Israeli settler violence + Herschel's Canadian ties
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Toronto Star
32 minutes ago
- Toronto Star
Norwegian trekker likely swept away in fast-moving Manitoba river, police say
YORK FACTORY - Manitoba RCMP say it is believed a Norwegian trekker who disappeared last week while on a cross-continental journey of the Canadian wilderness tried to cross a fast-moving river and was swept away in the process. Searchers believe Steffen Skjottelvik may have tried to cross the Hayes River near York Factory, Man., after embarking on a multi-day excursion from Fort Severn, Ont., police said.
Toronto Sun
32 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
MANDEL: Hit man who killed Eddie Melo wins new parole hearing
Charles Gagné killed former boxing champ Eddie Melo and his pal Joao Pavao in Mississauga in 2001. The hit man who killed boxer Eddie Melo has won an appeal and will get a new parole hearing due to 'unfairness' — so he'll get another chance to argue the board didn't properly consider his newly-discovered Indigenous roots when they revoked his release. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account It makes Melo's daughter absolutely furious. 'It's mind-blowing, just absolutely mind-blowing,' says Jess Melo, from her home in British Columbia. 'He just found out from or something that he's 1.2% Indigenous so now he's playing that card so he can play the system some more.' Charles Gagne, 51, is serving a life sentence with no eligibility for parole for 12 years for the mob hit of her beloved dad, the former Canadian middleweight champion who turned enforcer for the Cotroni crime family. On April 6, 2001, Melo, 40, was talking to childhood friend Joao 'Johnny' Pavao, 42, outside Amici Sport Cafe in the Cliffway Plaza parking lot in Mississauga when Gagne opened fire. ' Mr. Melo tried to press the gas. I shot him twice in the head, ' he told the judge. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. With ambitions of moving up in the underworld, the longtime criminal had jumped at the $75,000 contract to kill Melo. Pavao was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Gagne shot both men in the head at close range — all while being on day parole for an armed robbery conviction and returning to his halfway house in Ottawa in time for curfew. Also while on parole, he shot another man in the stomach while trying to collect on a drug debt. A poster boy for reform. Originally charged with two counts of first-degree murder, the hit man was given a sweetheart deal in 2003 and allowed to plead to second-degree in 2003 in return for his — albeit unsuccessful — testimony against his co- accused Manuel 'Mike' DaSilva, who was ultimately acquitted. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Despite the best efforts of Melo's daughter, Gagne was granted day parole in 2023. It was revoked just a year later over concerns he was violating numerous conditions such as leaving his geographic boundaries, consorting with sex workers and failing to disclose he'd spent thousands of borrowed dollars on crypto investments. In January, Melo's daughter travelled to Joyceville prison where a hearing was held to determine if Gagne could return to day parole or whether the revocation should hold. 'He broke every possible condition imaginable,' says the mother of three. Jessica Melo is pictured in this supplied photo. The board found he'd misused a weekend pass to visit family to consort with a woman he hadn't reported to his probation officer, didn't disclose a very risky investment that placed him in serious debt or that he was visiting his uncle despite being prohibited from doing so. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Gagne insisted he'd learned his lesson. But he'd protested the same before being released on day parole in 2001 — when he went on to murder two people. Recommended video The board had his number and officially revoked his parole: 'You have shown yourself to be an effective and cunning manipulator of the system. You yourself admitted in past hearings to 'playing the game' and parroting back program language.' In March, Gagne appealed with a long list of complaints. The appeal division ordered a new review after finding the decision was based on new information that hadn't been disclosed to Gagne in advance. Former boxer-turned-mob-enforcer Eddie Melo is pictured in this Postmedia file photo Melo had left the January hearing believing she wouldn't have to hear from her father's killer again until late next year. Instead, she'll be flying across the country this October to present yet another victim impact statement. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'We're 24 years into this and I still don't get a break,' she sighs. Three weeks ago, she and her kids celebrated the birthday of the grandfather they never met — sending wishes to heaven tied to balloons. Despite his ferocity in the ring, Melo describes her dad as a gentle soul with a big heart and it kills her that her children will never know the man stolen away from all of them. So she has made a vow to his killer. 'I told him I will never stop coming for him until he's removed from an institution in a black garbage bag like the piece of trash that he is. I told him that straight to his face,' she says fiercely. 'I'm not ever going to stop.' mmandel@ Columnists Toronto & GTA Editorials Toronto & GTA Ontario
Global News
2 hours ago
- Global News
Man who tried to stab pastor had earlier said he wanted to kill a priest, court told
A man who tried to stab a Catholic pastor in the middle of a Sunday religious service last winter had previously gone to hospital and said he planned to kill a priest, a court has been told. Pawel Olownia has been found not criminally responsible for the Feb. 9 incident at Holy Ghost Parish, which saw him unsuccessfully attempt to attack a pastor with a knife bearing a 10-centimetre blade. The cleric escaped and, in a move captured on livestream video, Olownia stuck the knife into the altar and was arrested with the help of parishioners including an off-duty police officer who attended the service. Olownia, who was 50 at the time, was charged with possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, assault with a weapon and disturbing a religious assembly. Olownia underwent a psychiatric assessment that found he suffered from delusions that he was being persecuted by authorities. Story continues below advertisement The report found that Olownia held 'a long-standing belief he was continuously being video recorded by the church and the Canadian government,' provincial court Judge Lisa Labossiere said during the June 23 court hearing. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Olownia also believed he was a celebrity who had inspired popular songs and wanted privacy, she added, and was experiencing symptoms of psychosis at the time of the attack. A Crown attorney and Olownia, who represented himself at the hearing, both asked the judge for a finding of not criminally responsible, and Labossiere agreed. 'Jail is not (an) ideal place for me to be, especially if I'm having mental issues,' Olownia told court. The ruling means Olownia, who had been kept in custody, will avoid jail time and either be released or sent to a psychiatric hospital unit following a hearing before the Criminal Code Review Board. Labossiere ordered that he been transferred to a hospital pending the board hearing. The board did not return a request for information about Olownia's hearing, and the Archdiocese of Winnipeg did not respond to an interview request. Olownia had previously been hospitalized and had been diagnosed with mental health issues, court was told. At some point before the attack, he went to a hospital for help, saying that he was going to kill a priest, and was hospitalized, court was told. Story continues below advertisement There were no details at the hearing about how Olownia left the hospital. An official with the Canadian Mental Health Association said the case raises questions about what services were made available. 'This gentleman sought help … and the system was not able to, or didn't have the right protocols in place to, build a prevention strategy,' Marion Cooper, executive director of the association for Manitoba, said Wednesday. 'Having the hospital begin to reflect on what has happened, what might have been the breakdown, would be a really responsible part of our system's response in this situation.' Shared Health, the province's central health planning agency, which is also responsible for the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, said it would not comment on the case due to privacy requirements under the province's Public Health Information Act.
