Suspect charged in Holly’s slaying

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This article was published 21/06/2003 (8326 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TORONTO — The intensive hunt for the killer of 10-year-old Holly Jones led police to a 35-year-old software developer yesterday, more than one month after the girl’s heinous murder stunned an entire city.

Lead investigators delivered the news to Holly’s family immediately after the arrest, which took place just around the corner from their modest two-storey home in the city’s west end.

“We cannot return her to her family, nor can we account for a crime beyond comprehension, but hopefully this arrest will bring some closure to Holly’s family, friends and to the community as a whole,” police Chief Julian Fantino told a news conference at police headquarters before he left to visit the home, where candles and a blue-and-white floral cross adorned the front steps and lawn.

Soon after learning of the arrest, Holly’s mother, Maria, left the home with a brief comment: “We’re glad he’s gone.”

Holly’s grandmother told CTV News that she was “just shaking” when she learned of the arrest.

“I hope the person will go to hell and I hope there will be justice,” Lucy Jones said.

The search for a killer began when some of the girl’s dismembered remains were recovered from the chilly waters of Lake Ontario on May 13, a day after she left a friend’s house to walk back home just blocks away.

Michael Briere was arrested at the nondescript three-storey home where he resides on Bloor Street West, halfway between that friend’s house and Holly’s home. Briere was charged with first-degree murder and was scheduled to appear in court this morning.

“While a trail of evidence led investigators to the accused, I emphasize this particular investigation is far from over,” Fantino told a news conference.

“There is much work yet to be done. The Holly Jones Task Force will continue until every aspect of this horrible crime is thoroughly investigated.”

A neighbour next door to Briere’s residence said police took two men into custody early yesterday.

One had a shaved head and “always looked like a military type,” said Adel Shams, 63, who owns the TDot cafe next to the address.

“He never said hello. He was unfriendly. I never got eye contact,” Shams said, adding that both men were taken away in separate police cruisers.

Shams allowed the media to look at a security video he says showed one of the two men walking past his shop just moments before the arrest. The man in the video was tall, dressed in dark clothing and carrying a black bag.

Investigators denied the man on the video was a suspect.

Police descended on Briere’s residence later yesterday with a search warrant, saying they’d likely be there for a few days.

“It’s really difficult to predict. It’ll be several days in all likelihood,” said Staff Sgt. Jim Muscat.

While Fantino said Briere was not believed to have been acquainted with Holly, he revealed few details about the man, instead spending most of the news conference praising the police work that led to the arrest. He also urged the media not to release any photographs of the suspect, saying there were witnesses yet to be interviewed.

Holly’s daylight abduction and brutal slaying stunned the city and terrified parents in the gritty west-end neighbourhood known as the Junction.

A series of child-abduction attempts that followed in the same neighbourhood have involved a suspect or suspects that witnesses described as having remarkably similar features to each other, but was never directly linked to the Holly Jones investigation.

Fantino said Briere was not a suspect in the other crimes, which police had said involved a man aged 40 to 50, with salt-and-pepper hair, a goatee, moustache and a mole on the left side of his nose just below the eye.

He ominously warned residents that Briere’s arrest did not necessarily signal safety and security for the neighbourhood, a largely immigrant district dominated by railroad tracks and bordering an area known for its drug woes.

“This is not a time to let our guard down,” Fantino said.

The weeks of fear showed few signs of abating in the hours that followed the arrest, with some neighbours expressing skepticism the attacker had finally been caught.

“They don’t know if this is the guy,” one elderly woman said as she sat listening to the radio on her front porch and watching the Jones’ police-taped house across the street.

Police found most of Holly’s remains in two bags in separate locations, including along the shores of Ward’s Island, a short ferry ride from the downtown core. However, they are still searching for more remains and the girl’s clothes.

Throughout the hunt, police repeatedly insisted they were just “one phone call” from an arrest and urged the perpetrator to surrender.

But as the weeks passed, the lack of concrete results frustrated those in Holly’s neighbourhood, sending panicked parents out to patrol the night streets themselves and prompting a rally last week in which more than 150 residents gathered to strengthen community ties.

As some residents demanded a bigger police presence, officers called for calm, saying they had assigned “teams and teams of investigators,” including undercover officers. More than 300 officers were involved and there were more than 2,300 tips, Fantino said yesterday.

Briere’s employer, the lab-testing company MDS Inc., issued a statement within hours of the arrest, extending sympathy to Holly’s family and saying the company was co-operating fully with police.

While police have refused to say whether Holly was sexually assaulted, her killing fuelled fresh calls from police and politicians for new laws and tools to help pursue and prosecute sex offenders.

Fantino would not say whether Briere had a criminal history involving children.

The arrest comes days after police assigned 50 more officers to the case and Holly’s elementary school held a tearful tribute and dedicated a small garden to her memory.

George Stonehouse, Holly’s father, sat ashen-faced and Maria Jones watched silently as their daughter’s distraught friends cried loudly throughout the ceremony and her stepbrother and sisters quietly wiped tears from their eyes.

Hundreds of children and several neighbourhood parents came out to remember the friendly girl.

— Canadian Press