Three dead, arrest made

Photo: CTV

A star minor hockey player and his mother were found dead in a home east of Toronto on Wednesday, hours before police arrested a man in connection with what they described as a double homicide.

However, Durham Region police said later that a 13-year-old girl who was also found in the home suffering critical injuries later died in hospital.

Const. George Tudos said a man was arrested in Oshawa, Ont., after officers found the bodies of the 39-year-old woman and her 15-year-old son in a home in nearby Ajax.

Police have not released any names, but said the 29-year-old suspect was believed to have been in a romantic relationship with the woman. Tudos said the man did not live in the home and was not the father of the two children.

Meanwhile, the president of a Toronto minor hockey organization identified the 15-year-old in the incident as Roy Pejcinovski, a star goalie with the major bantam Don Mills Flyers.

Peter MacInnis said Pejcinovski's death is a "tremendous loss" for the team, which is in the city finals to qualify to represent the Greater Toronto Area for the provincial championship.

"It's tough for the players on the team, the parents, the staff — he was a great kid," MacInnis said. "And his buddies on the team are 14 or 15, how do you deal with that?"

MacInnis said the teen was a top player, who had promising prospects in next year's Ontario Hockey League draft.

"He was an elite athlete, he was absolutely the team's No. 1 goalie and he has been for several years," he said, adding that grief counsellors were brought in at Wednesday night's practice to break the news to Pejcinovski's teammates.

Police said the suspect was arrested without incident and is expected make a court appearance Thursday morning, where he will likely be charged with three counts of second-degree murder.

Investigators said police were called to the Ajax home shortly before noon Wednesday after a woman stopped by to check on her friend.

They said a man answered the door, wouldn't let the woman in and then left the area in a vehicle that was later found abandoned.