At 5:50 a.m. on Friday, March 17, 1995, Joseph Ewudzi Woode left his 75 Tandridge Crescent apartment to go to work. He made his way down the north stairwell. At ground level and close to the exit door, he was shot from behind with a handgun. The bullet struck him in the neck, shattering his vertebrae and spinal cord. The wound was devastating. Mr. Woode fell face-down onto the concrete floor where he died within seconds.
Joseph Ewudzi Woode immigrated to Canada from Ghana 9 years before his death. He was the father of a 17-year-old daughter and a Canadian citizen. He and his wife married in Ghana and they renewed their vows in Canada.At the time of his death, the deceased was employed as an assembly-line worker at a car seat plant in Mississauga, Ontario. He also worked part-time as an electrician. He attended church regularly. His widow regarded him as a tower of strength.
To date, investigators have found no evidence to suggest the deceased was involved in criminal activity or that he was associating with persons of bad character. Mr. Woode was a creature of habit, which may well have assisted his assailant in targeting him. He got up at 5:00 a.m. every day. His wife would make him breakfast and pack his lunch. Regularly, at 5:45 a.m., he would kiss his wife good-bye at the apartment door, walk down the corridor to the north stairwell and on reaching the stairwell door, would stop and wave good-bye. Mr. Woode's normal route took him down the stairs to the ground floor where he would exit at the north end of the building. He would then walk the short distance to his truck, which he parked in the building’s east parking lot. His wife invariably watched him get into his truck from their third-floor apartment window. On March 17, 1995, Joseph Ewudzi Woode never made it that far. When her husband didn’t arrive at his truck, his worried wife went to look for him and found his mortally wounded body near the exit door. An autopsy revealed the cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the neck. There is little doubt the assailant was lurking in the ground-floor stairwell, where he ambushed him on his way to his vehicle. The deceased may never have seen his killer. Homicide investigators do not believe this murder was a bungled robbery: the deceased’s cash and valuables were untouched. There is no evidence suggesting illegal drug activity was involved. Investigators determined that Samuel Tamatey, 41 years-of-age at the time of this crime, mistakenly believed the deceased was having a relationship with a close aquaintance. He told other people he would kill Mr. Woode. An arrest warrant was obtained for Samuel Kwablah Tamatey on a charge of 1st degree murder.
He is believed to be hiding in his native Ghana.
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