ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — As Royal Newfoundland Constabulary forensic investigators snapped photos on the steps of a Craigmillar Avenue home in St. John's Friday morning, some area residents expressed fear their tree-lined downtown west end neighbourhood is becoming unrecognizable.
“Scary. It’s a source of worry,” one woman said. Twice now in the past year, we’ve woken up to cop cars blocking the road, and (in) one of those cases, a man was killed on the street. There are kids living here. (Police) say there have been no arrests. What are we going to wake up to next?”
The RNC issued a media statement around 12:30 p.m. Friday, saying they are investigating a weapons offence on Craigmillar Avenue following reports of shots fired at a residence shortly before 6 a.m. The statement didn’t mention the address: 40 Craigmillar; the same house that’s the subject of an ongoing homicide investigation.
Early in the morning of July 5, 2020, RNC officers responded to a report of shots fired in the same neighbourhood and arrived to find the body of 47-year-old Jamie Cody in the street outside 40 Craigmillar. His red Jeep Cherokee, the driver’s side door open, was nearby.
At that time, police secured the perimeter of the scene and determine no one was inside the home. A search of the residence resulted in the seizure of items that include DNA swabs, bullet casings, a CCTV system and multiple mobile phones, and a handgun was located on an adjacent property.
The RNC has not yet made any arrests in connection with the homicide, but has said investigators believe Cody knew his killer. Suspects have been identified, they said last July, while precautionary measures have been put in place to ensure the public was not at risk.
But on Friday morning, forensics officers were back on the scene to investigate the most recent gunshots, closing a portion of the street to traffic and taking photos on the front steps. By lunchtime, members of the Rovers Search and Rescue team were on hand to help.
Sources told The Telegram a vehicle had driven slowly down the snowy street between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. and multiple gunshots were fired at No. 40 before the vehicle drove away. It’s believed no one was in the home at the time.
According to court documents filed in October when the RNC went to court for an extension on the 30-day seizure limit for the items found in the residence, the homeowner is 43-year-old Kurt Churchill, believed to be currently outside the province. Police have not publicly named Churchill or anyone else as a murder suspect, but the RCMP has identified him as the focus of a money-laundering and proceeds-of-crime investigation based on other items located in his house during the murder investigation.
The Mounties also went to Provincial Court last fall to ask permission to hold onto items seized from Churchill’s home, some of them by RNC officers and turned over to the RCMP’s Federal Serious and Organized Crime Unit, some of them subsequently seized by members of that unit themselves. A long and detailed list provided to the court noted more than $434,000 in cash, a money counter, a vacuum sealer and sealable storage bags, financial documents from various banks, tax documents, receipts, four mobile phones, a computer and 2.1 grams of cocaine.
Churchill, who has no criminal record, was found guilty in September of threatening a police officer during an incident in downtown St. John’s in 2019 when he was detained for public intoxication. He was given a conditional discharge and ordered to submit a DNA sample to a national police database — an order that was stayed 10 days later when his lawyer successfully argued to have it halted pending his appeal of the threats verdict. The Crown has since appealed the stay.
Churchill had been arrested in 2014 and charged in connection with a police investigation into cocaine trafficking in the St. John’s area, but the charges were later dismissed after his lawyer argued unreasonable trial delays.
RNC Const. James Cadigan told The Telegram early Friday afternoon police expect to be working on Craigmillar Avenue for some time, processing the scene of the early-morning gunshots. Like the one that led to Cody’s death, investigators don’t believe this crime was a random one and are asking neighbours, taxi drivers and anyone else who might have CCTV or dash camera footage from the Craigmillar Avenue area or other information that might help them – even the smallest detail and even if it wasn’t captured at the time of the incident — to let them know by calling 729-8000 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
Cadigan had no update to provide on the investigation into Cody’s death but said police are continuing to monitor public safety concerns and are maintaining the precautionary measures they had already implemented. He urged neighbours with concerns to get in touch with police.
“We’d ask them to come forward with their concerns to open a line of discussion with us," he said. "These conversations can be valuable and can help us determine how to best serve the public.”
