‘Need closure’: Family offering $250,000 reward for unsolved Matthew Staikos murder

A family is pleading for the public’s help in finding the suspects responsible for their son’s death in 2018.

Gale and Nick Staikos are broken by the grief that remains just as raw and unbearable as it was three years ago, when they lost their son, 37-year-old Matthew Staikos, after he was murdered in cold blood.

“I don’t know who did that. I’m destroyed,” said Nick.

“It just doesn’t make any sense,” added Gale, who says she still can’t believe he’s gone.

“I sometimes call his cell thinking I’m going to hear his voice and that this will all be a nightmare.”

It’s a nightmare that continues to be a living reality for the Nick, Gale and Staikos’s brother, George, as their loved one’s murder remains unsolved. Nick and Gale say they haven’t been able to sleep since the night they lost their son.

On May 28th, 2018 around 11:30 p.m., Staikos was walking with a colleague in Yorkville when he was fatally shot. The shooter exited the passenger side of a grey Mercedes before firing at the 37-year-old, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

While investigators continue to try and track down the suspects, the family is now offering a $250,000 reward for any information that could lead to an arrest.

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Dave Perry’s private investigation firm, Investigative Solutions Network Inc., was hired by the Staikos family to “make inquiries in an attempt to identify the person or persons responsible for Matthew’s murder,” an email from the company said.

“You go after whoever is responsible so that one day, hopefully, you can sit with (the victim’s family) and tell them what happened to their loved one,” Perry told Global News.

“That’s our wish, that’s the reason that the reward has gone out and that’s what we’re hoping for.”

Perry adds there’s a high possibility there is more than one suspect involved in the case, as the gunman had a driver.

The family says the reward is a cry for closure and justice for Matthew.

“I hope someday somebody will come up and help us out. (We) need closure,” Nick said.

Staikos was a successful businessman who was working on a number of entrepreneurial projects at the time of his death. He was a computer engineering graduate at the University of Toronto, who enjoyed travelling and driving race cars as his hobbies.

His parents say he was a gentle man who would often call them just to say he loved them. Growing up, they say he was described by teachers and friends as ‘the perfect kid.’

“Before he was murdered, I had told him how proud I was of him, and I remember his words. He said, ‘Mom, that means so much to me,'” Gale said.

“Everybody adored Matthew,” said Nick.

Those who may have any information about suspects involved in the case are asked to call Crime Stoppers, Toronto police or Investigative Solutions Network Inc.