Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair was in the public eye for much of 2013, speaking to the public on the matter of how his detectives ended up investigating the city’s mayor and many of his friends. Toronto Police and the OPP were involved in these other high-profile cases, and the files remain open on the shooting of Sammy Yatim, the Tim Bosma murder investigation, and the Church and Wellsley missing men:

Shooting death of Sammy Yatim sparks outrage 

What began as a police standoff in the streets of downtown Toronto this summer ended with a teen dead and renewed public outrage over police use-of-force practices.

In the early morning hours of July 27, officers were called to a streetcar on Dundas Street West, near Bellwoods Avenue, after witnesses said 18-year-old Sammy Yatim was seen aboard the vehicle with a knife.

According to eyewitness accounts and cell phone camera footage, officers who arrived on scene shouted at Yatim to drop the knife. The standoff ended when at least nine shots were fired, and Yatim was dead.

The incident sparked outcry over police use of force practices and questions surrounding police-involved shootings. Two demonstrations were held in the streets of downtown Toronto, where protesters called for justice in the teen’s death.

In late August, Const. James Forcillo, one of the officers involved in the incident, was charged with second-degree murder in Yatim’s death. His preliminary hearing is set for next spring.

Also in the wake of Yatim’s death, Ontario’s ombudsman launched a formal investigation into provincial guidelines issued to police for de-escalating conflict situations. And, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair called for an independent review of police use of force practices.

Tim Bosma murder prompts new investigations

Tim Bosma’s story captured national attention in early May when the 32-year-old man disappeared from his Lancaster, Ont. home after taking two men on a test drive of the pickup truck he had posted for sale online.

After a massive eight-day search that spanned southwestern Ontario, hopes that Bosma, a married father of one, would be found alive were dashed when his charred remains were discovered on a rural property near Waterloo, Ont.

Dellen Millard, the 27-year-old heir to an aircraft maintenance firm established by his grandfather, and Mark Smich, 25, were arrested and each charged with first-degree murder. Both have plead not guilty, and are awaiting trial.

Shortly after the arrests, homicide detectives announced they were investigating whether Millard had any connections to his father’s 2012 death, initially deemed a suicide, and the disappearance of Laura Babcock, a Toronto woman believed to have been romantically linked to Millard.

In September Toronto police, including forensic investigators, spent a week at Millard’s farm, searching for evidence related to Babcock’s disappearance.

Church and Wellesley’s missing men

In June, Toronto Police launched a major missing persons investigation into the disappearances of three men from the same downtown Toronto neighbourhood of Church and Wellesley.

Police canvassed the neighbourhood in an effort to gain information into the whereabouts of 40-year-old Skandaraj ‘Skanda’ Navaratnam, 42-year-old Abdulbasir “Basir” Faizi, 59-year-old Majeed “Hamid” Kayhan, who all went missing between 2010 and 2012.

Police have linked the separate missing-person cases because the men share a similar ethnicity, lifestyle and all frequented the area on a regular basis.

While investigators have said they don’t suspect foul play at this point, a dedicated tip line has been established to encourage anyone with information on the men to come forward.

Highway of Heroes’ fallen soldiers mural vandalized

People across the country expressed outrage in September after vandals spray-painted over the Highway of Heroes mural in downtown Toronto.

The artwork, which once featured an image of an outstretched dove and a field of poppies, marked the final stop for the hearses carrying the remains of soldiers killed overseas following repatriation ceremonies.

While there have been no arrests in the case, the youth group who originally painted the mural set to work restoring it shortly after the vandalism.

Toronto Const. Scott Mills -- who runs a legal graffiti program -- encouraged the vandals to come

forward and get involved in the restoration process, but so far, police have not named any possible suspects.

Four years later, arrests made in Christopher Skinner murder

The fall of 2013 marked significant movement in the four-year-old murder case of Christopher Skinner, who was allegedly assaulted, then run over by a vehicle after leaving a party in downtown Toronto in 2009.

Four men were have been charged in connection with the 27-year-old’s death, which happened in the early hours of Oct. 18, 2009 as Skinner was hailing a cab on Adelaide Street, near Victoria Street.

Despite several public pleas and offers of cash rewards for information, the case appeared to reach a stalemate until early November, when investigators announced the arrest of a 23-year-old man. He was subsequently charged with second-degree murder. A week later, two men were charged with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault and obstructing police in relation to the case. Another man was charged with assault causing bodily harm.

The allegations have not been proven or tested in court.

The arrests came shortly after the fourth anniversary of Skinner’s death, when police and his family issued another public plea for information on those responsible for Skinner’s death.

Cabbagetown murder investigation takes a twist

Nearly a year after Cabbagetown residents were shaken by the slaying of 55-year Nighisti Semret as she made her way home from work, DNA evidence helped lead to the arrest her alleged killer.

Semret, a mother of three, was walking home from work in the early hours of Oct. 23, 2012 when she was stabbed to death in a laneway.

Despite the existence surveillance footage of a suspect, police had not charged anyone in Semret’s murder until September, when police announced that Adonay Zekarias had been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection Semret’s death and that of 28-year-old Rigat Essag Ghirmay, whose partial remains were discovered in a duffel bag in May.

Police say Semret’s killer sustained a “substantial” wound during the attack and left behind DNA evidence under her fingernails and on her bag.

Homicide detectives have said they believe Ghirmay, who knew Zekarias, was killed because she suspected that the 42-year-old man was involved in Semret’s murder.

At the time of the arrest, investigators said they had not yet determined a motive for Semret’s killing. Though it was believed Semret and Zakarias lived in the same transition house at one point, detectives said there was no indication that they knew each other directly. Semret, Zakarias and Ghirmay all belonged to Toronto’s small Eritrean community.