Foot, hand discovered in mail

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JEAN LEVAC / POSTMEDIA NEWS Ottawa police forensic investigators remove a yellow bag containing a human foot from Conservative Party of Canada headquarters Tuesday. (POSTMEDIA OTTAWA CITIZEN)

OTTAWA -- Police found a human hand at the Ottawa Postal Terminal on Tuesday night, hours after a bloody foot was delivered to the Conservative party's Ottawa headquarters just blocks from Parliament Hill.

Ottawa police were still trying to understand what they were dealing with, even as detectives in Montreal combed through a crime scene where a torso was found in a suitcase in that city's Snowdon district.

Police discovered the second package, sent from the same origin as the package delivered to Tory headquarters containing the foot, Tuesday evening. Officers carried out the second package from the huge Riverside Drive terminal in a brown paper bag, which they X-rayed before they opened it to find the hand.

Police said the package with the hand was not destined for the Conservative Party of Canada, but wouldn't say where it was to be sent.

The gruesome day began shortly before noon when access to the Conservative party's headquarters was restricted after the fire department's Hazmat team was called in to investigate a suspicious package. Firefighters took air samples in the 12th-floor office before the paramedics were allowed to enter.

A party staffer had started to open a blood-stained box that was sent to the office at 130 Albert St. before police were called to investigate.

At first, it was thought there was a human heart inside, but after the box was X-rayed, police confirmed the gruesome package contained a foot.

The package was addressed to the Conservative Party of Canada and not to a specific person, they said.

About 12 people were in the office when it was delivered, but no one was treated by paramedics once it was determined the package didn't contain hazardous material.

Police officers guarded the main doors to the offices while major crime detectives and a coroner investigated.

Two men in white jumpsuits and masks left the building around 1:45 p.m. pushing a large barrel. Shortly before 5:30 p.m., a police officer emerged from the building carrying a yellow plastic bag containing the package.

The Conservative party referred all inquiries to Ottawa police.

"A suspicious package was sent to our office," was all spokesman Fred DeLorey would say to reporters.

Around 3 p.m., Sgt. Steve Hodgson stepped into the hallway and commented on the mood inside.

"Everybody is calm. There's no over-reaction here," he said. adding the person who opened the package was "fine."

There are several other offices on the 12th floor, including the Hotel Association of Canada. The association's executive assistant, Linda Crouch, said police did not inform tenants about the package. Tenants were told to remain in their offices. If they chose to leave the floor they were told they would not be allowed to return for an undetermined amount of time.

A Tory MP who showed up later at his party's headquarters was horrified by the discovery.

"It's just awful," said Brad Trost, who first learned about the incident from TV. He said it was probably someone's "sick idea."

"I don't think any of us are thinking this necessarily has anything to with politics," he said.

Earlier Tuesday in Montreal, police were combing through garbage bags and furniture left on a Snowdon street, looking for body parts after a janitor discovered a human torso in a suitcase at about 10 a.m.

Mike Nadeau, 49, said he'd noticed a smell coming from the suitcase in the past few days. He and a friend cut a lock on the suitcase.

He said he did not believe there were any limbs attached to the torso. Nadeau backed away from suitcase quickly and called police, he said.

Ottawa police say it's too early to tell if the cases are connected but are working with Montreal police.

-- Postmedia News

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 30, 2012 A9