Windsor's police chief says his department is putting in the hours to solve two recent homicides.
Chief Al Frederick provided an update following the Windsor Police Service's monthly police board meeting Thursday. The service has been working long hours to solve two murders that occurred in the city within a week and a half.
The first was the murder of 16-year-old Chance Gauthier, whose body was found in an alley off Church St. near the downtown core on Valentine's Day. Police say they have a suspect in custody and are actively looking for another, who they believe left the area.
The other homicide investigation involves the death of Leonard Damm, 73, who was found in his Bloomfield Rd home early Sunday. Police say they are working to identify a suspect in that murder.
Frederick says he's pleased with the way his department has been handling both homicides.
"The amount of police resources and effort that has been exhibited over the last week and a half has been really unprecedented in our history," says Frederick.
The chief says the department is utilising all of its specialty divisions in these investigations.
"We had to reallocate other resources to augment," says Frederick. "In a case like this, you have the lead investigators. We also have the support of forensics; we also have the support of tactical, of all the specialty units. And it's needed."
Frederick believes despite the frequency of these murders in the first month-and-a-half of 2018; he's not concerned about the murder rate going up. He also says the department is turning to technology to determine how these crimes took place.
"There's an inordinate amount of video on these two homicides that are being analysed," says Frederick. "I was a detective 20 years ago when video was rare. Now it's cell phone data and that sort of thing."
The investigations into the murders of Chance Gauthier and Leonard Damm are active. Anyone with information on either of these incidents should call Windsor police at (519) 255-6700 ext. 4830, or Crime Stoppers at (519) 258-8477 (TIPS).