‘This is not going to be a cold case’: Slain Oshawa man's family pleads for answers as cops seek 2 suspects

The still-unsolved murder of 30-year-old Oshawa resident Michael Nigris has broken his family and shattered their faith in humanity, says the victim’s sister.

“Our world stopped nine months ago and we have been paralyzed by grief and overcome with anger ever since,” Katherine Kollaard said during a news conference on Wednesday afternoon at Durham Regional Police Service’s Central West Division in Whitby.

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She said that the loss of her brother has caused a “level of loneliness that (she) can't even put into words.”

“I wake up every morning gasping for air at the realization that this is real and my soul aches at the thought of never seen my brother again,” Kollaard said, adding that her brother has “never been involved in anything or affiliated with anything that would have ever led us to hear that something like this happened to him or our family.”

The victim’s sister also spoke about the impact of his death on their parents, especially their mother who spent months in in her youngest child’s bed in mourning.

Kollaard went on to say that this “nightmare” has also robbed her brother of his best friend.

“Not only did these individuals rob my children of their uncle, (the suspects) robbed them of the mother that I used to be. … I watched my kids and my nephews cry for him and one day I'm gonna have to break their hearts with the truth,” she said.

Today is the third time that Kollaard has stood in front of a room of people and talked about her brother’s “incredible life and tragic death,” she said, adding “it will never get easier.”

Kollaard went on to say that healing from this tragedy has proven to be impossible as there are so many unanswered questions.

“Please help us. Somebody must know something. Somebody must recognize one of these hideous faces that will forever haunt me we will stop at nothing,” she said.

“This is not going to be a cold case. We will exhaust every resource that we have to get justice. But we need your help. Please help us.”

The victim’s sister said her brother, who was a Tragically Hip and Toronto Maple Leafs fan, was the “loudest, funniest, most generous person in any room,” someone who “loved life” and “lived to entertain.”

Today, police announced that they’re looking for two male suspects they believe are connected Nigris’s murder, which occurred on March 30, 2023 shortly before 8:30 p.m. in the parking lot of the “Teddy’s” plaza in Oshawa.

Nigris was shot outside his place of work, Cash Connections at 245 King St. W., near Park Road South. Despite several people performing life-saving measures, the Oshawa resident was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said that he was shot in the head by a male suspect who fled the scene in a black Ford F150 Raptor truck.

A short time later, officers found that vehicle nearby at the dead end of Dundee Avenue. The suspect remains at-large.

Durham police have released images and descriptions of two male suspects.

Two male suspects are wanted in connection with the murder of 30-year-old Michael Nigris of Oshawa. (DRPS phto)

The first, whom they identified as the shooter, is a Black male who was last seen wearing a dark-coloured hooded sweatshirt with a large Puma emblem on the front, black Puma brand jogging pants, black Air Force One running shoes, and a black surgical mask.

Police believe the second suspect initially drove the getaway vehicle to the area of Keele Street and Lawrence Avenue West in North York, where it was picked up by the first suspect and driven to the Oshawa plaza about an hour and a half before Nigris was killed.

He is described as Black male wearing glasses with short, dreadlock “twist-style” hair, and last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with the word “Champion” in white lettering across the chest, and black pants and black running shoes.

“We’ve received some tips, obviously. Today, we're hoping (that by) getting these pictures out, someone will recognize where these individuals have contacted the police or Crime Stoppers,” Det. Sgt. Brad Corner, of Durham Regional Police Service, said during the Jan. 10 news conference.

Corner said despite launching an “extensive investigation” that has included three weeks of canvassing and going through “hundreds and hundreds of hours” of video surveillance, police still do not have a motive for this homicide.

“(Nigris) was a hardworking, well-loved man by his family, friends and co-workers. … Michael was a good man. … He was a great person,” he said.

“The investigation to date has not found anything in Michael Nigris’s personal or professional life that would lead investigators to believe he was targeted in this attack.”

Corner said investigators have learned the getaway vehicle was stolen from a hotel parking lot in Brampton about a week before Nigris was murdered.

He also said that DRPS has reached out to and is working with other GTA police services on this case.

Anyone who can identify these suspects or anyone with video footage or any new information about this investigation is asked to contact Durham police or Crime Stoppers anonymously.