Arrest made in 25-year-old Toronto homicide case

A 61-year-old man has been arrested in connection to a fatal stabbing of a Toronto gas station attendant 25 years ago.

Surinder Singh Parmar, 38, was fatally stabbed inside a washroom on the property of the Penny Gas Bar on Danforth Road near Eglinton Avenue at around 1 a.m. on November 19, 1990. Sgt. Stacy Gallant said Tuesday. “His wife and children had to travel to Canada for the funeral”.

Shortly after Parmar was found dead in November 1990, police released this image of the knife they say was used in the killing. Gallant could not provide more information as the case is before the courts. That suspect was then arrested at his west-end home on Monday morning. Richards, who was 36 at the time of the stabbing, has been charged with first-degree murder. While he was known to police, he had never been investigated for murder.

“He was surprised to see us there, from homicide”.

“They expressed their gratitude”, said Gallant.

“The motive for the murder appeared to be robbery”, Toronto Police Det.

Parmar had come to Canada from India five months before he was killed, Gallant said.

The investigation into Parmar’s death is part of Project Never Give Up.

Police said they review historic crimes on an ongoing basis with the help of new forensic technology and all efforts are made to reexamine unsolved cases.

That’s what happened in Parmar’s case, but, detectives warn, not every case has evidence that can be re-examined.

Staff Insp. Greg McLane said that in other cases, “samples may be degraded thorugh the passage of time, or the collection method [used at the time] was not appropriate”.

“Certain investigative steps were taken on evidence collected during the initial investigation”, said Gallant.