Niagara body identified

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Police treating woman's death as a homicide
By Sun Media

The body found on a rural road in Vineland early Sunday morning belonged to a 29-year-old St. Catharines woman living a "high-risk lifestyle," police said Monday.

After an autopsy conducted Monday, police are now treating Stephine Isabelle Beck's death as a homicide.

Detectives are now looking into the history of the victim — who was known to police — including those with whom she may have had recent contact.

Beck's body was discovered just after 6:30 a.m. Sunday morning at the side of the road on Seventh Ave. — not too far from where Nadine Gurczenski was found in a ditch along Victoria Ave. on May 8, 1999.

The 26-year-old exotic dancer from Toronto was last seen two days earlier at a strip club in Mississauga and was the second of the five sex workers found in the area.

Michael Durant, of Niagara Falls, has already been charged in the death of two of the five women. He was arrested in January 2006 and charged with the murder of Cassey Joyce Cichocki, 22, an exotic dancer and prostitute.

Durant was then charged in June with first-degree murder in the death of 28-year-old prostitute Diane Christina Dimitri.

A task force has been set up to investigate the sex worker killings led by Niagara Regional Police and aided by officers with the Ontario Provincial Police, as well as Hamilton and Halton Regional Police.

The Project Advocate task force is looking at the most recent slaying.

 

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Arrest made in Vineland, Ont. murder case

Niagara police have arrested and charged a man in the slaying of a woman found near a road in the community of Vineland, Ont.
Stephine Isabelle Beck, 29, of St. Catharines was discovered by a passerby early Sunday morning. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

By Monday evening, investigators had identified a suspect and made an arrest at his St. Paul Street West home in St. Catharines.

But the investigation is not over. Niagara police officers are still conducting interviews and collecting evidence, according to Niagara Regional Police Service spokesperson Sal Basilone.

"We have seized a vehicle believed to belong to the accused and the residence of the accused, we've cordoned that off (while) awaiting authorizations to go in and conduct searches," Basilone told CTV.ca on Tuesday.

Police were able to make an arrest due to information "that came forward," Basilone added.

"What happens here, and in many other police services, we front-load with significant resources in terms of personnel and otherwise on a homicide investigation ... and in this matter it yielded a result for us."

Detectives are trying to learn more about Beck's history. Police say the victim was known to them, and investigators are appealing to anyone who may have had recent contact with her to come forward.

Police added Tuesday that Beck lived a "high-risk lifestyle," saying she was involved in "street level prostitution and drug use."

An autopsy was conducted in Hamilton but the cause of death has not been released.

At this time, police are not linking Beck's death to an on-going investigation involving the murders of several women from the Niagara Region.

"This investigation remains independent from the work that is being done in Niagara Falls as it relates to that special investigation," Basilone said.

"We do have some investigators from that special investigations team working as part of this investigation and ultimately our Major Crimes Unit will be in a position to shift their focus immediately should there be similarities that arise or commonalities that cause them to believe those matters are linked."

William Ryczak, 55, is facing a charge of first-degree murder. He made an appearance in court Tuesday morning.

Investigators ask anyone with information about this incident to call Niagara police at (905) 688-4111 ext. 4200 or Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 222-TIPS (8477).