A 25-year-old Ottawa man appeared in court Friday after being charged with second-degree murder in the city's first homicide of the year.
A small group of visibly distraught people sat in court in support of Tim Kadluck, who was charged with murder after police discovered the lifeless body of 41-year-old Joshua Oqallak in an apartment at 391 Dieppe St., east of downtown Ottawa, at about 4 a.m. New Year's Day.
Kadluck is being held in custody until his next court appearance on Jan. 15. He was also ordered not to speak to eight people police have identified as witnesses. Police, however, won't say if the murder occurred during a New Year's Eve party.
Meanwhile, the steps to the second-storey apartment where Oqallak's body was found were still blocked off by police tape Friday as the major crime unit continued its investigation.
Neighbours who live in the area told CTV Ottawa they didn't hear anything out of the ordinary leading up to the grisly discovery early Thursday morning.
"I came at 3:30 in the morning from work at the New Year's and everything was quiet. Only one neighbour had lights on," said Delma Desrosiers.
"I've lived here for 13 years and it's always been very quiet, peaceful, it's uneventful. Something like this is out of the blue," said Michael Bongard.
"If it's the person I'm thinking of -- I've seen this person around. I mean, one can't help but think of one's own mortality too when something like this happens," he added.
There were 10 homicides in the capital in 2008 and 14 in 2007.
Anyone with information about the city's latest murder is asked to contact Ottawa police at 613-236-1222 ext. 5493 or Crime Stoppers at 613-233-TIPS.
With a report from CTV Ottawa's Nicole d'Entremont
