Doc's big heart and COVID-19 may have led to his murder: Friend
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It was a bizarre combination of COVID-19 and the kindness of retired oral surgeon and philanthropist Dr. Paul Morgan that led up to his tragic murder, claims a distraught close friend.
Michael Lavelle Jr., who considered Morgan a second father, said the surgeon acted as a surety to a troubled young homeless man accused of a series of west end arsons late last year.
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The young man’s grandfather, who comes from the Serpent River reserve, asked his old friend Morgan to bail his grandson out. So Morgan acted as the young man’s surety and allowed him to live in the North York home where the 79-year-old was found slain April 14.
“It was a mistake and Morgan knew it was a mistake, but he couldn’t get out of it,” said Lavelle.
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Lavelle alleges the young man had friends over to Morgan’s house and they were using drugs. He claims he reported the drug use to Toronto Police but nothing was done.
“Throwing the kid in jail wasn’t an option to him — Doc didn’t believe in jail,” said Lavelle.
He said Morgan, who “spent his whole life helping Indigenous people,” had hoped to get the young man placed into a Native centre.
“Doc was way ahead of his time. From the time he heard about the residential schools through a friend in 1965,” said Lavelle. “He was amazing. He moved in the direction that society should go and helped so many move forward.”
He said Morgan created what was called the “breakfast club” for hungry children within the Blind River school system and he helped the surgeon pack up his van every Friday night — after a full day of surgeries. Doc would then drive, fly or ATV into Blue Fox camp near Blind River.
Lavelle is convinced it was Morgan’s kindness and generosity that landed him in a difficult situation.
The young man was allegdly doing drugs and breaking his curfew but Lavelle, who offered to swear an affidavit to get the man removed from Morgan’s home, got nowhere.
The young man’s case was scheduled for April 1, but due to COVID-19 almost all out-of-custody cases are adjourned for 10 weeks.
Morgan was found dead in his home at 42 Howard Dr., northwest of Sheppard Ave. E. and Leslie St., some time after 8 a.m. Tuesday.
Cops have said Morgan suffered obvious signs of trauma and there were no obvious signs of forced entry into the house.
No arrests have been made in the city’s 22nd murder victim of the year.
“It could have been prevented,” Lavelle claims. “Doc’s a victim of COVID 19 while cops are giving tickets to people in the park for breaking social distance and they are not enforcing bail conditions.
The young man is now back in custody, facing a fail to comply (with bail conditions) charge and the case is in court on Monday.
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Homicide Det.-Sgt. Keri Fernandes, the officer in charge of the case, said she couldn’t comment on the alleged breaches.
“The investigation is ongoing with the help of the community and we are reviewing a large quantity of videos and following up on a number of tips coming in,” she said.
Morgan suffered extensive blunt force trauma, but police “haven’t received a fully comprehensive autopsy report yet,” said Fernandes.
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