The first Toronto murder of 2009 involved a Massage Parlour in the Toronto region. Content from Toronto Sun, Jan 2009

Gewarges Youkhana was shot to death on January 3, 2009 in the parking lot at 9 Milvan Drive in North York


Toronto’s first murder victim of the new year argued with three other men inside a North York massage parlour before he was gunned down in a mall parking lot early today .

Gewarges Youkhana was shot outside Golden Touch massage parlour


The victim, whose friend last night said was 36, died after several shots were fired at him in the parking lot of a two-storey strip plaza on Milvan Dr., north of Finch Ave., shortly after 3 a.m.

Only willing to identify him as Johnnie, his friend of two months said he lived in Mississauga and was an auto mechanic.

His family, who she said live in Iraq, “don’t know this has happened.

Devastated by his murder, she said “I just can’t believe it happened. It shouldn’t have happened to him.”

The victim was pronounced dead outside the Golden Touch Massage & Spa, said Toronto homicide Det.-Sgt. Gary Grinton.

Police are hunting three men, who fled in a silver SUV south on Milvan. It is believed to have continued south of Finch.

A trail of cartridge casings led to within about two metres of where the man’s body was found. Two large bullet holes were seen in the front window of one business.

Grinton said forensic experts are checking to see if more than one gun was used to fire at the unarmed victim.

A friend of the victim suffered minor injuries after being hit with a gun, following an argument in which the leader of the suspect group insulted Johnnie with a homosexual slur, a witness said.

The shooting occurred after an argument, said the witness, who didn’t want to be named.

“It would appear to me that while the massage parlour was the venue, it wasn’t the cause,” Grinton said.

“There was some sort of altercation that took place in the spa,” he said.

Grinton described the three men wanted in the shooting as black of West Indian descent, South Asian of West Indian descent and Asian. He said surveillance cameras were being checked to determine if the shooting was filmed.

“It was a fight. It was an argument, that’s how it started,” said a woman, who was working in the spa at the time of the murder.

She said it appeared the victim, whom she described as known to the girls in the spa, was unknown to the suspects, who another witness described as occasional customers.

“There was gunfire,” she said. “A lot of commotion and stuff like that.”

Governor Ted Evans, who owns an auto repair shop nearby, said he’s not surprised by the fatal shooting.

“I expected something like this to happen one day,” Evans said. “Sooner or later, something like this had to happen.

“It’s active 24 hours and they attract the seediest characters here.”

A widowed Brampton mother of four was shot dead at a nightclub which was at the same mall in April 2005. Livvette Olivea Miller, 26, also known as Livvette Moore, was killed in the Prestige Palace club while six others were wounded in an apparent gang gun battle.

“I got this mall in 2007 and I never had any problems,” plaza owner Mohammed Dakin said.

“It’s a very secure place,” he said, noting there is a string of surveillance cameras around the complex.

The mall has a large number of South American restaurants and businesses.

Police were last night notifying distant relatives of the city's latest murder victim; they are expected to break the tragic news to his parents in Iraq.



Johnny Gewarges Youkhana, the city’s first murder victim of the year, argued with a man who would be his killer inside a North York massage parlour.

The angry killer walked about the spa lobby early yesterday holding a handgun in his right hand, in plain view of patrons, staff and a surveillance camera.

But no one called the police.

And Toronto homicide Det.-Sgt. Gary Grinton said yesterday he finds that disturbing.

“Yes it is. Very,” he added.

Grinton said if a call was made to police, the 36-year-old Mississauga auto body worker could still be alive.

“It disappoints me. It’s disgusting,” he said. “They’re concerned about themselves and nothing else.”

Youkhana emigrated to Canada after the First Gulf War from Iraq and lived with a girlfriend.

He was described by spa workers as a regular patron of the Golden Touch Spa, on the upper level of a two-storey strip mall on Milvan Dr., in the Finch Ave. -Hwy. 400 area. He’s also friends of the owners of a restaurant on the main floor of the mall, where he was earlier Friday night before going to the spa.

Police are sure the victim got into minor physical spat inside the spa with the suspects and then left.

Grinton said surveillance of the trio wanted for the slaying in the lobby of the spa after the argument showed the killer holding the weapon. He is described as black, in his early 20s and wearing a red jacket with the large Gothic letters on the back.

The gunman walked out the door with his two accomplices and less than a minute later, they verbally confronted Youkhana in the parking lot. Grinton said at least seven shots were fired at the victim.

“Without warning or provocation, Mr. Youkhana was shot several times,” he said.

“It’s sad enough when we have a very small amount of people who arm themselves, but this is very, very brazen,” Grinton said. “He seems not to care that people in the club see him with a gun and it seems to me he had made up his mind as to what was going to happen.”

Youkhana died of an apparent gunshot wound to the head. An autopsy is scheduled today to pinpoint the cause of death.

Police found a trail of bullet casings across the parking lot leading up to where the victim was found shot to death.

A friend said the argument began after the victim was called a name by one of three suspects police are now hunting.

The trio fled in a silver SUV south on Milvan. The SUV is believed to have continued on Milvan south of Finch.

The other suspects are described as being Asian and South Asian of West Indian descent.

“It goes without saying these people are dangerous,” Grinton said, who also urged the trio to get a lawyer and surrender.

“I went through a rough night last night,” said a friend, who was in the spa and didn’t want to be identified. “I was having a lot of nightmares.

“They were fighting inside,” the friend said. “It wasn’t Johnny’s fault. It was for no reason. It was for absolutely no reason at all.

“They called him a name as he walked out,” the friend said. “Another customer is walking out of the place, you don’t call them names. They’re there doing the same thing as they are.”

Last April, Youkhana was arrested for lifting the wallet from the purse of an 80-year-old woman. He plead guilty 15 days later to theft under $5,000 and was sentenced to time served and put on probation.

The spa’s website states the parlour is open from “10 a.m. till late,” seven days a week and is hiring.

The site also has photos of a number of the women who work at the spa, posing in scanty outfits. It also posts the spa’s rates: $40 for 30 minutes, $60 for 45 minutes and $100 for an hour.




Toronto Police have nabbed one of the men they believe is responsible for the city's first homicide of 2009.

Anderson Nop, 20, is set to appear in court this morning charged with first-degree murder.

Police are still hunting two other men.

Nop is charged with the murder of Johnny Gewarges Youkhana, 36, who was gunned down outside a North York massage parlour.

Homicide detectives have said Youkhana argued with the man who would kill him inside the parlour.

Youkhana emigrated to Canada after the First Gulf War from Iraq and lived with a girlfriend.

He was described by spa workers as a regular patron of the Golden Touch Spa, on the upper level of a two-storey strip mall on Milvan Dr., in the Finch Ave.-Hwy. 400 area. He's also friends of the owners of a restaurant on the main floor of the mall, where he was earlier Friday night before going to the spa.

Police are sure the victim got into a minor physical spat inside the spa with the suspects and then left.

Last week, police released surveillance video of the trio wanted for the slaying in the lobby of the spa – the gunman was shown holding the weapon.

The three men walked out the door to confront Youkhana in the parking lot and at least seven shots were fired at him, police said.

The trio fled in a silver SUV south on Milvan. The SUV is believed to have continued on Milvan, south of Finch.

Hey! Will Giorgio Mammoliti ever forget this crime?

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