BARRIE, ONT.—Police have uncovered at
least 50 improvised explosive devices and possible booby traps at a
home investigators have been scouring for days that belongs to suspects
in an old murder case.
Residents of the usually tranquil neighbourhood are in shock.
“It’s never going to be normal here
again,” said one resident who, like most around the house at 30
Virgilwood Cres., did not want to have her name published for fear of
retaliation. “You’re not going to want to walk on that side of the road
again.”
The quiet, tree-lined street was
ribboned with police tape on Sunday and police cruisers blocked access
to the area around the house where investigators have uncovered homemade bombs, chemicals, possible booby traps and a backyard bunker.
“It just goes to show you don’t know your neighbours,” said another resident. “You really don’t know.”
Last Thursday, about 60 residents from surrounding homes were evacuated after investigators found the first explosives.
The search — and the discoveries that
have left neighbours reeling — began Thursday after police arrested two
men who live at the house on Virgilwood. The two now face charges in
connection with a homicide case dating back to 1978.
Initially, police said residents
would likely return home Saturday. But as the investigation drags on, it
will be at least Wednesday before anyone can go home, Const. Angela
Butler of Barrie Police Service said.
“The total of what we’re doing seems
to heighten every day,” Butler said. “As officers go through the home,
they’re finding more and more improvised explosives.”
On Sunday, the RCMP sent electrical
specialists to the scene to help Barrie police and OPP officers figure
out the purpose of wires found “everywhere” that may be booby traps,
said Butler adding, “It’s not a simple task.”
Investigators, she said, have found
chemicals that are “extremely unstable and dangerous,” used for making
explosives, some of which appear to have been there for 20 years or
more.
Police expect to lay a number of charges in connection with the explosives found at the house.
On Sunday, neighbours milled around
watching as police officers continued to remove items from the home,
including several large blue tanks.
Some explosives were taken to the
City of Barrie’s operations centre, where they were detonated on Sunday,
while others have been exploded at the property, sending booms
throughout the neighbourhood.
Police “said it was going to sound
like shotgun blasts,” an area resident said. “But they sound like
shotgun blasts in your ear.”
John Picken, who lives nearby, said
he’d never noticed anything strange about the house where members of the
bomb squad are now combing the property.
“This is totally off the wall for
this neighbourhood. It’s a total shock,” Picken said. “It could have
been my kid that tossed a ball over the fence.”
Late Sunday afternoon, police were
escorting residents to their houses to gather personal items. Residents
who have been evacuated are staying with friends, at hotels or in
accommodations arranged by the Red Cross.
Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman said the
city is working with police to assist the investigation and take care of
those who have been forced from their homes.
“We want to make sure the evacuated
folks get what they need,” said Lehman, who visited the scene Sunday
afternoon. “We certainly recognize this is very inconvenient for
people.”
Police have charged Donald Feldhoff,
54, in connection with the 1978 murder of Michael Traynor. According to
newspapers at the time, Traynor’s death was described as a “gangland
slaying.”
Charged with being an accessory after the fact is Feldhoff’s 75-year-old father, William Feldhoff.
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