Suspect charged with first-degree murder after 4 found dead in Markham home

A 23-year-old Markham man is facing four counts of first-degree murder after three woman and one man were found dead at a home in Markham on Sunday night.

York regional police won’t provide the relationship among the suspect and deceased, but a source confirmed to CityNews the women found in the home were the suspect’s mother, sister and grandmother while the man was his father.

Police won’t say where the suspect, Menhaz Zaman, lived, but he is from Markham.

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Police said they were called to a house on Castlemore Avenue, just east of Mingay Avenue at around 3 p.m. for a report that multiple people had been hurt. Nobody else was in the home and police won’t say where the emergency call came from.

When officers arrived at the home, police said they “made contact” with a man and he was taken into custody.

“A further search of the residence found four people, all of whom were deceased,” police said.

“Judging by the number of people who are out here right now, obviously residents are concerned for what took place here,” Const. Andy Pattenden told reporters and community members gathered behind the police tape.

“I want to reassure everybody that this is a safe community and that we’re doing everything we can so whoever is responsible for this incident is taken before our courts.”

Police said they expect to be at the home for at least the next few days and that the identification of the victims will take a while.

“This is quite a scene inside this residence,” Pattenden said without elaborating on what may have happened inside the home.

Pascoal D’Souza, who lives across the street and was among those watching officers walk in and out of the home on Sunday, said it was unsettling to see such a heavy police presence in his quiet neighbourhood, where he said the residents typically “keep to themselves.”

“It’s a shock, because you never think anything like this would happen near where you live,” he said.

A former tenant in the home where the victims were found remembers Menhaz.

“I was surprised about Menhaz. He was such a nice guy. He was such a sweetheart. He would help, he was very helpful to me for six years,” Amarra Riaz, who says she lived there for seven years, said.

Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report