Sarnia man charged with first-degree murder

A Sarnia man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a man whose body was found in a south-end apartment Wednesday.

Article content

Sarnia police found the body of Christopher Michael Bond, 66, of Sarnia, after officers kicked in the door of Unit 4 of 219 Queen St., a second-level apartment near Devine Street, Wednesday morning. Initially treated as a suspicious death, police confirmed Thursday it was a homicide.

Article content

A suspect was arrested Friday.

Adam Bishop, 40, of Sarnia, is charged with murder and committing an indignity to a dead body. He appeared, handcuffed and wearing an orange jumpsuit, in a Sarnia court about 3 pm Friday. His lawyer waived his arraignment and the case was adjourned until Tuesday.

Multiple neighbors said Bishop lived in Unit 4. A Facebook profile for a person named Adam Bishop, a Sarnia resident born in 1983, includes a photo taken from what appears to be the front entrance of the unit. “The Bishops,” is written on the mailbox.

Article content

The neighbors also said a man jumped out of the back of Unit 4 through a window and fled as officers kicked in the front door around 9:20 am Wednesday. Video surveillance captured by neighbor Brianna Bentley and viewed by The Observer shows a person running over a fence and two police officers chasing after them.

“From what we saw, the abandoned house that’s on Christina (Street), he went through the back door,” said neighbor Rebeccah Beatty, who also had a copy of the video.

Beatty also said she saw Bishop outside the apartment about 7 am Wednesday.

Another neighbor, Patti Hewlett, said there’s usually a lot of foot traffic in and out of Unit 4.

“More traffic than a Tim Hortons drive thru,” she said. “All these weirdos coming and going. Lets one guy stay one night, the next night he’s kicking him out and throwing (stuff) all over the lawn. It’s crazy.”

Article content

Staff from Smith Funeral Home in Sarnia could be seen taking a body out of the unit late Wednesday afternoon with the help of Sarnia police and firefighters. Small clusters of neighbors came out of their homes and watched as the body was loaded into a black vehicle.

Detectives have combed the south-end neighborhood for clues since the discovery and asked nearby residents for any video surveillance they have. A Sarnia police command center vehicle, often used for serious investigations, has been parked there since Wednesday afternoon.

The window of the front door to Unit 4 was boarded up as police probed the building, but neighbors said it was like that before officers arrived Wednesday.

Multiple neighbors said drug use has been rampant in the area in recent years.

Article content

“I kind of figured this was going to happen sooner or later,” said Hewlett, who’s lived in the area for about six years. “Just getting out of control over there.”

“Homelessness is one thing, but the drug issue is so bad over here,” Beatty added. “It’s bad.”

This is the first Sarnia-Lambton homicide investigation since 2022, but the period from March 2020 to October 2022 was one of the region’s deadliest in recent memory.

Bishop also faces unrelated outstanding charges of assault and uttering a threat from earlier this year, records show.

None of the charges have been tested in court.

[email protected]

@ObserverTerry

OTHER SARNIA-LAMBTON HOMICIDE PROBES SINCE 2020

• Oct. 7, 2022: Christine Adamson, 47, found smothered in her Roger Street home. Husband Michael Adamson, 47, got seven years for manslaughter.
• May 13, 2022: Zachary Hartman, 27, of Exete, stabbed in Grand Bend. Michael Compton, 18, of Stratford, got eight years for manslaughter.
• April 14, 2022: Andrew Chute, 45, of Sarnia, shot near Petrolia. Sarnians Jason Nahmabin and James Armstrong, both 43, got four years in prison and house arrest as accessories.
• Dec. 28, 2021: Lance Richardson, 31, of Mississauga, and Jelani Byer-Coates, 18, of Ajax, found dead in Sarnia and rural Lambton County. Matthew Theriault, 42, of Sarnia, faces two counts of second-degree murder and indignity to a body.
• March 17, 2021: Oyebode Oyenuga, 25, of Windsor, found shot on Walpole Island. Eight suspects charged; some sentenced, some cleared, some still before courts.
• Jan. 26, 2021: Allen Schairer, 62, found dead in his Devine Street home. Sarnians Joshua Tomlinson, 35, and Noah Brown, 28, going to trial soon for second-degree murder, robbery.
• Jan. 23, 2021: Sue Lumsden, 66, found dead in her Essex Street home. Joshua Tomlinson, 35, faces trial this year for first-degree murder.
• Jan. 14, 2021: Natalie Bartlett, 39, shot in her Lee Court home. Fiancé Joseph DiCarlo, 45, got life in prison with speech possible after 15 years for second-degree murder.
• Jan. 9, 2021: Luis Hernández, 26, of Sarnia, stabbed in a Confederation Street townhouse complex. Timothy Noj, 32, of Sarnia, got a time-served sentence for manslaughter.
• Dec. 31, 2020: Cheryl VanHuizen, 51, found dead from neck compressions in her Corunna home. Common-law husband Shawn Trowbridge was acquitted by a jury of first-degree murder, but the Crown appealing and wants a new trial.
• Nov. 8, 2020: Jonathan Hawkence, 25, of Kettle and Stony Point, died on the First Nation. Resident Evan Wolfe, 26, charged with first-degree murder.
• Oct. 25, 2020: Nada Court, 69, dies in stairwell of her Colborne Road apartment. Holding Timothy Nahmabin, 42, is in the midst of second-degree murder trials and charter challenges.
• Aug. 30, 2020: Jim Wilson, 76, stabbed on College Avenue North. Jackson Henry, 21, of Sarnia, got three years for manslaughter.
• Aug. 21, 2020: Nathan Watson, 20, of Sarnia, charged with second-degree murder in infant son’s shaking death. Hey got six years for manslaughter.
• Aug. 2, 2020: David Oliver, 29, of Kettle and Stony Point, found dead on the First Nation. No arrests made. OPP offering $50,000 reward for tips.
• March 14, 2020: Sarah Thwaites, 29, of Sarnia, had her throat cut in Palmerston Street North home. Owen Clarke, 34, of London, got seven years for manslaughter.

Article content