Charges Laid in Death of Joseph Topping

On February 14, 2018, members from the East Algoma Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) located human remains in a wooded area within the City of Elliot Lake, Ontario. The human remains were that of missing person, Joseph TOPPING, 31 years-old from Elliot Lake, Ontario.

On February 26, 2018, a post-mortem examination was concluded by the Office of the Chief Coroner-Ontario Forensic Pathology Service (OCC-OFPS) in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.  As a result, investigators had classified the death of Joseph TOPPING, as a homicide.

The East Algoma OPP Crime Unit continued their investigation under the direction of OPP Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) Detective Inspector Mark Zulinski and Detective Inspector Matt Watson. On August 20, 2018, police arrested a male in relation to this case.

Brad Fabian SOUTHWIND, 23 years-old, of Elliot Lake, Ontario was charged with:

• First Degree Murder, contrary to section 235(1) of the Criminal Code.

The accused appeared before the Ontario Court of Justice Bail Court in Blind River, Ontario on August 21, 2018.

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The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) provide policing services throughout Ontario. Our officers are responsible for policing over one million square kilometres of land and waterways. They provide frontline policing services to more than 320 Ontario municipalities and patrol over 126,000 kilometres of provincial roadways.

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