Cold case unit hopes to soon solve the 1988 murder of an East York arcade owner
After more than 30 years, Toronto police say they are now close to solving the murder of an East York arcade owner who was brutally beaten to death with a baseball bat on Christmas Eve, 1988.
Police previously said 50-year-old Nick Gournis was working late at the arcade he owned and operated on Kingston Road, near Victoria Park Avenue, when two robbers entered the business and attacked him.
“We believe that between about 10 p.m. and midnight that two people had actually entered his premises and proceeded to try to rob him and unfortunately, it looks like they resorted to extreme violence in order to exact their toll,” Det. Sgt. Steve Smith told CP24.com on Wednesday.
Gournis was discovered several hours later by two young patrons who arrived to find the doors of the arcade locked.
“They looked in and saw that Mr. Gournis was laying on the ground bleeding. So they actually broke in and were able to get him medical help. He was rushed to hospital, but unfortunately died a short time later,” Smith said.
“Not only did these people actually beat him but then they left him there to die. They didn't even bother calling any help.”
Smith said Gournis was simply trying to make money to support his wife and two children when his life was tragically cut short.
Police investigating the homicide at the time were unable to make an arrest in the case.
“If there weren't any fingerprints left at the scene, they really had to kind of try to figure out who would have been in the area who may have been likely to commit that offence,” he said of the initial investigation.
“It would have been a very heavy on the interviewing of people in and around the area and trying to rely on that for evidence of the offender.”
Now decades later, thanks to advancements in technology, Smith said the cold case unit is in the process of putting together an offender profile based on DNA found at the scene.
“A lot of these older cases… DNA wasn't really a thing back then, and if it was, you needed large portions of DNA to develop a profile,” Smith said.
“There's a lot of cases that we can go back to and utilize evidence that was at the scene to develop profiles of the offender.”
He added that police who previously investigated the homicide already put together a solid list of persons of interest.
“We think that by putting those two things together, we should have a good chance at identifying the actual offender,” Smith said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
A wave of exploding pagers in Lebanon and Syria kills at least 8, including members of Hezbollah
Hundreds of handheld pagers exploded near simultaneously across Lebanon and in parts of Syria on Tuesday, killing at least eight people, including members of the militant group Hezbollah and a girl, and wounding the Iranian ambassador, government and Hezbollah officials said.
After another Liberal loss, Trudeau says there are 'all sorts of reflections' to do
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he's going to 'stay focused' on governing after being handed his second byelection upset in recent months.
More non-smokers are getting lung cancer. Here's why and how you can protect yourself, according to a doctor
More people who have never touched a cigarette are getting lung cancer, but there are ways to prevent it, according to a doctor.
Health Canada approves updated Moderna COVID-19 vaccine
Health Canada has authorized Moderna's updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against currently circulating variants of the virus.
These people say they got listeria after drinking recalled plant-based milks
The Canadian Press spoke to 10 people, from the parents of a toddler to an 89-year-old senior, who say they became sick with listeria after drinking from cartons of plant-based milk stamped with the recalled product code. Here's a look at some of their experiences.
Canada's inflation cools to 2% in August, the smallest gain since early 2021
Canada's annual inflation rate reached the central bank's target in August at it cooled to 2 per cent, its lowest level since February 2021, data showed on Tuesday.
Ontario man who almost fell for text scam issues warning to others
An Ontario man thought he got some good news when he received a text message offering a $30 gift for being a loyal Giant Tiger customer. 'I do go to that store so I clicked on the link and it said it was a customer appreciation award they were going to give people,' Mark Martin, of Simcoe, Ont., told CTV News Toronto.
BREAKING Sean 'Diddy' Combs has been indicted on sex trafficking and racketeering charges
Sean 'Diddy' Combs presided over a sordid empire of sexual crimes, coercing and abusing women for years, threatening them to keep them in line and enlisting a cast of aides to cover it up, according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.
'On the edge of life': Influencer has a close encounter with a bear after climbing into a den
Influencer Stefan Jankovic shared footage of a terrifying close encounter with a bear after climbing into a den in Bosnia and Herzegovia.