A Toronto man is dead and police are seeking two suspects after a bloody attack at the victim’s apartment near Yonge and St Clair Ave on the evening of Jul 14.
Police say they were called to a second-floor apartment at 40 Delisle Ave at 10:42 pm where they found 64-year-old Ross Magill suffering from obvious stab wounds.
Magill was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police say there were no signs of forced entry into the apartment leading them to believe that the victim may have known his attackers and opened the door to them.
Police say another man was in another room of the apartment when the attack occurred, that he didn’t witness the attack directly but says he saw two men fleeing the scene.
Police say they believe Magill was targeted.
A story about Magill’s murder appeared in the Globe and Mail on Jul 16 under the sensational headlines “Slain interior designer had been in ‘downward spiral,’ Toronto man had become addicted to sex, drugs and alcohol.” The lead on the story is “The demise of Ross Magill began some three years ago.”
“I’ve been out since 1962 and anything about a gay murder [the mainstream media] plays up, they always have,” says Pearse Murray who knew Magill for decades. “I thought everything would be a little better now. He might have made some bad choices but the fact is that’s what he chose to do.”
The Globe story also alleged that Magill was HIV positive.
“That shouldn’t be brought up,” says Murray. “It’s got nothing to do with anyone being murdered at all.”
“That wasn’t necessary unless it related completely to the crime itself, if someone killed him because they found out he was HIV positive,” says Don Love, who lives with his partner a few floors up from where Magill was killed. “You don’t get medical histories on straights when they die tragically.
“He was pleasant and smiled and all of that,” says Love, who says he didn’t know Magill very well. “What the Globe and Mail said about the drugs and alcohol, I never noticed anything like that. He always seemed alert. He always seemed to come in and out with young men, from the boy-next-door type to the rather sleazy street kids. He doesn’t deserve it at all but people do get it. You read about it once or twice a year. I feel sorry for the guy.”
“Ross was one of the most generous people that you’d ever want to know,” says Murray. “He would always have people over for dinner and he valued friendships. He was a great cook and a good conversationalist. He was an extremely talented interior decorator.
“He was frustrated with a lot of things,” Murray continues. “He was hoping that love would come along and that it would solve everything for him. I guess he was looking for love in all the wrong places but who knows. I guess we’re all looking for different things. He was a good person and I don’t think any of the stories captured the real Ross. Like the rest of us, there is good in everyone.
“Nobody is asking to get murdered no matter who they are or what they are in whatever part of the world,” says Murrary. “Can you imagine yourself standing there and somebody is sticking a knife into you repeatedly and what’s going through your mind?”
Magill’s next of kin are scheduled to arrive in Toronto on Jul 16 to begin funeral arrangements.
Police are asking anyone with information about Magill’s murder to contact Crime Stoppers at 416-222-8477.
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