More than a dozen of Rori Hache’s family and friends gathered at the Oshawa courthouse on Monday, wearing shirts that say “#Justice4Rori” as a judge set an official date for Adam Strong’s preliminary inquiry.
Strong, who Durham police have charged with improper/indecent interference with a dead body, is set to start his preliminary inquiry on Oct. 15, said Justice Marquis Felix.
Police found Hache’s remains in Strong’s basement apartment on McMillan Drive in Oshawa in December 2017. Three months prior to that, a fisherman discovered a torso at the Oshawa lakefront, and investigators linked it by DNA testing to the missing teen.
Many people who filled the courtroom on Monday said they expected Strong to show up in person, but to many of their disappointments, he appeared via video in a neighbouring room.
“Come answer and stare at the family,” said Hache’s godmother, Krysia Meeldyk. “Come look at our eyes. Come see our grief.”
“This person gets to call shots from a jail cell,” said Shanan Dionne, Hache’s mother, through tears.
Dionne says her 18-year-old daughter was pregnant when she was murdered. “I can’t tell you how empty my life is without my daughter.”
Officers have also linked Strong to a case involving an Oshawa woman who has been missing for a decade. Durham investigators identified the DNA profile of Kandis Fitzpatrick inside Strong’s basement apartment in July, but her whereabouts are still unknown.