Woman killed in U of T fall was on 1st date
Last Updated: Monday, September 14, 2009 | 11:57 AM ET
CBC News
A 29-year-old woman who fell three storeys to her death at a University of Toronto building early Thursday was on a first date with the man who was exploring the structure with her, police said.
Emergency crews attend to a woman who fell three storeys at a University of Toronto building early Thursday. (CBC) Police arrived at 1 Spadina Cres. near College Street and Spadina Avenue at around 2 a.m. in response to reports of a man and woman trying to jump from one level of the building to another.
The man was able to make the jump, but a wire fence that the woman was leaning on gave way, police said. She fell into a courtyard in the centre of the building.
The woman was rushed to St. Michael's Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The two were walking home at the end of their first date when they decided to explore the building, said Staff Sgt. Deb Abbott.
Police did not say if the two had consumed alcohol, but they did question the man about the events leading up to the woman's death and forensic investigation teams were brought in to retrace the pair's climb up to the roof.
Ghost story surfaced
Police said earlier in the day that the pair were hunting for ghosts in the 134-year-old building, which they believed was haunted. But they backtracked Thursday afternoon, saying they could not confirm that account.
The identities of the man and the woman have not been released. They were not students at the university, police said.
Police are contacting the woman's family in Indiana. A post-mortem will be conducted Friday.
Sue Darroch and Matthew Didier, who run the website Torontoghosts.org, said they have been inundated with media inquiries since the death.
Darroch and Didier said in a blog post they are not connected with the woman in any way. They also said they have not received any reports that the building may have been haunted.
But 1 Spadina Crescent was the site of a crime in January 2001, when 50-year-old artist and lecturer David Buller was found stabbed to death in his studio in the building.
Police have never laid any charges in connection with Buller's death, which may have fed rumours that the historic building is visited by ghosts. The building is home to the University of Toronto's art department, as well as some offices and the Eye Bank of Canada.
"It's a regular U of T building," said university spokesman Laurie Stephens.
with files from The Canadian Press
