3 charged with 1st-degree murder in Bowmanville killings of pregnant woman, husband
Posted March 7, 2024 8:09 pm.
Last Updated March 8, 2024 6:43 pm.
Three people have been charged with first-degree murder in connection with a double homicide in Bowmanville over a year ago that left a pregnant woman and her husband dead.
Durham Regional Police Service investigators provided an update on the killings on Friday morning and said they are still looking for additional suspects connected to the murders.
“We are here today to announce that the homicide unit has arrested three parties for the murders of Aram Kamel and Rafad Alzubaidy,” said Det. Sgt. Brad Corner during the update.
Officers responded to a home on Crombie Street shortly after 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, after receiving a call to check on the well-being of the occupants. When police arrived, they found two people dead with “obvious signs of trauma.”
The victims were shot several times at close range about an hour before police were called to the home, according to investigators.
The couple was identified as 28-year-old Kamel and his wife, 26-year-old Alzubaidy. Alzubaidy was six-months pregnant at the time.
Kamel owned a jewelry store in Toronto and had a workshop at his Bowmanville residence, where the couple had been living for approximately two years.
![Rafad Alzubaidy and Aram Kamel were found murdered in their home in Bowmanville, Ont., on Feb. 4, 2023](https://toronto.citynews.ca/wp-content/blogs.dir/sites/10/2024/03/08/murdervictims-bowmanville-march8-1024x576.jpg)
In Friday’s update, police said they believe the murders were targeted and not a robbery. Investigators have also ruled out that some of Kamel’s legal trouble at the time had any connection to the killing.
“As this is an ongoing case, we are unfortunately not in any position to discuss any potential evidence or theories related to the murder investigation,” Corner said.
Illia Ayo, 22, Abinasir Aden, 22, and Emmanuel Ezbon, 21 – all of Toronto – have been arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
Police say they are still looking for more suspects.
“We are continuing to investigate other people who may also be criminally responsible for these murders,” says Corner.
![](https://toronto.citynews.ca/wp-content/blogs.dir/sites/10/2024/03/07/bownmanvillesuspcts-1024x576.jpg)
Just weeks before the double homicide in Bowmanville, Ayo was previously the subject of a Canada-wide warrant for the homicide of 24-year-old Alexander Mills-Smith of Toronto.
Ayo was charged in connection with shootings in Brampton, North York, and Vaughan. In those incidents, three were injured and one was killed.
Meanwhile, Aden was also charged with accessory after the fact in the same Vaughan shooting Ayo was accused of carrying out.
Authorities declined to confirm whether these men were already in jail or elsewhere when they were arrested for the double homicide, only saying there were no charges of breaching bail conditions.