Police appealing for more information on fatal stabbing of homeless man on West Humber Trail

Toronto Police are pushing for more information on the death of a man experiencing homelessness who investigators believe was brutally stabbed in his sleep underneath a bridge on the West Humber Trail in September.

The body of 39-year-old Rampreet (Peter) Singh was found by a jogger in the area early in the morning on Sept. 7.

Det. Sgt. Joel Kulmatycki, the lead investigator on the Singh homicide, gave reporters a walk-through of the scene on Friday, hoping that media coverage may prompt someone with information to come forward.

"Based on the investigation, both forensically and from our scene examination here, Mr. Singh was likely fast asleep in blankets and a sleeping bag and the person or persons that did this to him, it was an unprovoked attack," Kulmatycki said.

"He was severely injured causing his death — the stabbing was extreme to the point where it was overkill in my view."

Police have appealed for the public's help as they try to piece together exactly what had taken place but say they have come up empty-handed.

Singh a 'staple in the area,' police say

Singh had been living beneath the bridge for several months before the homicide, police said at the time.

Investigators have looked at every video they could find of that area but have not been able to get any further information, police say.

They have also conducted multiple foot patrols of the area, used drones to conduct an aerial search and also asked for assistance from the marine unit to search the Humber River for any findings.

Some people who have come forward to police, he said, have described Singh as a "staple in the area."

Kulmatyck also noted that while police were examining similarities between Singh's death and the stabbing of Mohamed-Aslim Zafis outside a Rexdale mosque on Sept. 12, investigators have not yet been able to connect the two killings.

"We were looking at similarities because they were both knife attacks, but at this point we can't establish it was the same offender," Kulmatycki said.

"That is why we are here today because certainly we don't want to be working with blinders on, I am not ruling it out entirely yet ."

Guilherme "William" Von Neutegem, 34, was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the killing of Zafis in September.

"I would ask that anybody with the smallest thing that they might have seen, whether it is a car fleeing or people on foot or a person walking away, to please contact us," Kulmatycki said.