A Barrie man has been detained in connection with the murder of a Keswick, Ont. woman and her American boyfriend in Belize.
John Deshaies, 54, was questioned in the murders of Francesca Matus and Drew DeVoursney, but says police are focusing on the wrong person.
He has not been charged in connection with the murders.
“We’ve always been good friends,” Deshaies told reporters on Monday after he was released on bail. “There’s absolutely nothing that I’ve ever done to hurt her.”
Matus, 52, and De Voursney, 36, from Atlanta, Georgia were found bound and strangled in a sugarcane field in the country’s northern Corozal district, near the Mexican border on May 1.
They were last seen leaving a bar around 11 p.m. six days earlier.
Several people were detained and questioned in the case, including Deshaies who was a tenant downstairs in Matus’ waterfront property. He had lived there for two years with his girlfriend and children, CTV News Toronto has learned.
The construction worker was also in custody facing charges of theft and possession of stolen property in relation to $50,000 worth of electronics, allegedly stolen from a casino in Placencia, Belize two months prior.
“I’m assuming I’m accused because I live in the same house, otherwise nothing ever happened between us to make anyone think that,” he said.
He added that he’s cooperating with the FBI investigation in the couple’s murder.
“They’ve taken by DNA, they’ve checked my vehicles, they’ve checked my entire house, there’s no reason I would need council,” he said.
