Niagara This Week
In a rare step, Toronto Police began exhuming the body of a 15-year-old boy Tuesday morning in connection to the “suitcase murder” of his older sister.
The coroner’s office and investigators from homicide squad’s cold case unit were at Beechwood Cemetery in Vaughan, where a backhoe pushed past newly fallen snow to break ground just after 10 a.m. and reveal the casket of Dwayne Biddersingh.
Biddersingh’s fall from the 22nd floor balcony of his family’s Parkdale apartment was deemed a suicide in 1992.
But after his 17-year-old sister Melonie was found tortured, inside a burnt out suitcase two years later. The case remained cold for nearly 18 years, as it wasn’t until February of 2012 when the body was identified. The girl’s father and step-mother were arrested in Welland in March of that year.
Investigators now say they want to make sure they didn’t miss anything in her brother’s death.
Det.-Sgt. Steve Ryan, who heads the cold case unit, said there’s still no suspicion of foul play.
“We just want to be thorough,” he said. “It’s certainly rare.”
Det. Keith Bradshaw said he has never seen an exhumation in his 35 years with the service.
Melonie’s death was a mystery and became a more than a decade-old cold case until police received a tip in November 2011.
The teens’ father Everton Biddersingh and stepmother Elaine Biddersingh have been charged with first-degree murder.
Dwayne’s body is now set to undergo a new autopsy after it is transported to the morgue in Toronto.
A forensic pathologist and forensic anthropologist were on scene Tuesday.
One Comment on "Teen’s body exhumed as decades-old case reopened"
Thank God for the dedication of our police services as they work to serve and protect. But for this dedication far too many cases would end up on a cold case shelf forever. This child’s death should not be in vain and should it be found that these monsters killed yet another child, they should pay with the eternal loss of their freedom while they are alive. The best outcome should be their deportation back to their home land were justice would be swift. This couple lives their life in a club fed setting and they know it. Had they been deported they would surely see what justice is all about. Great work and kudos to the Police on a job well done. To the tipster…. God Bless You. There is a special place in heaven for people like you. May these two precious children rest in peace. Your story and memory will live on and help others like yourself who can not speak for themselves.