Vigil held for volunteer caretaker killed outside mosque
Posted September 19, 2020 9:31 am.
Last Updated September 20, 2020 12:01 am.
A vigil was held Saturday afternoon for a volunteer caretaker who was fatally stabbed in the neck outside a mosque last weekend.
The funeral for 58-year-old Mohamed-Aslim Zafis took place earlier this week.
Yesterday, police announced they’d arrested a suspect in his death.
Guilherme “William” Von Neutegem, 34, of Toronto has been charged with first-degree murder.
The International Muslim Organization thanked police for their work on the case and said they ask that the possibility of a hate crime be explored.
“The IMO will be calling on the Toronto Police Service to investigate the murder as a potentially hate-motivated homicide,” the organization said in a statement Friday.
Police had previously indicated that Zafis’ death may be linked to another homicide after Rampreet “Peter” Singh, a homeless man who lived under a bridge several kilometres away, was stabbed to death five days earlier. However, homicide detectives said there is no update on that case at this time.
Mohamed-Aslim Zafis, 58, was outside a mosque in Rexdale controlling entry to the building when he was stabbed on Sept. 12, 2020.
