Police issue warrant for first-degree murder in death of Toronto senior
Posted February 11, 2013 1:30 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Toronto Police say a warrant has been issued for a 46-year-old man from the Philippines in connection with a senior’s death late last year.
Fernando De Castro is wanted for first-degree murder, following the death of Manijeh Bostani-Khamsi.
The 76-year-old woman’s body was found inside her Eglinton and Wynford Drive condo in November 2012.
At a news conference Monday afternoon, police allege De Castro and his wife, Melpa De Castro, came to Canada as visitors in 2007, renting several apartments throughout Toronto. They worked as house cleaners, while Fernando also worked as a health care provider for the elderly.
Police said Bostani-Khamsi hired De Castro and his wife to clean her home on a bi-weekly basis, and she became well known to them.
Bostani-Khamsi was a widow who lived alone in her condo.
Investigators allege that on Nov. 16 just before noon, De Castro arrived at Bostani-Khamsi’s apartment. The last knowledge of their whereabouts was on Nov. 20, when De Castro and his wife fled Canada.
They are believed to be in the Philippines.
“We’re currently requesting assistance to our local Crown’s office and Department of Justice to have Mr. De Castro extradited back to Canada to face this charge,” the lead detective in the case said at the news conference.
Investigators believe the motive was robbery.
Police are asking the public to come forward with any information they may have on the couple and their current whereabouts, or any encounters with the couple on the early-afternoon hours of Nov. 16.
