The homicide squaddetective in charge of the investigation into the October 2006 disappearance of Harley Walker says she expects his body to be found after the winter.
Det Pauline Gray says the murder investigation is proceeding nonetheless: “For my purposes it doesn’t matter if a body is recovered.”
Walker, a 72-year-old CBC technician and longtime Cabbagetown resident, disappeared last October. Gray says forensic and circumstantial evidence to date suggest he is dead, the victim of a shakedown that went seriously awry.
“Given the amount of blood at his house and the dramatic change in the tempo of his life,” says Gray, “it is certain that Harley Walker met with foul play and is now probably deceased.”
Gray says Walker was a victim of a “straight predator” looking for elderly victims to extort in the on-line world of gay dating and chat services.
“He was killed for his money,” says Gray. “He had not been very careful on the Internet.”
Gray describes Walker, who she never met, as “a remarkably urbane and sophisticated Torontonian who had good taste in wine, food and art… and a remarkable number of friends…. He was an ideal urban dweller who helped people — a true gentleman.”
Police suspect Walker’s body will turn up in a rural area north of Lindsay and have searched extensively in the Coboconk area.
David Kenton Reid, a married 46-year-old investment banker, was arrested by the OPP on Oct 28, 2006, in a cottage near Meaford in Grey County. Reid remains in prison charged with first degree murder and awaiting a preliminary hearing. A trial date has not yet been set.
There are unconfirmed reports that Walker’s bank accounts had been cleaned out and that Walker’s body had allegedly been transferred to the Coboconk area by a rented vehicle. Police will not confirm these allegations.
Gray says there has been tremendous cooperation and information coming from Walker’s friends, both gay and straight.
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