London man charged with second-degree murder, community groups meet to discuss the case

The man accused of killing a woman in the home they owned together in London, Ont., will be back in court on Wednesday, a day after community agencies with expertise in intimate-partner violence meet to discuss the case. 

Court documents, including the name of the female victim and the 52-year-old accused, are subject to a publication ban to protect the identity of others involved. The woman's family had not yet decided if it wanted her name released, London police said Monday.

Neighbours tell CBC News there were children living at the home.

The woman who was killed and the man charged bought the house on Billybrook Crescent together 13 years ago, documents obtained by CBC News show. The home is located on a quiet street in the city's north-east end.

If this incident is an killing involving a husband and wife, it must be called out as a femicide, said Jennifer Dunn, the head of the London Abused Women's Centre. 

"The definition of femicide is when a woman is killed by a man for no other reason than the fact that she's a woman. A relationship, such as husband and wife, for example, is that type of situation, and should not be diminished," Dunn said. 

London police investigators said they were sent to the Billybrook Crescent home Friday at 6:20 p.m after receiving a 9-1-1 call. When officers arrived they found the woman dead, a spokesperson said. 

Several neighbours on the street said they knew the victim as a gardener, but beyond that had little contact with the residents. Marilyn Evans, who lives on the crescent, said she walked by the house with her dog often and had never seen any signs of trouble. 

"It's just shocking. On Friday night, I was just sick," Evans said. "You always feel like you should have done something. Even though I don't really know this woman, I wonder if I should have seen something."

Late last year, a CBC investigation found more than one in three people accused of intimate-partner homicide demonstrated at least one warning sign prior to the killing.

The finding was one of dozens from a sweeping analysis of domestic homicide cases across Canada between January 2015 and June 2020. 

More than three-quarters of victims were women. Most of the accused, 78 per cent, were men.

Community agencies with expertise in domestic violence are planning to meet Tuesday to discuss this case and its impact on London, Dunn said. It is important for people in abusive relationships to know that help is available, she added.

"If one woman is reading about this and sees that there are organizations in our community that can support her, then that is so important. It could make a difference in a woman's life," Dunn said.