OPP investigate homicide at Perth, Ont., campground
CBC News | Posted: August 7, 2016 6:33 PM | Last Updated: August 9, 2016
Witness heard woman screaming, pleading for help before police showed up
Ontario Provincial Police have confirmed they're investigating a homicide at a campground in Perth, Ont., southwest of Ottawa.
Officers were called to the Last Duel Campground on Craig Street just after 4 a.m. on Sunday, said OPP Const. Dave Bird.
Investigators initially deemed the death of a 45-year-old man suspicious but later confirmed it was a homicide.
The victim has been identified as James Laverdure of Lanark County, Ont.
An autopsy was performed Monday.
'I heard voices, shouting'
Luc Beaudry was asleep at the campground when he was awoken by shouts and commotion.
"I heard voices, shouting, and eventually woke up and realized it wasn't a dream. And as I did, it sounded [like] there was some urgency, some kerfuffle going on," Beaudry told CBC News.
Beaudry said he heard a woman screaming and pleading for help. A few minutes later he saw three OPP vehicles arrive at the campground, followed shortly afterwards by an ambulance.
"At that point, I still had no clue what was going on, whether any violence had happened. It was only the next morning that I realized that, yeah, there was a death," Beaudry said.
No risk to public, says mayor
Perth Mayor John Fenik wrote in an emailed statement that the public doesn't need to worry.
"The OPP have the required resources on site and I want to reassure the citizens of Perth there is no public safety risk in relation to this investigation," Fenik wrote.
Perth is 85 kilometres southwest of Ottawa, and the Last Duel Campground is owned and operated by the town.
This weekend's homicide is the first in more than a decade in the town of about 6,000, said Bird, who served on Perth's police force before it disbanded in 2013.
Anyone with information is asked to call Det.-Const. Tom Kohls at the Lanark County OPP detachment using the OPP toll-free number: 1-888-310-1122.