Man accused of fatal Danforth stabbing cuffed by cops in Niagara Falls

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The hunt for Anthony Steven Oliveira ended in Niagara Falls.

Toronto Police said in a news release Sunday that the 24-year-old accused killer was arrested Saturday by Niagara Regional Police near the popular Clifton Hill-Falls Ave. tourist area, which is also a short walk from the Rainbow Bridge border crossing to the U.S.

Oliveira, who Toronto Police said has no fixed address despite connections to the Durham Region, was subsequently charged with first-degree murder.

The hunt for Oliveira began Thursday after a stabbing earlier in the week near Danforth and Coxwell Aves., where police said the victim “had no chance to defend himself or flee.”

Police said the victim — who has been identified as Ashkan Pournasir-Roudbane, 35, of Toronto — had an “interaction” with his attacker behind a plaza before police responded to a stabbing Tuesday at about 11 p.m.

Det.-Sgt. Henri Marsman told reporters Friday that Pournasir-Roudbane was stabbed as many as 20 times before being found. He was then rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Sources told the Toronto Sun‘s Brad Hunter that the victim had been stabbed in the heart, liver and pancreas, among other areas.

It was the city’s 16th homicide of 2025.

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Police said they do not believe there was a dispute between the attacker and Pournasir-Roudbane, who was “minding his own business” before the stabbing, the source told Hunter.

“The victim was sitting down and had no chance to defend himself or flee,” Marsman told reporters at his Friday media briefing.

“We allege the suspect and the victim were involved in an interaction in a plaza in the area. We believe the suspect targeted the victim because he was alone and in an isolated area.

“At this time, we don’t know if they knew each other.”

Sources told Hunter that Oliveira had allegedly breached his probation for aggravated assault. He was also charged with mischief in Durham Region in May, as well as assault with a weapon, possession of a dangerous weapon and two probation breaches on June 1.

Durham police had been hunting for Oliveira since then and released a photo of him Monday, the day before the Danforth stabbing.