Ontario Provincial Police have announced human remains found late last month in Oro-Medonte and Lake of Bays Townships, and in Muskoka belonged to a 45-year-old Bolton/Caledon area man.

Whoever chopped up the body of a Bolton man and scattered it throughout cottage country was likely an amateur and not an underworld figure, a veteran homicide investigator says.

“People who are in stressful situations do strange things,” said Mark Mendelson, a former Toronto police homicide officer who now heads Mark Mendelson Consulting Corp., a private investigation firm.

His comments came after the OPP on Monday identified the body parts found in three regions north of Toronto as belonging to Morris Conte, 45, of Bolton, Ontario. Conte, a father of four and recreational drug user, had low-level ties to bikers and mobsters in York Region. Police have ruled his death a homicide.

OPP spokesman Const. Mark Kenney declined to comment on the cause or time of death, or what pieces of Conte’s body were recovered. He did confirm that Conte’s identity was determined through testing at the downtown Centre for Forensic Sciences.

Remains were found May 22 in Oro-Medonte Township’s Sugar Bush area, north of Barrie. Also that day, pieces of his body were discovered in Lake of Bays Township, east of Huntsville.

On May 28, a construction worker found yet another set of remains northeast of Bracebridge, on the shoulder of Stoneleigh Rd. off Muskoka Road 117. All of the body parts were left in plain view.

Mendelson said mobsters tend to be more efficient at getting rid of bodies of their victims, rather than cutting them into pieces and scattering them in places where they’re sure to be found. “Organized crime people (often) put them into barrels and pour in cement,” said Mendelson.

Mendelson also wonders if perhaps more than one person was involved in the body disposal.

As first reported here, Caledon OPP now say a woman found dead after a minor collision in Caledon was a homicide and the man charged with second-degree murder in her death are mother and son.

Krystina Armstrong 45 years old, was found dead in the passenger side of one of the vehicles involved in the two-car collision on Friday is a victim of homicide and did not die as a result of the crash, police said. The Ontario Provincial Police identified the man behind the wheel of that vehicle as Luke Armstrong, the victim’s 18-year-old son. He was arrested at the scene Friday and remanded into custody on Sunday. He is set to appear in an Orangeville court on Thursday for the continuation of his bail hearing, said Caledon OPP Constable Jonathan Beckett.

“This case is very complex and this investigation will be ongoing for some time to cover off all the details of what happened before, during and after the event,” Constable Beckett said, declining to share specifics since the matter is before the courts.

Police were called to the scene of the minor crash on Simpson Road, at 9:40 p.m. Friday night, he said. “Once our officers arrived on scene, it quickly became apparent we were dealing with a much more serious incident. Quite often when police officers are dispatched to calls for service, sometimes the initial details we’re given do not turn out to be what we end up investigating.”

Josh Stevenson, who knows Mr. Armstrong from high school, was surprised by news of the young man’s arrest. He remembered him as a “pretty good kid,” but also troubled.

And Mr. Armstrong’s relationship with his mother was strained, he said.

“I know was his parents were divorced and that he didn’t see his mom,” Mr. Stevenson, 18, said.

Marital problems had torn apart the family. Krystina Armstrong a former travel agent had been split from her husband, George, for more than a year and had found a home on Rolling Hills Lane in Bolton’s south end, a few kilometres away from her old life.

Luke was to continue living with his father on Old King Rd. His younger sister, Hayley, was moving in with her mother.

Mr. Armstrong began his high school career at Robert F. Hall Secondary School in Caledon, Ont., before transferring to Humberview Secondary School in Bolton where his father, George, lives.

Luke’s Facebook page which was still active as of Monday night.

Anyone with information about the case was asked to contact Det.-Const. Matt Noble at 519-927-3041 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.

The Caledon resident was a passenger in a vehicle that was involved in a “minor collision” on Simpson Rd. on Friday evening, Ontario Provincial Police said in a statement released Sunday night.

Const. Jonathan Beckett would not identify the woman or comment on how she died, except to say it was not as a result of the collision.

Nor would he release the name of the 18-year-old driver who was arrested at the scene and charged with second-degree murder, citing the need to notify the victim’s next-of-kin before any names could be released.

However, a family friend said the victim was Krystina Armstrong and the young man charged with murder as her son, Luke.

Armstrong was legally separated from Luke’s father, George, and was in the process of divorce. She moved into her new home on Station Rd. in Bolton the day she was killed, according to the friend.

Luke, a student at Humberview Secondary School in Bolton, lived with his father, said the friend.

Anyone with information about the case was asked to contact Det.-Const. Matt Noble at 519-927-3041 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.

The following is information about the Bolton By-Pass currently being planned out, the above picture is the route it will take through Bolton, Ontario. Richard Whitehead, Regional Councillor for Caledon’s Ward 3 & 4 was kind enough to type out and provide all this useful information that until now seemed difficult to come by online.

The “Bolton by-pass” is the name commonly given to the western arm of the Bolton Arterial Road System (B.A.R.). It’s called the by-pass because it is the only part of the system that will carry “all” vehicle on a north south route without going through Bolton’s core.

About 20 years ago, a process was started to identify a road network to carry increasing traffic volumes in, and through, Bolton as it continued to grow. The final system called for a road network for both the East and West side of Bolton plus an east – west industrial collector in south Bolton. The study not only included roads in Caledon but Coleraine Drive in Brampton as well.

The Eastern arterial allows for all types of vehicles south of King Street down to Mayfield and only light vehicles north of King Street.

The eastern route was completed some years ago with the rebuilding of the Town Line from Mayfield Road to King Street as a two lane road (capable of widening to four lanes) built to carry all vehicles including heavy trucks. The road north of King Street has been rebuilt all the way up to Castlederg sideroad and is paved from there (Mount Wolfe Road) all the way to Hwy 9 but only for light vehicles.

The road network carries considerable traffic at commuter hours to Bolton, East Albion and many communities north of Hwy 9. It also relieves traffic, particularly truck traffic, from the south hill and the Bolton core that is going south to east on hwy 50 and from Mayfield Road to King Street east in York Region.

The industrial connector is the George Bolton Parkway but is only completed from Coleraine Drive to Hwy 50 and has not been completed from Hwy 50 to the Town Line.

The western arterial route (Bolton by-pass) is the most complex and most expensive part of the B.A.R. It has been further complicated by the need to replace virtually all of the utilities in the corridor to facilitate further development in the industrial area and to provide services for the residential area west of Coleraine Drive (Greenpark).

For several years now, the project has been proceeding in phases with the majority of the utility work being installed first (hydro, water, sewers, gas etc). Phase one of the road work was to build the four lane arterial from Mayfield Road. This is substantially completed but there will be traffic lights installed at Parr Avenue, The George Bolton Parkway, and Healey Road at a later date.

Phase two is the section from Healey Road to Holland Drive and should be substantially completed by spring.

Phase three is going to tender as we speak. It will be the section from Holland Drive to just past Harvest Moon. This complex section will include the construction of a new King Street connection to downtown Bolton starting at Harvest Moon. This will create a new four way signalized intersection on Coleraine at Harvest Moon and King Street.

From this point on, construction of the by-pass will be the responsibility of the Region of Peel who will complete it from Harvest Moon north to Duffy’s Lane and then through the river valley to Hwy 50 north ending just on the north side of James Dick Construction. This section of the arterial road will be very expensive and will include such features as a possible round about at Coleraine and King Street / Duffy’s Lane, and a lengthy span bridge over the Humber River. This part of the road will continue as a four lane road to Duffy’s Lane and a two lane road (with four lane capability) after that. The bridge will be equipped to handle four lanes.

Construction of the Region’s share of the road commence in 2011 with completion in 2013.

At the same time, the small remainder of the of the Greenpark subdivision will be completed as King Street West is straightened out to meet the new arm of Coleraine Drive.

As you know, the Province is intending to extend the 427 north to Major Mackenzie Drive in about 2015. Effectively, this will bring all 427 traffic to Hwy 50. Peel is recommending, in this event, that Major Mackenzie be extended into Brampton, as a regional road, and that this new road swing up to intersect Mayfield Road near, or at, Humber Station Road.

At the same, it is recommended that Coleraine Drive (in Brampton) be rebuilt to a four lane standard and intersect this new Major Mackenzie extension instead of Hwy 50 as it does today.

The effect will be that all traffic north bound on 427, or hwy 50, and that is westbound or using the Bolton by-pass will be diverted from Bolton.

Consequently, the Bolton by-pass will process a very large volume of inter-regional traffic.

The funding needed for the B.A.R. has been, and will continue to be, enormous. Ontario, Peel, Caledon, Brampton and the development industry area are all partnering in the project. The total cost including connections from the 427 and the full B.A.R. with utilities may top $100 million. Very little of the cost will be financed from debt.

This road network should significantly relieve traffic congestion in the Mayfield – Town line – Queen Street intersection and reduce through volumes in Bolton.

Google Canada today revealed more than 130 Canadian cities to be viewed in the 3D environment of Google street view mode. Among those cities are Bolton, Orangeville and surprisingly many parts of Caledon, Ontario. Even the smaller the towns of Caledon Village, Caledon East, Alton & Mono Mills are mapped as well as many of the main roads through all of Caledon. Mapping by the famous google camera car was done this past summer, I actually saw it in person in Orangeville one weekend.

Street View is a free feature in Google Maps, Google Earth, and Google Maps for mobile. It was first launched in 2007 and it now includes imagery from 18 countries in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. To start exploring, simply visit maps.google.ca and zoom in to the lowest level or drag the orange “Pegman” icon from the left side of the map onto a blue-lined street.

Google Street View has also become a great tool for real estate, it provides people an easy way to show what is around the house that is for sale in the neighbourhood, gives people a better idea of a property and area instead of just blindly showing up. However on the other side of things Google has come under fire for privacy concerns surrounding the service and has addressed those issues by blurring out the faces of people in the photos, as well as licence plates on vehicles.

If you see anything of interest in the Caledon area on Google Maps Street View please leave a comment here.

Baffo’s Pizza the popular local pizzeria and restaurant in downtown Bolton for over 38 years will soon be moving to a new better location right on Queen St. (Hwy 50). Currently tucked away one street east on Chapel Street Baffo’s will be moving to the main street where the Billiards/Pool Hall used to be. The new location will have a much larger space for the restaurant and a patio for the summer. Baffo’s expects to transition over to the new location sometime in December.

Baffo’s Pizza is still currently at 31 Chapel St, Bolton, Ontario and can be reached at (905) 857-3444. They have great service and I highly recommend their pizza, you can take a look at their menu by clicking here (pdf).

On my way home I caught this Red-tailed Hawk (correct me if I am wrong) just south of Bolton along side Highway 50. He was scanning the ditch below for food and I must have made him nervous as he flew away fairly quickly once he spotted me. I didn’t notice it until after I had loaded up the photos on my computer but this particular hawk is tagged, click on the image for a larger view, if you look closely you will see a red tag on his foot. For more info on Red-tailed Hawks, click here. Picture was taken with my zoom lens sitting in the middle lane of Highway 50 (do not do this, its very busy and dangerous).

Here are two more pictures:

You can also see my previous Hawk post with pictures here from earlier in the year.

The signs of spring are here (actually it feels like summer today), I stumbled across these baby Geese in Bolton, Ontario this morning right across from the Canadian Tire. There was quite a number of them walking across the road and holding up traffic earlier but all managed to cross the road safely. See some more pictures below.

Interesting facts about the Canadian Goose: During the second year of their lives, Canada Geese find a mate. They are monogamous, and most couples stay together all of their lives. If one is killed, the other may find a new mate. The female lays 3–8 eggs and both parents protect the nest while the eggs incubate, but the female spends more time at the nest than the male. During this incubation period, the adults lose their flight feathers, so they cannot fly until their eggs hatch after 25–28 days. Adult geese are often seen leading their goslings in a line, usually with one parent at the front, and the other at the back. While protecting their goslings, parents often violently chase away nearby creatures, from small blackbirds to humans that approach, after warning them by giving off a hissing sound. The offspring enter the fledgling stage any time from 6 to 9 weeks of age. They do not leave their parents until after the spring migration, when they return to their birthplace.