More Details Released In Markham Double Murder
Posted February 13, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
More details are emerging about the murders of two women in a Markham home.
The second victim has been identified as 34-year-old Paula Menendez, the estranged wife of Rick Ralph, a Toronto sportscaster for The Fan 590.
Julie Crocker, the other murder victim, worked as a sales executive with CHFI radio. She’d reportedly been dating Ralph recently.
Autopsy resuls released Tuesday revealed that Crocker, 33, died from a stab wound to the neck while Menendez was strangled.
Both bodies were found in Crocker’s Larkin Ave. home Monday morning. It appears they were killed as Crocker’s two daughters, aged three and four, slept.
Friends and co-workers of Menendez were shocked to hear of her murder.
“This shouldn’t have happened to her,” said close friend Barb Griffin.
“This had nothing to do with her. I don’t know why she was even here. She lives in Etobicoke.”
“She was a physiotherapist and doing very well and a solid member of the community and the most trustworthy person you’d ever meet,” adds another startled acquaintance.
It’s unclear why Menendez was at the home of her estranged husband’s girlfriend, and police are looking at all possible angles.
“There is a possibility that she was kidnapped or abducted,” said Insp. Bill Faulkner.
“There could have been a struggle. There could have been someone calling for help.”
According to reports, Crocker was going through a separation from the man now accused of killing both women, 35-year-old Christopher Little.
Little was arrested late Monday and York Police have since charged him with two counts of first-degree murder. It’s believed he made the original 911 call to police at about 3:30am Monday.
He made a court brief appearance on Tuesday.
The family of the accused is said to be shocked by the arrest – the couple had been married, many believed happily, for eight or nine years.
“I don’t wish this on anyone,” said Little’s cousin Darren Little in an interview. “This was the biggest shock I’ve ever felt in my life. No one expects a TV show to unfold in front of them.”
He said he was “mourning in more than one way” over the news and said he hoped more information would come out about the case.
“All of us are dumbfounded,” he said. “We’re hoping there’s a loose end that hasn’t been shown yet.”
On her blog, morning show host Erin Davis wrote of Julie Crocker, “ We mourn the loss of a sunny, smart and really terrific young woman. Julie’s loss has left a huge emptiness in the halls, a hole so immense that we’re only just today starting to realize its depth.”
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