Kingston police have charged two men in connection with the murder of Robert Earl LeClair last November.
David Slade MacDonald, 25, and 27-year-old Luke Brown Thrasher have been charged with first-degree murder. LeClair’s beaten and stabbed body was found in his one-bedroom apartment on Dec 1 about two weeks after he was last seen. Some feel LeClair was murdered because he was gay, but police are treating the case as a robbery gone bad and have no indication it was a hate crime.
Both Thrasher and MacDonald appeared in court and have been remanded in custody
It’s believed that co-workers at a restaurant LeClair worked at for over two years were the last to see him alive. He failed to show up for his next shift.
The arrests come after a four and a half-month investigation into the murder. Authorities are revealing little information about the case but do say that at least one of the accused knew the murder victim.
Detective Sgt Helene Corcoran would not reveal the exact cause of death but would only say death was a combination of blunt force trauma and injuries sustained from stab wounds.
Police believe they may also have found the knife used in the murder. The knife, along with other physical evidence gathered from the crime scene, has been sent to Toronto for forensic testing.
At one point in the investigation police were looking at the possibility that there might be a connection between LeClair’s death and the murder of Chris Raynsford of Ottawa.
Raynsford’s body was found in his apartment on Dec 4. His death was similar in nature to LeClair’s, but police ruled out a connection early in their investigation.
Sebastian Roy, 24, was arrested in Quebec City in early January in connection with Raynsford’s murder. He faces first-degree murder charges and remains in custody awaiting a preliminary hearing.
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