On the same day a Toronto police officer was arrested, the London Police Service says two women were also taken into custody, all in connection with the June 21 death of Bill Horrace.
The case has drawn international attention stemming from allegations Horrace, who arrived in Canada in 2002, was “a person who committed war crimes or crimes against humanity” in Liberia. However, London police have stressed that, so far, “it does not appear that Bill Horrace’s alleged activities in Liberia are connected in any way to his death.”
London, Ont., police announced Friday that Tianna Almeida and Tera Amoatemah, both 22, are charged with “being an accessory after the fact to the offence of assault with a weapon.”
“The (charge) speaks to what we believe was in their mind when they assisted people post-homicide and that occurred in the GTA, the Greater Toronto Area, after the homicide had occurred here in London,” Det. Supt. Chris Newton told Global News.
They were arrested in Toronto on July 7 and released pending a court appearance in London on Sept. 28, police say.
Police previously announced that Trevor Gregory, 46, was also arrested in Toronto on July 7 on a charge of “breach of trust” in relation to the Horrace investigation. Global News obtained court documents on Thursday that show that the breach of trust charge is in relation to “misleading a police officer to obtain unauthorized information.” The documents say the alleged breach of trust occurred “on or about” June 20, which was a day before Horrace’s death.
Gregory is also the father of the first suspect announced in the case: 22-year-old Keiron Gregory, who remains at large and is wanted on a charge of second-degree murder.
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Newton said the delay in announcing the charges against Almeida and Amoatemah, who were arrested the same day as Trevor Gregory, was a result of the “legal process.”
“Before we release somebody’s name, that information has to be before a justice of the peace. That’s just a process that sometimes can take a day or two,” he explained.
All four suspects identified so far are from North York, though at least three more suspects are expected to be named in the case.
“We’re very close,” said Newton, “but there’s a difference between what you know and what you can prove. So we’re in the process now of gathering evidence and that information is coming in on a daily basis.”
On June 21, police say four suspects arrived at a home on Pochard Lane in two vehicles at 4:40 a.m. and forced their way inside.
When officers arrived at the scene, police say they found the victim with a gunshot wound. Paramedics took him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The suspects involved allegedly fled before police got to the scene.
The death drew international attention stemming from revelations about the victim’s past in Liberia.
Horrace, 44, had been investigated by Canadian officials for alleged war crimes but insisted he was innocent, documents obtained by Global News show.
The documents show that after arriving in Canada in 2002, Horrace was investigated over allegations he was “a person who committed war crimes or crimes against humanity.”
But as recently as five months ago he called the allegations “completely false.”
— with files from Global News’ Stewart Bell, Kelly Wang, Matthew Trevithick and Nick Van Overloop.
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