Cabbagetown in the news: Murderer of two women captured and awaiting trial

Last fall on October 23rd 2012 at 7am Nighisti Semret, a 55 year old hotel worker was stabbed to death brutally in a Cabbagetown alley while walking on her way home from work. A man was captured on surveillance cameras before police believe he stabbed her numerous times. The media at the time gave the impression that it was a random killing, and the mystery continued for months without any suspect in sight. Then on May 24th 2013 a grizzly discovery of a woman's torso stuffed into a suitcase, found at Jane and Eglinton was able to somehow be linked back to the Nighisti Semret murder case. Police were able to identify the second victim as 28 year old Rigat Essag Ghirmay, by DNA found in her apartment (located in the Cabbagetown area,) as well as identify the male DNA found from Ghirmay's apartment with the autopsy of her body parts and link it to the DNA samples found under Semret's fingernails. Thanks to the trail of DNA evidence, police were able to identify and arrest 44 year old Adonay Zekarias, who is said to have been living with Ghirmay at the time of her murder. Both victims and suspect are all of Eritean decent, which leads police to conclude that the stabbing of Semret must have been a planned attack. Police also believe that Ghirmay's murder may have occurred in order to stop her from coming forward with information about Zekarias's possible involvement with the murder, as Ghirmay's murder was estimated to have occurred shortly after police released to the public that the stabbing suspect was also injured and suffered cuts on his hands during the ordeal, information Ghirmay is likely to have known since she lived with the suspect. Adonay Zekarias is charged with two counts of first degree murder and commiting an indignity to a dead body. The motive for Semret's murder is still unclear and all of Ghirmay's body parts have still not been found, so police urge anyone with information to come forward.
Although the neighbourhood breathed a sigh of relief that a murderer is behind bars, we also mourn at the loss of another member of the community being slain needlessly at the hands of a ruthless killer.