Wife told of hubby's death at funeral

She was in Sri Lanka attending her parent's burial

The wife of the city's latest murder victim was in Sri Lanka attending the funeral of a family member when she received the devastating news that she is now a widow.


Rajeswaren Saravanamuthu, 39 and a father of two young children, was found beaten and stabbed to death Thursday in his scrap metal shop -- Tiga Metals -- on Norfinch Dr., Toronto Police said. His killer remains on the loose.

"It's going to be a very difficult time for them," Homicide Det.-Sgt. Brian Borg said yesterday of Saravanamuthu's loved ones.

ARRANGEMENTS

He said the dead man's wife travelled to their homeland recently with their kids, aged 6 and 2, to say a final goodbye to one of her parents. She is expected to fly back to Toronto today to begin making funeral arrangements for her husband.

Investigators have now reviewed surveillance video captured by cameras at Tiga Metals and they are slowly piecing together the end of Saravanamuthu's life.

"There are lots of leads to follow up on, so that's what we're doing now," Borg said.

He said the scrap metal shop, which deals largely in used auto parts, was supposed to be closed Thursday. But the store owner decided to stop by briefly.

"We don't know why at this point," Borg said.

Saravanamuthu dropped his pregnant sister-in-law and her friend off at York-Finch hospital around 10 a.m. for a doctor's appointment and told them he would be back to pick them up in 30 minutes. "But he never returned," Borg said.

The women eventually made their own way home.

The friend's husband later drove to the shop to check on Saravanamuthu and found it cordoned off by police.

Borg said the grisly discovery was made by two people in the scrap business who stopped by to sell some metal around 2:30 p.m. and noticed the large loading bay door out back was open.

"They announced themselves at the door and when they didn't get an answer they went in," he said. "That's when they found the body."

The surveillance video shows several people stopped by the shop that day.

"We want to speak to those people, who may have gone there for a legitimate business reason," Borg said. "It's critical to our investigation that we talk to them."

NO RECORD

Saravanamuthu has no criminal record and police don't believe he was involved in any illegal activity.

Anyone with information in the city's 11th murder of the year should call police at 416-808-7400, or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS.

By CHRIS DOUCETTE, SUN MEDIA