Looking Back to 2024: Crimes, Fatalities and Fraud

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It was another deadly year in Chatham-Kent in 2024, with two murder cases taking some interesting turns as they made their way through the courts.

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The first homicide of the year occurred in Chatham-Kent on Jan. 12, when the body of Henry Neudorf was found on Town Line Road, north of Maple Line, near Pain Court.

Three Tilbury residents — David Trealout, Kimberly Price and Darin Noland — have been charged with first-degree murder in the death of the 55-year-old Tilbury man.

The case took several interesting turns, including the dropping of the murder count against Noland because he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of accessory after the fact in Superior Court on Nov. 8.

Noland, who agreed to help authorities investigate Neudorf’s death and was credited with providing valuable information to prosecute the case, was sentenced to 227 days of pretrial detention already served.

A publication ban remains in place on the evidence heard in court as the charges against Trealout and Price are still before the courts.

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Three people have been charged with first-degree murder after the body of Louise Thomson, 27, of Milton, was found at a William Street South address in Chatham in early June, Chatham-Kent police reported.

David Ambrose and Jeffrey Davis were initially charged with first-degree murder. Both were later also charged with indecency with a corpse.

Then, about three weeks later, Sky-Linn Holden was arrested in Windsor and charged with the same two counts.

In late September, the murder charge against Ambrose was dropped, with the Crown saying there was no reasonable possibility of a conviction. He is currently facing a charge of accessory after the fact to murder and a charge of indecency with a corpse.

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Father accused of daughter’s death

David William Thomas was charged with first-degree murder in late May, nearly two years after his daughter, Bayli Sellars, was found dead in her Chatham home in late June 2022.

Thomas was found in Fanny Bay, BC on May 28 and arrested by Chatham-Kent Police and RCMP officers. He also faces five counts of arson – disregard for human life and one count of arson – fraudulent purpose and indecent to a corpse.

The body of Sellars, 22, was found in her home at 149 Edgar St. in Chatham after emergency crews responded to a fire around 4 a.m. June 25, 2022.

That sparked an investigation into the origin of the fire and the cause of Sellars’ death, involving agencies such as Chatham-Kent Fire and Rescue, the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office, the regional medical examiner’s office and the RCMP.

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As a result of the investigation, a Canada-wide arrest warrant was issued for Thomas on May 7, 2024, police said.

The case remains before the courts.

Charges were reduced in two homicide cases

The sentences were handed down this year in two separate deaths from 2022. In both cases, the charges against the accused were reduced.

On January 24, a 17-year-old man was initially charged with second-degree murder in the death of another 17-year-old man after an incident on October 21, 2022. The accused later pleaded guilty to possession of a dangerous weapon .

None of the youths can be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

A court heard how two men stabbed each other after a drug deal went wrong. The victim later died of his injuries at Chatham-Kent Health Alliance.

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The accused was sentenced on April 17 to two years of probation and given credit for 344 days in jail before sentencing, prompting an emotional outburst from the victim’s mother.

Marvin Garraway, of Toronto, was originally charged with second-degree murder in the bloody shooting and stabbing that killed Randall Rouse. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and using a firearm after committing an indictable offense on February 5 and was sentenced to three years.

The court heard details and viewed a home surveillance video of the October 7, 2022 incident at a home on Colborne Street in Chatham.

The men exchanged words, then Rouse fired multiple shots at Garraway with a .22-caliber handgun, hitting him in the abdomen and arm, the court heard.

Garraway grabbed a nearby knife, stabbed Rouse repeatedly, then reached for the gun Rouse was holding and fired a non-fatal shot into Rouse’s neck, the court heard. Garraway fired several shots before going to a London hospital for treatment.

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Rouse later died at Chatham Hospital, the court heard. An autopsy showed Garraway stabbed Rouse nine times in the head, neck and chest, but only one of the wounds was fatal, the court heard.

Fatal driving incidents before the courts

Two major legal cases involving deaths caused by motorists have been before the courts this year.

Brett Iler, 30, of Windsor, was convicted in late November of five counts of careless driving in a 2022 multi-vehicle crash that killed two people west of Chatham.

Iler pleaded not guilty to two counts of careless driving causing death and three counts of careless driving causing injury in the May 27, 2022 crash on Queen’s Line near Dillon Road that killed Jamie Doyle, 28 years, and Nigel Sedge, 29.

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The matter was heard by the provincial criminal court near Blenheim.