Tips on slayings still coming in to police task force
ALISON LANGLEY
Local News – Friday, September 22, 2006 @ 02:00
Rumours of a serial killer preying on young women began to circulate almost as soon as the body of Cassey Cichocki was discovered in the city’s north end in January.
Was the 22 year old’s killing linked to the unsolved slayings of four Niagara-area women police said were involved in “high-risk behaviour?”
A day after Cichocki’s body was recovered, Niagara Regional Police announced the formation of a team to investigate her death and the unsolved murders.
Much has happened over the past eight months.
During the first few weeks of its launch, the task force arrested a Niagara Falls man in connection with Cichocki’s death. At a press conference, police said they were investigating whether the suspect was linked to the unsolved cases.
Then in June, police laid a second charge against the same man, this time in connection with the death of Margaret Jeanette Jugaru, 26, one of the four slayings in question.
Michael Durant, 33, of Niagara Falls, faces two charges of first-degree murder. A preliminary hearing for Durant is scheduled for February, 2007 and is expected to last four weeks.
The task force is continuing its investigative work.
“It’s great the police are doing all this work, but I often wonder if it is enough,” said Valerie Scott, executive director of the Sex Professionals of Canada organization.
She would like the federal government to decriminalize prostitution, so those in the industry will be less likely to be a victim of violence.
“Word on the street is, it’s marginally safer in Niagara Falls because of the task force. But it will never be truly safe until the laws are changed,” she said.
“If Canadian citizens think of us as criminals, then the message is we’re totally disposable and that’s wrong.”
The 13 police investigators initially assigned to the task force continue to pore through reams of paperwork, evidence and interviews, and filter hundreds of tips received from the public.
“Initially, our purpose was the investigation of the five deaths. Now, there are more elements to the investigation. It is quite involved,” said Sgt. Cliff Sexton, head of the investigative team, of the work needed to bring the cases to court.
The team works in two groups, one team of investigators probing the three outstanding cases, and a second team working with the Crown to prepare for trial.
“These cases are important to the families and the Niagara Regional Police,” said Sexton.
Police continue to appeal to the public for assistance.
“Any bit of information out there could help us. That information could help solve the outstanding matters,” Sexton said.
Anyone with information on any of the cases can contact police at 905-688-4111 ext. 2100 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
alangley@nfreview.com