It was another deadly year across Chatham-Kent in 2024 with two murder cases that have both taken some interesting turns while moving through the court system.
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Chatham-Kent’s first murder of the year occurred 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 – were all initially charged with first-degree murder in the killing of the 55-year-old Tilbury man.
The case has taken some interested turns, including Noland having the murder charge dropped and pleading guilty to a lesser charge of accessory after the fact to murder in Superior Court on Nov. 8.
Noland, who agreed to help authorities with investigation of Neudorf’s death and credited for providing valuable information to prosecute the case, was sentenced to time served for the 227 days of pre-trial custody he served.
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A publication ban remains in place on evidence heard in court as the charges against Realout and Price are still before the courts.
Three people were also originally charged with first-degree murder when the body of Louise Thomson, 27, of Milton was found at an address on William Street South in Chatham in early June, Chatham-Kent police reported.
David Ambrose and Jeffrey Davis were initially charged with first-degree murder. They were both also later charged with committing an indignity to a body. Then about three weeks later police laid the same two charges against Sky-Linn Holden after she was arrested in Windsor.
However, in late September the first-degree murder charge was dropped against Ambrose.
The assistant Crown attorney said at the time there was no reasonable prospect of a conviction on the murder count. However, Ambrose is currently facing a charge of accessory after the fact to murder and also remains charged with committing an indignity to a body.
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Dad of woman found dead after fire faces murder rap
David William Thomas was arrested and 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 officers and RCMP officers. In addition to the first-degree murder charge, he is also charged with five counts of Arson – disregard for human life, and single counts of Arson – fraudulent purpose, and indignity to a body.
The body of Sellars, 22, was found in her home at 149 Edgar St. in Chatham after emergency crews responded to a fire at the home about 4 am on June 25, 2022.
An investigation was launched into the fire’s origin and the cause of Sellars’ death leading to multiple agencies, including Chatham-Kent Fire and Rescue, the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office, the regional coroner’s office and RCMP being involved.
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As a result of the probe, a Canada-wide arrest warrant was issued for Thomas on May 7, 2024, police said.
The case remains before the courts.
Charges reduced in two separate cases where victims killed
Sentences were handed down earlier this year in court cases for two separate killings that happened in 2022. Both cases saw the charges reduced against the accused.
On Jan. 24, a male, who was 17, was originally charged with second-degree murder in the death of a 17-year-old male, following an incident on Oct. 21, 2022. The male pleaded guilty to possessing a dangerous weapon.
The identities of the youth remain protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Court heard how two males ended up stabbing each other after a drug deal had gone bad. The victim later died of stab wounds to the chest after arriving at the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance.
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The victim’s mother had an emotional outburst in court on April 17 when the teen was sentenced to two years of probation and given credit for 344 days of pre-sentence jail time.
Marvin Garraway, of Toronto was originally charged with second-degree murder in a bloody shooting and stabbing that killed Randall Rouse. He received a three-year jail sentence on Feb. 5 after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
Garraway also pleaded guilty to using a firearm after committing an unspeakable offense.
Court heard details and saw a home surveillance video that captured the incident that occurred on Oct. 7, 2022 at a Colborne Street home in Chatham.
The video showed how the incident that began with some words between the men quickly escalated when Rouse fired several shots at Garraway with .22-caliber, hitting in the abdomen and arm.
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Garraway grabbed a nearby knife, repeatedly stabbing Rouse then got hold of the gun Rouse had and fired a non-fatal shot in Rouse’s neck. Garraway fired more shot before heading to a London hospital for treatment.
Rouse later died in hospital in Chatham. An autopsy revealed Garraway stabbed Rouse nine times in the head, neck and chest with just a single stab wounding being fatal, court heard.
Deadly driving incidents before the court
Two high-profile court cases involving deaths caused by drivers were before the courts this year.
Brett Iler, 30, of Windsor, was found guilty in late November of five careless driving charges in a multi-vehicle crash that killed two people west of Chatham more than two years ago.
Iler had 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, and Nigel Sedge, 29.
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The matter was heard in Provincial Offenses Court near Blenheim.
Iler testified the last thing he remembered was yawning before driving into the first curve of an S bend near the intersection, veering then straightening his vehicle, before the crash occurred.
Court heard previous testimony, including from an expert accident reconstructionist that Iler’s eastbound vehicle veered into the westbound lane, striking a pickup, setting off the deadly four-vehicle crash.
Justice of the Peace Kelly Jackson didn’t find that yawning was a satisfactory excuse.
“This court found that it would not be reasonable for a person to veer into the oncoming lane of traffic against a solid double-yellow line unless there was a necessary reason,” she said. “Simply put, the yawn is not a necessary, good enough, or even adequate reason to cross into oncoming traffic.”
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Iler is scheduled to return to court Jan. 8, 2025 for a date to be set for a sentencing hearing.
Arielle Wall, a young Dresden woman, was handed a five-year prison term on Feb. 6 for impaired driving causing death in a 2021 crashed that killed her best friend. She was also handed an eight-year driving ban to begin after her sentence is served.
Wall was driving a vehicle that hit a tree off rain-damped Longwoods Road, just west of Louisville, early on April 12, 2021. Her passenger and friend, Gabrielle Emery, 19, died as a result of the crash.
While Superior Court Justice Russell Raikes believed Wall was remorseful and regretted what happened, he added it didn’t diminish her high “moral blameworthiness.”
Wall not having a criminal or driving record did little to help lessen her sentence.
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Raikes said since 2010, sentences for otherwise law-abiding citizens convicted of impaired driving causing death have increased to five or six years as a deterrent.
The judge said drinking drivers were like gamblers playing Russian roulette with their own and others’ lives.
“It’s an unnecessary gamble and it keeps happening,” he said.
Guilty plea in case of United Way being defrauded $300K
Tilbury resident Veronica Whittal was arrested and charged with fraud in early February following an investigation that stemmed from the discovery that more than $300,000 was missing from the United Way of Chatham.
On Oct. 11, Whittal pleaded guilty to fraud over $5,000.
According to the agreed statement of facts, the United Way’s acting chief executive officer turned over documents to Chatham-Kent police from an independent audit that found the agency had been defrauded via electronic fund transfers between Oct. 8, 2021 and Oct. 20, 2022 .
Whittal allegedly created email addresses similar to those of vendors associated with the United Way and e-transferred false payments totaling $302,341.37 that were deposited to her own bank account, court heard.
Chatham-Kent police agreed the accused had taken the money after obtaining access to Whittal’s bank records by judicial order, court heard.
Whittal is scheduled to return to court Jan. 15, 2025 for a sentencing hearing.
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