Obit appears for Sarnia homicide victim

Police not confirming report of arrest in Sarnia homicide case

An obituary has surfaced for the man whose body was discovered in a south-end Sarnia apartment, prompting the city’s first homicide investigation of the year.

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Christopher Michael Bond, 66, of Sarnia was found inside Unit 4 of 219 Queen St., a second-level apartment near Devine Street, on Feb. 21 around 10:30 am Adam Bishop, the 40-year-old man who lived in Unit 4, was arrested two days later and charged with first-degree murder and committing an indignity to a body.

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A recently published online obituary says Bond is survived by a daughter and four sisters.

“Free from suffering, may he rest in peace,” the obit says.

Staff from Smith Funeral Home in Sarnia take a body out of Unit 4 at 219 Queen St. in Sarnia on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024, with the assistance of Sarnia police and firefighters. Police later confirmed it was a homicide investigation. (Terry Bridge/Sarnia Observer)

An attempt to reach family for comment Friday was unsuccessful. A Facebook profile that appears to be linked to Bond says he studied at Carleton College and worked at the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers.

It’s unclear how Bishop and Bond knew each other, but one neighbor said she saw Bond visit Unit 4 multiple times. Several neighbors said there was frequent foot traffic in and out of the unit.

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Sarnia homicide investigation
The windows and doors to Unit 4 of 219 Queen St. in Sarnia has been boarded up following a homicide investigation. (Terry Bridge/Sarnia Observer) Photo by Terry Bridge /Terry Bridge/The Observer

Bishop made a brief court appearance Thursday, his third since his Feb. 23 arrest. His cases – he has two – were adjourned to March 11 to give him time to hire a lawyer for the latest sets of charges.

Bishop was charged less than a month prior to his latest arrest with assault and uttering a threat to cause bodily harm to a 62-year-old Sarnia man. None of the charges in either case have been tested in court.

On Wednesday in another Sarnia courtroom, outstanding charges laid against Bond were dropped since he died. Details of the charges weren’t available.

Surveillance video captured by a neighbor shows two police officers near a fence as they chase a man who fled 219 Queen St. in Sarnia the morning officers kicked in the door to Unit 4 and discovered a dead body.  (Screenshot)
Surveillance video captured by a neighbor shows two police officers near a fence as they chase a man who fled 219 Queen St. in Sarnia the morning officers kicked in the door to Unit 4 and discovered a dead body. (Screenshot)

Despite the Sarnia police mobile command center leaving the scene the day after Bishop’s arrest, a neighbor said detectives have returned several times since then looking for more clues and asking additional questions of nearby residents. One neighbor captured a video of a man fleeing the parking lot on Feb. 21, shortly after 10:30 am, around the time officers kicked in the front door to Unit 4.

Detectives also have searched garbage and recycling bins, neighbors said.

The windows and doors to Unit 4 have since been boarded up.

Sarnia police said Friday they didn’t have an update on the investigation

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@ObserverTerry

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