Police arrest fourth person in connection with beating death

Print

E-mail

Text

Toronto Police have arrested a fourth person in connection with a recent murder near the port lands.

On Wednesday, police apprehended Brian James Smith, 36 of Toronto. He has been charged with first-degree murder in the beating death of 42-year-old Andre Pelliccione of Toronto.

Michelle Stirling, 24, Richard Alex Sheridan, 46, and Jennifer Dunsford, 30, all of Toronto, have also been charged with first-degree murder relating to the grisly homicide.

A first-degree murder warrant is still out for 28-year-old Chad Noureddine.

Pelliccione's battered and decomposing remains were discovered Aug. 27 in a paper recycling bin near the city's port lands after police received a tip from one of the accused's lawyers that there was a bloody crime scene near Lake Shore Boulevard East and Cherry Street.

The victim was known to police for his role in the armed robbery of an armoured Loomis vehicle on Aug. 31, 1995.

The heist, which took place outside a Bank of Nova Scotia near Albion Road and Hwy. 27 in Etobicoke, netted $3.1 million and a quantity of diamonds. Pelliccione had donned a police uniform, shaved his head, dyed his beard and hijacked the driver of the armoured vehicle at gunpoint.

He reportedly received $125,000 for his efforts in the robbery, one of the city's largest.

A series of mistakes led police to arrest and charge four of the main masterminds behind the crime, including Pelliccione, who served a lengthy prison term for his role in the robbery.

In 2006, he was released from the Keele Centre, a halfway house in the city's Junction area, and would go on to lead an unstable life of drugs and drifting.

At this time, there is still no clear motive for Pelliccione's murder, the city's 45th of the year.

Anyone with information should call 416-808-7400 or contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at www.222tips.com or 416-222-TIPS (8477).