the homicide squad.

The homicide squad is not answering phone calls on this case until the long Victoria Day Weekend ends on Tuesday morning saying that the identity of the victim is not expected to be known for 48−72 hours.
Officers at the duty desk of Headquarters on College Street said that there is no information about the case expected to be released until Tuesday morning.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/292404

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http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2010/05/23/toronto-body.html

Body in concrete found in Toronto harbour
Last Updated: Sunday, May 23, 2010

Police say they "have a good idea" of the identity of a body found encased in concrete in a steel barrel pulled from the Toronto harbour Sunday afternoon.

The identity will be established by the coroner's office, police said.

Police divers found the barrel early Sunday morning near the foot of Jarvis Street, in the midst of one of the city's most popular destinations on Lake Ontario.

Close by is the Toronto Island ferry dock, Queen's Quay Terminal and Harbourfront, which attract thousands of tourists and locals — especially on a sunny, holiday weekend afternoon.

Although police say they "have a good idea of who is in the barrel," they say they will not speculate until the coroner has examined the remains.

"It's my belief there's a victim of a murder, encased in concrete, within that barrel," said Det. Justin Vander Heyden, though he refused say what information led police to the site.

Investigators said the body was retrieved from about seven metres of water close to shore.

"This isn't something that [was] done by a single person. Obviously, that barrel full of concrete is going to weigh quite some amount of weight, so I speculate [there was] some sort of organized effort to get this body here," said Vander Heyden.

"I have information that leads me to believe I do know how long [the body] has been there," but said he wouldn't release those details.

Police said they would provide no further information about the body — the sex or age of the victim — or speculate on the cause of death. All of that, they said, would need to be determined by forensic teams.

Vander Heyden said he hopes police will be able to provide further information by Tuesday.

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http://www.thespec.com/News/article/774294

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Montreal mob link to Lake Ontario body?
 
Speculation rife that body found encased in concrete could be that of alleged Mafia boss Paolo Renda, who vanished last week
 
The Gazette May 24, 2010 4:15 PM
MONTREAL – Montreal police have been in contact with Toronto police regarding the concrete-encased body that was pulled out of Lake Ontario Sunday, but neither police force will say whether they suspect the body could be that of alleged Montreal Mafia kingpin Paolo Renda, who vanished last week.

“Yes, Montreal police have been in contact with Toronto police about this, but we can’t confirm anything as it is a case for the Toronto police department,” said Montreal police Constable Daniel Lacoursière.

Toronto police, acting on a tip, pulled a rusted oil drum from Toronto harbour Sunday around noon, near a construction site. The barrel, found in about six meters of water by police divers, contained human remains.

Toronto police Detective Justin Vander Haden told reporters police have a “good idea” whose body it is, but that identification will be done by the coroner and will take at least 48 to 72 hours.

Vander Haden said the crime was obviously deliberate, would have required the work of several people and looked like an “organized effort."

Renda, reputed to be one of the highest-ranking members of the Montreal Mafia, was reported missing Thursday by his wife when he did not return to their Cartierville home as expected. His car was found parked a short distance from their home, with the windows open and keys still in the ignition.

Renda had been released from a federal penitentiary Feb. 12, after serving time for possession of proceeds of crime and a related gangsterism charge. His nephew and godson, Nicolo (Nick) Rizzuto Jr., was murdered while Renda was in prison, and extra conditions were imposed on Renda upon his release because of fears the Mafia would seek revenge for Rizzuto’s murder.

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/montreal/Montreal+link+Lake+Ontario+body/3065551/story.html

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Body in barrel found in Toronto harbour identified
By QMI Agency

Last Updated: May 25, 2010 11:18am
TORONTO -- Toronto police have identified the body found encased in concrete at the bottom of Lake Ontario.

Police recovered a 45-gallon drum from six-metre deep water in Toronto's harbour on Sunday. The barrel was filled with concrete and contained a body.

Police said they were tipped off to the location of the barrel.

In a press release issued Tuesday morning, police said they've confirmed the identity of the body and are notifying the deceased's family.

Homicide detectives will hold a press conference in the early afternoon.

Police haven't commented on whether the death could be connected to organized crime.
Toronto police have confirmed police forces in Ontario and Quebec have been involved in the investigation.

Montreal police have been investigating the disappearance of a top member of the Rizzuto crime family.

Paolo Renda, the number three man in Montreal-based clan, went missing on Thursday.

Ontario Provincial Police found human remains in two separate discoveries in cottage country north of Toronto over the weekend.

Post-mortems on the remains found north of Barrie and near Huntsville found they belonged to the same male victim, OPP said.

Toronto police haven't commented on whether the discoveries are connected to the remains found in Lake Ontario.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/05/25/14080416.html

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Police say body found in barrel is Quang Lu, missing since 2007
May 25, 2010 13:08:01 PM
8 Comment(s)

 TORONTO - Police have identified the body found encrusted in cement, inside a barrel that was pulled from Lake Ontario, as that of Quang Lu.

The 47-year-old man went missing from Markham in October 2007 after retuning from a trip to China.

Police told 680News Lu was known to them and had ties to Asian organized crime.

The barrel containing Lu's body was pulled from the water just off the construction site for Canada's Sugar Beach, Sunday.

Police continue to search for Lu's missing 2004 BMW Z4 convertible.

http://www.680news.com/news/local/article/...und-in-a-barrel

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The man found in a cement filled barrel is a Thornhill man who vanished in 2007.

Quang Lu, 47, was reported missing to York Regional Police by his family.

The remains were well preserved within the concrete, said Toronto homicide Det. Justin Vander Heyden.

He was identified by his fingerprints, he said.

Vander Heyden said Lu had just returned from a trip from China.

He said the victim has ties to organized crime but refused to elaborate.

Vander Heyden believes the body was dumped shortly after he vanished.

A tip led police to the exact spot, he said.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/05/25/14081821.html

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6.11.11
Home provides new clues in gangster murder

TORONTO - The Scarborough home where a Vietnamese gangster likely was murdered and then put in a cement-filled barrel has yielded biological evidence, Toronto Police say.

Homicide Det. Justin Vander Heyden said the clues are being studied at the Centre of Forensic Sciences to confirm they belong to loan shark Quang Lu, 47, whose remains were found in the barrel in Lake Ontario ..........snipped

Police seized control of the two-storey home, which had been divided into a rooming house, on Monday after receiving a tip that Lu, also known as Hak Quai Ming or Black Ghost, regularly went there.

The home was raided about three years ago, before the murder, and police found a marijuana grow-op in the basement. The home was being renovated to repair damage caused by the grow-op when Lu was apparently murdered and the evidence was found under the renovation work, Vander Heyden said.

More evidence was found in the garage where police believe the body was put in the barrel.

“We’ll be submitting large volumes of forensic materials to the CFS,” he said. “We’re going to operate on the theory that’s our murder site.” “We’re interested in the occupants of the house back about the time Quang went missing,” Vander Hayden said.

Police have yet to track down everyone who lived at the house at the time of the murder in 2007.

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http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2010/06/10/14342421.html

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Interesting reading on Canadian Organized Crime
http://mafiatoday.com/tag/paolo-renda/