A 69-year-old Banff man charged with the second-degree murder of a bookkeeper in Ontario in 1976 was in court in Wednesday (May 11) seeking to be released from an Ontario detention centre on bail.
In 2014, Jan Goro was committed to stand trial for the second-degree murder of Donald Ross McAvella, who was a 54-year-old bookkeeper from Burlington, Ont., at the time of his death.
Goro’s trial in Ontario was expected to wrap up late last week; however, Detective Constable Craig Smith of the homicide unit of Halton Regional Police Services, said a crucial witness in the prosecution’s case had a heart attack and the trial was adjourned.
“Because of the adjournment, Mr. Goro has decided to apply for bail,” he said, noting there is no date set yet for the trial to continue.
The outcome of yesterday’s bail hearing was not known at the time the Outlook went to press.
Goro worked as a janitor for the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies for about 18 years before his arrest in April 23, 2013. Little is known about the senior, but he lived alone in an apartment owned by the museum. The body of McAvella was discovered in his Burlington apartment on April 26, 1976. He died as a result of multiple stab wounds.
Numerous police interviews were undertaken, and physical evidence was collected, including a knife, but the case remained cold for 37 years.
Police say information obtained during the course of the investigation revealed that at approximately 2:30 a.m. on April 25, 1976, an argument took place between two people at McAvella’’s apartment.
At about 5 a.m., police say, screams were overheard coming from McAvella’s residence, and a male suspect was observed leaving the apartment.
Investigators believe the male was picked up by taxi and driven to the area of Queen and Main Street in Hamilton.
At the time of Goro’s arrest in Banff, local residents were shocked. He was often seen shoveling snow in winter outside the Whyte Museum and tending to the grounds during summer.
He typically worked the late night shift in janitorial and landscaping services, and would come to work in the afternoon.
Goro has been at the Maplehurst Detention Centre.
