RNC’s Operational Patrol Services responded to the area of Craigmillar Avenue, St. John’s, to reports of unknown trouble on July 5th at approximately 4:00am.
Police said “The death of this man is believed to be suspicious, and investigators are working with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to determine the cause of death”.
Anyone who has information which may assist the investigation is asked to call the RNC at 729-8000.
Update July 9th
The victim has been identified as James Cody, 47, and confirmed the cause of Cody’s death to be homicide by a gunshot wound. No arrests have been made at this time.
Update July 1st 2021
Kurt Churchill, 44, was arrested on June 29th in Toronto and charged with:
- Murder.
- Using a firearm in the commission of an offence.
- Careless use of a firearm.
- Possession of an unauthorized firearm.
- Possession of a prohibited firearm.
- Tampering with the serial number of a firearm.
Update: Justice Vikas Khaladkar handed down the stay on September 12th under court guidelines intended to ensure the Charter right of an accused to be tried in a reasonable time. For cases in Supreme Court, the guideline is 30 months.
Churchill was arrested in June 2021, with the 30 months expiring in December 2023.
According to CBC Crown failed to provide redacted information to Churchill’s defence team and, in doing so, one of his lawyers heard a recording by mistake. The Crown then asked to have all three of Churchill’s lawyers dismissed just weeks before his trial was due to begin last fall.
The Newfoundland 2020 Homicide Victim List is available here.