Two men found dead inside torched cars in Scarborough and Etobicoke were murdered

See more Toronto Sun on Google — save as a Preferred Source

Two men found dead inside burning vehicles earlier this week are the city’s latest homicide victims.

Toronto police confirmed the news at a noon-hour press conference at 42 Division on Friday, identifying one of the victims as 32-year-old Marcus Charles, with the second victim’s identity still to be confirmed.

Shortly before 11:25 p.m. on Monday, emergency crews responded to reports of a fire near Steeles Ave. E. and Reesor Rd. – east of Ninth Line – in Scarborough.

Once on scene, crews found a fully-involved vehicle fire in a field.

Firefighters located the body of a male inside the vehicle, later confirmed by police to be a rental car.

Fingerprint records subsequently identified him as Charles.

A little over 90 minutes later, in a parking lot in the Royal York Rd. and Edenbridge Dr. area, near James Gardens in Etobicoke, a second burning vehicle was reported to officials.

The body of a deceased male was located inside what police say was also a stolen car, but investigators are still awaiting results of DNA testing before they can positively identify him.

• Canadian restaurants feeling the pinch as diners cut back on eating out
• First-time homebuyer tax rebate stalls out nationwide

Both victims were targeted

Autopsies performed on both victims, Det.-Sgt. Henri Marsman told reporters during Friday’s press conference, confirmed they were shot to death before the fires.

“At this stage, we haven’t confirmed a connection between the two incidents; that’s one of the several avenues that we are investigating,” he said. “We believe both victims were targeted.”

Marsman declined to say whether Charles was known to police or if the deaths were related to organized crime, but he did say investigators believe they died the same day their remains were found in the burning cars.

He also confirmed Charles had no connections to either biker gangs or Toronto’s illicit towing industry.

“Both victims were dead before they were burnt,” he said.

Charles and the other male are Toronto’s 27th and 28th homicides of 2026.

Marsman said investigators have no information on possible suspects, but he said investigators want to hear from anybody with dash cameras or CCTV footage from the area.

Anybody with information is asked to call the Homicide Unit at 416-808-7400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume