http://www.torontosun.com/2016/04/28/skull-found-in-field-belongs-to-rigat-ghirmay
Skull found in field belongs to Rigat Ghirmay
BY CHRIS DOUCETTE, TORONTO SUN
A human skull and other bones found in the city’s west end this week are the missing remains of a 28-year-old woman allegedly slain in 2013 by her boyfriend — a man convicted last year of killing a hotel worker in a Cabbagetown laneway.
Toronto Police say a passerby found a garbage bag containing the skull and other bones in a hydro field along Lavender Creek Tr., near Weston Rd. and Eglinton Ave. W., around 2 p.m. Wednesday.
The grisly discovery immediately raised speculation the remains might belong to an unidentified woman’s torso found a week earlier behind an East Chinatown butcher shop. But based on the advanced decomposition of the bones, investigators quickly ruled out any connection to the remains found April 19.
However, Homicide Det.-Sgt. Gary Giroux confirmed Thursday that a pathological and anthropological examination had determined the bones belong to Rigat Ghirmay, whose partial dismembered remains were found in a duffel bag on nearby Alliance Ave. on May 24, 2013.
Ghirmay’s head and hands were never located.
Her former boyfriend, Adonay Zekarias, then 42, was arrested for her murder after cops allegedly seized surveillance video of him hauling luggage from her highrise on Shuter St.
Security cameras at Zekarias’ building on Humber Blvd. also allegedly captured him removing bags and cleaning up blood.
Giroux said he broke the news to Ghirmay’s family in the U.S.
“It’s almost like I was telling them for the first time,” he said of the conversation. “But there is some comfort for them in knowing she’s not still out there.”
He said further forensic testing will be conducted on the bones and a ground search of the area where the remains were found is planned for Friday.
More than six months after Ghirmay’s murder, investigators connected Zekarias through DNA to the high-profile slaying of Nighisti Semret — a 55-year-old mother of four who was butchered in Cabbagetown on Oct. 23, 2012.
Semret was on her way home from a night-shift at the Delta Chelsea Hotel, where she worked as a cleaning staff supervisor, when she was stabbed to death in an alley near Ontario and Winchester Sts. around 7 a.m.
She and Zekarias had first met while staying at the same refugee shelter after arriving in Toronto from Eritrea.
Zekarias was convicted of first-degree murder for Semret’s killing in June 2015 and sentenced to life in prison. But the motive remains a mystery.
He faces second-degree murder for Ghirmay’s death, but that case has not been tried in court yet.
“I hope the recovery of her missing remains will at least help the prosecution when the case goes to trial next year,” Giroux said.
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Homicide victim’s skull found in Toronto field
http://www.thestar.com/news/crime/2016/04/28/homicide-victims-skull-found-in-toronto-field.html
VIDEO
Skull found in Harwood-area park belongs to homicide victim: police
http://www.cp24.com/news/skull-found-in-harwood-area-park-belongs-to-homicide-victim-police-1.2879405
Received on Fri Apr 29 2016 - 02:23:21 EDT