Canada! Day parole reinstated for B.C. man guilty of brutal 1980 murder, Calgary police warn of man who allegedly preyed on women using dating apps, No police actions could have prevented fatal shooting of Winnipeg man, former educational assistant on trial for sexual exploitation charges, Montreal coach accused of sexually abusing minors denied bail, Scarborough pub shooting, Regina massage therapist accused of sexually assaulting youth, Quebec man accused of killing three men in 2023 truck attack to stand trial in May, Second-degree murder trial underway in fatal stabbing of Helix guitarist 2025.3.3-3.13

2025.3.13 Violent early ’80s B.C. sex offender has day parole extended
A convicted murderer who carried out two violent sexual attacks on women in the 1980s has had his day parole extended

Kelly Toop, a 64-year-old convicted killer and sex offender from Williams Lake, has his day parole extended for another six months by a parole board.

The board made the decision on March 6, 2025 to continue the B.C. man’s day parole, as he continues to be under Corrections Service of Canada oversight, since being first sentenced in 1983 and then again in 1984 for the brutal sexual assaults, one murder and one attempted murder of two women in separate incidents. Toop admitted to thinking he had succeeded in killing the second woman, who survived to identify him and lead to police connecting him to the other murder.

Toop was in his early 20s at the time of his conviction. Due to privacy concerns, Corrections Service Canada cannot indicate where Toop is serving his parole or provide an updated photo.

The decision to reinstate his parole comes after Toop had his day parole suspended in October 2024. Complaints were brought forward from staff at the facility he was staying at he had followed and photographed a woman without her knowledge and complaints were made of sexual comments to female students in a class he was attending. Upon reviewing the complaints, it was also revealed Toop had a number of pornography sites open on his phone, which he denied accessing intentionally.

His case management team at Corrections Service Canada suspended his day parole at the time in response to the complaints.

Members of a parole board reviewed the complaints and accepted Toop’s explanations for the incidents, reinstating his day parole in December of 2024.

Toop has been under the care of the Correctional Service of Canada since he was sentenced in 1983 and then again in 1984, for the brutal sexual assaults, one murder and one attempted murder of two women in separate incidents. He was in his early 20s at the time.

Toop was granted day parole in June of 2024, allowing him to have up to a maximum of 96 hours of leave per month.

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a more detailed account of his case

2025.1.14 Day parole reinstated for B.C. man guilty of brutal 1980 murder
A case from the 1980s is back in the spotlight as Kelly Toop, a convicted killer and sex offender, has his day parole reinstated by a parole board

Like something out of a true crime podcast, the story of Kelly Toop continues to cast a shadow, decades after he was arrested and sentenced to life in prison in the mid-1980s.

Toop has been under the care of the Correctional Service of Canada since he was sentenced in 1983 and then again in 1984, for the brutal sexual assaults, one murder and one attempted murder of two women in separate incidents. He was in his early 20s at the time.

Now 64, Toop has returned to the headlines after a decision regarding his day parole drew media attention.

Toop was granted day parole in June of 2024, allowing him to have up to a maximum of 96 hours of leave per month. Toop was returning to a community-based residential facility (CRF) each night during his parole.

This day parole was suspended in October of the same year, however, after staff at the CRF and at the school Toop had been attending both reported “certain situations” according to the parole board decision.

At a meeting with his case management team (CMT) on Oct. 4, the CMT asked Toop about reports from staff at the CRF he may have followed and photographed a woman without her knowledge.

The CMT also asked Toop about reports they were given by the principal of the school he was attending of inappropriate comments made by Toop to a female classmate. The student had said his comments included references to pornography. Toop said the events were a misunderstanding and told his CMT he had no sexual needs.

At the meeting, his CMT also requested to look at Toop’s phone, which he provided them. They found 20 pornography websites open on tabs on the phone, a violation of his conditions. Toop said he had “no idea” how the pornography site tabs appeared on his browser.

The CMT suspended Toop’s day parole immediately and concluded Toop had shown a “lack of transparency.”

But a review by the Parole Board of Canada of Toop’s case on Dec. 30 reinstated the day parole after accepting Toop’s explanations for the incidents. The parole board’s written decision said the board gave weight to Toop’s later explanation of the alleged photographing of a woman. Toop said he deleted the photograph of the woman, having forgotten the context in which he took it and said his actions may have been misinterpreted because he sometimes takes photos at odd angles to compensate for his poor eyesight.

The parole board also said they attributed weight to Toop’s assertion he made no inappropriate comments to his fellow classmates. Instead, Toop admitted only to responding to flirtatious comments made by two female students.

However, the decision said the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) recommended Toop’s parole be revoked and that he return to incarceration to do more work on his rehabilitation and “better manage the risk” he presents to the community.

The parole board’s written decision included assessments based on a range of psychological tests. In one, Toop was in the category where “four out of five offenders, having characteristics like yours, will not commit an indictable offence within three years following their release.” His results for another checklist were mixed, and “did not confirm the presence of clear psychopathic traits.”

The decision notes Toop was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder and sexual disorder (rape, sadism).

In a psychological risk assessment of Toop dated September 2022, the clinician recommended gradual reintegration and watching for signs of possible increased risk including increases in pornography consumption.

The parole board said Toop had made progress and had a moderate potential for social reintegration. The decision described Toop as having been “hard-working, punctual and dedicated” during his volunteer work during his leave and “diligent in attending classes” while he was attending school.

Since being incarcerated, Toop has married, and the parole board decision includes a reference to a partner and spouse. Toop told the parole board his libido has changed and said his fantasies are now limited to his wife and related to consensual sex.

Toop told the parole board he wants to focus on his relationship and get a job. The parole board did add a new condition to his parole, which directs him not to purge any of the text messages, call logs, photos, social media use, etc. from his phone.

He suggested getting rid of his smartphone to replace it with a flip phone.

While Toop had wanted to return to the CRF where he had been housed as part of his updated release plan, the staff there did not accept his candidacy.

The decision also refers to Toop’s stated “background factors” which include verbal and physical abuse and a sexual assault on him as a child.

He had previously admitted he would have continued to offend had he not been caught.

A disturbing assault in Williams Lake on November 13, 1982, was what led police to connect the young then 22-year-old with an unsolved murder on Vancouver Island from 1980.

A man out walking his dog in the Dog Creek area on the morning of Nov. 13, came across a 25-year-old woman sitting in a parked vehicle in a gravel pit.

The man found the young woman wearing nothing but a sweater in freezing temperatures and bleeding profusely from a head wound, according to a story printed in the Nov. 16, 1982 Williams Lake Tribune. An article printed on Nov. 18, 1982, said temperatures the night of her assault were as low as -10 C and she is lucky to have survived.

The injured woman was treated in a hospital in Kamloops for a depressed skull fracture, she could not speak and was only able to nod her head to communicate at the time.

But the Williams Lake sexual assault and attempted murder investigation connected Toop to the then-unsolved murder of 29-year-old Suzanne Seto, who had been brutally sexually assaulted and killed in Duncan in 1980.

According to an article in the Nov. 30, 1982, Williams Lake Tribune, Seto was in the Duncan area working and had been staying at the Village Green Inn.

She was seen going into her room on the night of June 2, 1980. Her nude, bludgeoned body was found the following day by police in some dense brush near the motel. Toop had apparently crushed her head in with a cement brick.

Throughout the two trials, horrific details of both attacks were revealed.

The 25-year-old woman in Williams Lake had last been seen leaving the Williams Lake Curling Club at 12:30 a.m.

Toop obtained a ride from the young woman. In her car, he attacked her and sexually assaulted her, then taking her to his home where he blindfolded her and sexually assaulted her again and tied her to his bed while he passed out. On waking, he drove her to the gravel pit where she was found, hitting her in the head with a tire iron, and leaving her for dead. According to an article in the Nov. 6, 1984 edition of the Williams Lake Tribune, fingerprint evidence collected in Williams Lake following the attack connected Toop to the Seto killing.

The trial for Seto’s murder took place in Nanaimo and was heard by an 11-person jury over 10 days. They heard graphic details of sexual assaults and her murder. Toop testified in his own defence and claimed to be under the influence of marijuana and alcohol at the time. His lawyer asked for a second-degree murder or manslaughter conviction. The jury returned a guilty verdict in September 1983 after 90 minutes of deliberation. He was sentenced to life in prison.

A second trial took place in Victoria in 1984, beginning in October and ending in November in relation to the 1982 Williams Lake attack.

Toop was found guilty of attempted murder, rape and gross indecency by a jury in the second trial, and was sentenced to life imprisonment again, to be served concurrently with the previous sentence.

Numerous victim representations submitted between 2004 and 2024 requesting Toop not be released were noted in the parole board decision, as was a lack of written representation from Toop and his assistant. Both Toop and his assistant did provide comments at the hearing.

Police in Calgary say there’s a sexual predator that could be targeting numerous women and they want to prevent possible further attacks.

Calgary police are warning the public about a man they say used online dating apps to contact women with the intention of sexually assaulting them.

Officials say they were alerted in February 2024 by a victim who said she’d been exchanging messages with a man named “Alex.”

A week after they began communicating, the victim met him at a local coffee shop.

“The following day, Alex asked to spend more time with the victim, this time requesting to come to her home. The victim agreed, and when Alex arrived at the victim’s home, he began sexually assaulting her,” police said in a news release.

Alex left her home and the victim later reported the assault to police.

After the attack, Alex deleted his profile on the dating app and disabled his cellphone.

An investigation by police determined the man had repeatedly created fake profiles to conceal his real identity across several dating apps.

“His interest is in meeting women, and he portrays himself as something completely different than what he really is,” said Staff Sgt. Tom Hanson during a media availability on Wednesday afternoon.

Investigators identified him as Ali Kiani, 43.

A court check confirms a 43-year-old Ali Kiani or his lawyer is scheduled to appear before a judge in Calgary on Thursday, for a charge of sexual assault from February 2024.

The matter in court is set for election and plea.

Police are releasing Kiani’s name and photo to protect the public.

He is described as 183 centimetres (6’) tall, 88 kilograms (195 pounds) with a medium build.

Officials hope releasing this information will prevent further attacks.

“There might be a significant number out there,” said Hanson.

“We would like to get the information out about this individual and the tactic that he uses to help anybody come forward.”

The CEO of the non-profit Fear is Not Love said there is an alarming trend of online predators.

“We are seeing the online environment being used and weaponized against women and people generally. … The online environment can be turned to threaten the security of people differently,” said Kim Ruse.

She adds that young people can be especially vulnerable.

“Some of these apps are very much geared towards engaging (young people) and some of these apps have messages that disappear and are built in a way that really engages young people and encourages them to connect (and) can be very frightening.”

Stacey Duke, the former educational assistant on trial for sexual exploitation charges, has been found guilty on all six counts.

In a decision delivered Wednesday morning at Court of King’s Bench in Regina, Duke was found guilty of two counts of exploiting teenagers for a sexual purpose, two counts of making explicit material available, and two counts of luring a child.

Immediately after the jury announced their verdict and were dismissed, Duke erupted into tears.

Duke’s husband sat by her side as the verdict was read. In response to the decision, he shouted “this is a horrendous mistake.”

During Duke’s testimony earlier in the trial, she testified she was suffering with alcoholism and severe depression at the time of the offences.

Both families of the complainants were present and said they were gratified by the jury’s decision.

“I’m just glad the jury did a good job and proved that they [youth] were honest and reliable,” a parent of the first complainant told reporters, who cannot be named due to a publication ban on the victims.

“Stacey [Duke] will be off our roads and our kids won’t be harmed in school or on the highways anymore.”

The parent added that it was hard at times to watch the week-long trial.

“It was very difficult as a parent learning what happened in your home. It’s very difficult knowing that person is still in your community,” they said.

“I’m just very satisfied that justice was served.”

The offences occurred while Duke was working as an educational assistant at Vibank Regional School in the fall of 2022.

Both alleged victims were 17 years old at the time of the offence and cannot be named due to a publication ban imposed by the court.

Throughout the trial, the court heard from five Crown witnesses – two being the youth who are making the claims, two being friends of the complainants, and the other being the RCMP officer who investigated the initial report.

As per a request from the defence, sentencing was adjourned. Proceedings are expected to restart in several months.

Neither the defence nor the Crown indicated how long Duke’s potential sentence may be.

However, Duke will face a separate sentence for each of the six charges she was found guilty of.

Jason Collins, 36, was killed by officers responding to a domestic violence call in 2020

The judge who oversaw an inquest into the death of a Winnipeg man killed by police responding to a domestic violence call in 2020 has concluded there was nothing police could have done differently to prevent what happened that day.

The incident began as officers responded to a 911 call at a home on Winnipeg’s Anderson Avenue in the early morning hours of April 9, 2020, after a woman reported she had been assaulted by her boyfriend.

The woman said the man had a gun, and that there was a child in the home, according to an inquest report by provincial court Judge Antonio Cellitti issued last week.

When officers arrived, they heard someone screaming in the home and forced entry inside, where they saw Jason Collins, 36, “holding what appeared to be a firearm to his own head” and threatening to kill himself before “immediately and violently” closing the door to the home, Cellitti’s decision said.

As police retreated and worked to set up a perimeter around the home, Collins’s 15-year-old daughter exited the back door and was “safely taken into custody by officers.” She told police there were two guns within the home, and said she didn’t know whether they were long guns but that “she did see Mr. Collins with an oversized gun.”

But before officers could establish communication with Collins or implement a response plan, the man “abruptly exited the front door with a pistol and pointed it at police while walking towards them,” the report said.

He did not put the gun down despite “numerous calls by the police” to do so. As a result, the report said, officers shot Collins in the torso and left hand. He was taken to hospital and declared dead, while the woman who called 911 was taken to hospital with injuries to her arm and chest.

The gun Collins was holding was later determined to be a black plastic BB gun — photos of which submitted during the inquest “make it clear that the BB gun does in fact look like a real firearm,” the report said.

“The officers on scene who saw Mr. Collins holding it believed that it was a real firearm, a belief that I find was reasonable,” the judge wrote.

The report said the inquest also heard from Collins’s mother, Kelly Collins, and his adult son, Isaiah, who both attended part of the inquest.

His mother said she misses her son dearly, and “feels that he was taken away far too soon,” while his son remembers Collins as “a kind and thoughtful man and a father that sought to teach him important life lessons.” A friend of Collins’s, Jeff Desjarlais, also described him as “being good natured and having a kind, caring heart.”

“All three made mention of Mr. Collins’ smile, a smile that they will no doubt remember fondly,” the judge wrote.

“The death of Mr. Collins is a terrible tragedy that will no doubt continue to have a painful and lasting impact on the loved ones that he left behind.”

Tragic outcome ‘unfortunately unavoidable,’ judge says

The report said the incident unfolded quickly, and that the police response was appropriate and followed use-of-force policy. That response included calling in advance for a tactical emergency medical support unit, which was on scene to immediately give Collins medical treatment.

The report also said the 911 call transcript makes it clear Collins knew the call had been made, and that police were likely coming to the home. Officers also loudly identified themselves and were in full uniform when they arrived, leaving the judge satisfied Collins was aware they were police and “not, for instance, intruders that he needed to defend himself or the other occupants of the residence against.”

An autopsy determined Collins died from gunshot wounds to the torso, and found he had a number of drugs — including cocaine, opiate prescription medications, cannabis and flualprazolam — in his system when he died

While the inquest, which was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, was called to determine the circumstances related to Collins’s death and whether anything can be done to prevent similar deaths, the judge made no recommendations for change.

“Mr. Collins’ actions left them with no option other than to use lethal force by discharging their firearms. The tragic outcome that day was unfortunately unavoidable given the actions of Mr. Collins,” the judge wrote.

“I have not identified anything that the officers in this case could have done differently that would have prevented Mr. Collins’ death or changed the outcome that day.”

A seventh person was hurt by gunfire late Friday at a mass shooting near Scarborough Town Centre, Toronto police say.

Police said in an update on X Sunday that the person’s injury, which was thought to have been caused by flying glass, has been confirmed to have been caused by a bullet graze.

There is still no word on who is responsible for the shooting, which happened at a pub that was celebrating its opening night.

Here is what we know so far.

‘These guys just looked at the crowd and opened fire’
Just after 10:30 p.m. on Friday, police began receiving 911 calls for reports of the shooting at Piper Arms pub, which is near McCowan Road and Progress Avenue – just steps from the shopping centre.

Officers found 12 people suffering from various injuries: seven were hurt from gunfire, and five others were hurt by shattered glass.

No one was killed, and all injuries are believed to be non-life-threatening. The victims’ ages are between 20 and mid-50s.

When police reviewed the security camera footage, they were at a loss for words.

“We’ve seen a lot of shootings, a lot of videos. But tonight’s shooting – these guys just looked at the crowd and opened fire,” Supt. Paul MacIntyre told reporters at the scene on Friday.

That footage showed three masked men, armed with an assault rifle and two handguns, entering the pub and opening fire at patrons inside. The guests ducked under chairs for cover or fell to the ground immediately after being shot.

MacIntyre said he was “horrified” to see the gunmen’s lack of hesitation.

“There’s blood all over the floor.… There’s blood in the basement,” he told reporters.

“The drinks are still on the table. The food is still on the table. People’s purses, shoes, they’re still in there.”

Search for the shooters continues
The shooters are still at large. No detailed suspect description or vehicle description has been made available. Their weapons have also not been found.

Police were asked whether tow truck turf wars could be a motive for the shooting, or whether it was at random.

“We’re open to that, but we haven’t confirmed anything yet. We’re looking at who the owners are, who the patrons are,” MacIntyre said.

Mayor Olivia Chow said she was working at city hall late Friday night when police told her about the mass shooting and provided regular updates.

“It is troubling because of the magnitude of the shootings and the number of people hurt, and I don’t want to speculate as to the why and how,” Chow told a news conference Saturday morning.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford also denounced the gun violence on Saturday.

“The shooting that took place last night in Scarborough was a brazen act of violence that will not be tolerated,” Ford said.

“The Toronto Police Service has my full support as they bring those responsible to justice.”

Ford added that his thoughts are with the victims of the attacks and their families, adding in a social media post: “I’m praying that all those affected by this terrible shooting make a full recovery.”

As police continue the investigation, MacIntyre said they’re “leaving no stone unturned,” with the service dedicating as many personnel as it can to the case.

Anyone with information or video footage is asked to contact police.