Residents shocked that nearby building site of murder scene

Residents of an Oliver Road apartment building said they were shocked to learn what had transpired in their quiet building Monday night.

Thunder Bay Police Service officers charged 63-year-old John Robertson with second-degree murder in connection to the death of his wife Elaine Audrey Robertson, 61, on Monday. Robertson surrendered to police at the Balmoral Street police station just before 11 p.m. The couple lived at the Suncrest apartments on Oliver Road where police found the body of the deceased.

Robertson made his first court appearance at the Thunder Bay Ontario Court of Justice via video Tuesday morning and is expected to appear again on Wednesday.

Residents said they couldn’t believe what had happened.

William Mandryk has lived in the building for 10 years with his wife and seldom sees anything out of the ordinary. He said the apartment building is a nice place to live. It’s quiet and most of the tenants are seniors he added.

"I was surprised to see the police cars this morning," Mandryk said. "This is weird."
Rob Shaw moved into the apartment five years ago. He said he heard the news about the murder on the radio in the morning. He described the couple as nice, with the husband always looking out for his wife.

"They seemed nice," Shaw said. "I was surprised as hell."

Judy Belrose moved into the apartment about a year-and-a-half ago. She said she liked it because it was quiet and well run.

Belrose said she went out to get a few groceries and didn’t know what had happened until she was informed by local media.

"I was very surprised," Belrose said upon hearing the news. "I’m shocked. It’s such a quiet building. I would have never have suspected something like this. This is just beyond words."

Police spokesman Chris Adams said he didn’t know how long police would remain at the apartment complex because officers still needed to question residents if they saw or heard anything. He couldn’t comment on Robertson’s demeanour or what he had told police when he arrived at the station since it was part of the investigation.

"There’s still a post mortem, which still needs to be conduct and results of those findings may or may not be made public," Adams said.

"There’s no history, at least for police, of any domestic issues leading up to this. Having said that it is a very tragic event and I’m pretty sure you can appreciate what this has done to the family."

A post mortem examination is still pending. Robertson is being held in custody.