Police review wealthy breeder's death
thunde...@webtv.net
http://archives.theglobeandmail.com/
Type in, Sikura, into the 7 day search engine.
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Under review: a millionaire horse breeder's mysterious death
STEVIE CAMERON
Saturday, June 30, 2001
To this day, neighbours remember everything that happened on Nov. 25,
1994, the night John Sikura died in his car.
They remember hearing the bang and whump of his new Cadillac Seville
bursting into flames at 10:16 p.m., they remember running to their
windows and seeing the fire, they remember calling 911, they remember
racing over to his house to see if they could help. They remember seeing
his German shepherd, Marco, through the windows of the house,
frantically trying to get outside. Some of them saw Sikura's body, lying
on its back, the head resting against the passenger door.
Seventeen investigators -- police officers, firefighters, federal
transportation officials, insurance adjusters, forensic engineers and
forensic scientists -- spent a year looking at the evidence and finally
concluded that Sikura, a controversial 60-year-old horse breeder from
Stouffville, Ont., died in an accidental car fire in front of his large
new country house.
He had driven home after an acrimonious dinner in a restaurant with his
wife, journalist Sharon Dunn, from whom he was separated, and he had had
a lot to drink. Although he had turned off the ignition, he had not been
able to get out of the car and there was some speculation later that he
had fallen asleep. The cause of death was inhalation of toxic fumes as
the car burned.
His family sued General Motors Corp. in the United States for
$136-million (U.S.) and in November, 1998, won an undisclosed
out-of-court settlement believed to be about $5-million although the car
manufacturer admitted no responsibility.
An old story. But there were many things about John Sikura's death that
bothered people. Sikura was, as they say, known to the police, and a
Transport Canada report notes that "there was some speculation that the
incident may have been the result of foul play based on the owner's
alleged lifestyle."
A self-made man who had emigrated from Czechoslovakia in 1950, he had
become successful in thoroughbred racing, owned a farm in Kentucky as
well as the big estate in Stouffville and had powerful friends.
But some of his business partners had been investigated for fraud, his
own company, Hill 'n' Dale Farms, had fallen deeply into debt, and a
year before his death the Ontario Jockey Club had turned down his offer
to buy the club for $70-million.
In March, 1993, Dunn called the police to say Sikura had choked and
kicked her when she entered their house with one of their two sons to
retrieve some clothes; the couple had recently separated after a stormy
nine-year marriage. In the lengthy handwritten statement she gave the
police, Dunn said her husband boasted that he was friendly with the York
Region police chief, Bryan Cousineau. (Dunn later dropped the complaint
when Sikura agreed to sign a peace bond.)
It was Sikura's alleged friendship with Cousineau that worried some of
the chief's officers. Cousineau, an experienced police officer with
nearly 30 years on the force, arrived at the scene of the fire shortly
after the police and firefighters, but within two days police announced
that there would be no criminal investigation into Sikura's death and
that it would be treated as an accident.
The decision was never reversed even when the formal accident reports
could not explain splashes of gasoline on Sikura's clothes, nor Sikura's
earlier concerns, expressed to his new girlfriend, that he believed
someone had tampered with his car.
Three years later, a York Region police officer gave a written statement
to investigators, saying his investigation into Dunn's complaint against
Sikura was interfered with.
Later, in February, 1998, Cousineau was forced out as police chief when
he pleaded guilty to five counts of breach of trust, including accepting
a payment of $125,000 in 1995 from Frank Stronach's auto-parts company,
Magna, whose headquarters are in York Region.
Many of Cousineau's officers were outraged that their corrupt chief was
given only a suspended sentence and 100 hours of community service.
But there is a new police chief in York Region, a new atmosphere and a
chance that the criminal investigation into Sikura's death that some
officers wanted may happen after all. Neighbours interviewed in the past
few months for the first time have given new information about the night
Sikura died.
Their statements say they heard the noise and saw a large, dark car
speed out of Sikura's driveway as the flames shot out of the Cadillac's
hood. The car pulled into their driveway, revealing two men, both
wearing sunglasses and business suits, who turned on the car's dome
light long enough to make a call on a cellphone. Then they drove away.
The neighbours called the police to tell them what they had seen, but no
one interviewed them until a few months ago.
York Region's new police chief, Robert Middaugh, has reviewed the Sikura
file and he, too, has questions.
A few days ago, he sent the file to Ontario's Chief Coroner, Dr. James
Young, who will review it to see if an inquest is warranted. "Yes, I did
receive the file," Young said. "And I am in the process of reading
through it. Then there will be discussions with the police."
The file has also gone to the Ontario Provincial Police for review to
see if the case should be reopened as a homicide investigation.
Sharon Dunn, now a vice-president of a Toronto condominium development
company and the companion of Ontario Premier Michael Harris, was stunned
at the news that the police might open an investigation into her late
husband's death.
"It's the first I've heard of it," she said. "It's a shock. All I can
say is that at the time I had no problem with the investigation that was
done."
But others did.
thunde...@webtv.net
breeder Sikura's death jumped off the page and got my attention like
smack in the face:
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Later, in February, 1998, Cousineau was forced out as police chief when
he pleaded guilty to five counts of breach of trust, including accepting
a payment of $125,000 in 1995 from Frank Stronach's auto-parts company,
Magna, whose headquarters are in York Region.
Many of Cousineau's officers were outraged that their corrupt chief was
given only a suspended sentence and 100 hours of community service.
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My comment:
So what we have here is an apparently corrupt police chief who handled
the original investigation into the Sikura death. He had been personal
friends with Sikura. One of Cousineau's investigators on the case
complained that there had been interference on the original
investigation
Troubling details such as leads not being investigated; neighbors allege
they witnessed two men in a car speeding away from the scene and the
deceased also had gasoline splashed on his clothing.
The story does not say what the $125,000 payment was for that the ex
chief received from Magna, the parent company of wealthy race track
owner, Frank Stronach, but it certainly adds intrigue to the mystery,
W Reed
Murder, what some people can do with a car.This sounds like an old episode
of "Nick Danger, Third Eye" from the old Firesign Theatre.But the salient
feature was the use of the word WHUMP.Very telling...
Anyone who understands basic Goomba culture or has studied mob violence in
even a cursory manner (Scorsesce, Cupola et al) will quickly realize the
etiology of the word "whump".I recollect from my association with Joey
Conaltro of the feared Conaltro family of suburban Detroit this was the
original code word for murder preceding "Whack" and just after "Hit" and
"Rub Out". Things turned problematic soon after it's first usage however
owing to the fact that it was too easily misunderstood as "Wop". Thus
instigating many fatal dialogs of the "Wha' you call me?" "I said
whump.""Huh you think I'm deaf.""No.Honest Whump, I said whump" "I heard
wha' you called me." variety.The Conaltro family was nearly decimated.
"Please do not misunderstand me too quickly" - Joey Conaltro
<thunde...@webtv.net> wrote
SidneyMan
Conaltro of the feared Conaltro family of suburban Detroit this was the
original code word for murder preceding "Whack" and just after "Hit" >>
Speaking of Detroit, I am, as a card-carrying Industry Ass-Kisser, most
interested in GM's cave-in $5-million settlement granted to the deceased's
family. I mean, a wealthy guy dies in a mysterious blaze that erupts under the
hood of his Seville. And how did this guy get wealthy? By manufacturing remote
control devices for automobiles. Honest. How much does GM pay its legal
researchers, anyway? That's clearly an after-market problem -- "tampering" with
a car, indeed. BTW, neighbors don't allege they saw "two men in a car speeding
away from the scene." They allege that two guys, assumedly professional hit
men, were wearing sunglasses in the middle of the night and, before leaving the
scene of the crime, stopped in a nearby driveway and turned on their dome light
so they could see to dial a phone. Ordering ahead at a restaurant, no doubt.
Grisly deaths among the rich and/or famous always make for great speculative
stories. One never knows where the story will go. I am surprised no one has yet
tied this one to the recently discussed car heard speeding away from the scene
of Chris Antley's murder. I am even more surprised no one has noted that the
horse Baffert juiced up with morphine was owned by John Mabee. Did any of these
various people own part of the Indiana horse farm that was purchased with
Cicero insurance money? They do all run together. But if you really want to
read a horsey real estate story, follow the tracks to the website of the late
Mr. Sikura's estranged spouse -- "journalist," "keynote speaker" and "actor" --
and click your way to her latest gig . . . real estate representative in the
sale of the Kaiser Equestrian Estate. Quite a ranch.