Ottawa police confirmed a total of 19 homicides occurred within the city in 2025, marking a year of significant violence across the nation's capital. While charges have been laid in 14 of these cases, five investigations remain open and unsolved as the year concluded.
A Year of Violence and Investigation
The annual tally, provided by police in a December 30 statement, represents a decrease from the record-setting 25 homicides reported in 2024. However, the 2025 total of 19 killings is the second-highest number recorded in Ottawa over the past five years. The 2024 figure had narrowly surpassed previous single-year records of 24 homicides from both 1995 and 2016.
The grim count began early in the year. On January 10, 58-year-old Wilson Sabarros was found dead inside a residence on Pondhollow Way in the Barrhaven neighbourhood's Stonebridge area. The incident shocked local residents, who described their street as typically quiet. Within a week, Mia Tejada, 28, and Omar Assaad, 26, were charged with first-degree murder in connection with Sabarros' death. A third individual, 20-year-old Michael Journal Prest, was charged with the same offence in June.
A Harrowing Spring and a Fatal Domestic Dispute
The spring season proved particularly violent, with Ottawa police responding to five homicides in just over a week, bringing the year's total to 10 by early April.
On March 29, Paul Scott Landymore was discovered with life-threatening injuries on Primrose Avenue East in Chinatown. He later died in hospital. Police have not publicly confirmed his cause of death, and this case is among the five that remain unsolved.
Tragedy struck again on April 1 when Renée Descary was stabbed to death on Heney Street in Lowertown. Her death was designated the city's first femicide of 2025. Oliver Denai, 24, was subsequently charged with first-degree murder.
Just days later, on the evening of April 5, a domestic argument turned deadly in a Barrhaven home. Sixty-year-old Brenda Rus was strangled to death, becoming Ottawa's second femicide victim of the year and the ninth homicide overall. Her husband, 61-year-old Robert Rus, confessed to the killing via text message to his son and then to a 911 operator. He later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison six months after the crime.
Ongoing Investigations and Community Impact
While the majority of the year's homicide cases have seen charges laid, the five unsolved investigations represent ongoing work for the Ottawa Police Service. These open cases underscore the challenges investigators face and leave families and communities awaiting answers.
The geographic spread of the incidents, from Barrhaven to Lowertown and Chinatown, highlights that violent crime affected diverse communities across Ottawa in 2025. The data provides a sobering look at public safety in the city, even as the numbers show a decline from the peak of the previous year.
