UNSOLVED: Car troubles lead to violent robbery and murder investigation

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Published March 5, 2020 at 4:28 pm

Mississauga murder Nov. 15, 2023

Philip Van Impe was driving in Central Hamilton around midnight near Gage park on Sept. 1, 1985, when he started to experience car trouble.

According to police, Philip pulled over on Leinster Avenue to inspect his car to see what the problem was.

When Philip was getting up to get back in his car to resume driving, an unknown man came up behind him and struck him over the head with an undetermined object, police say.

At the time, Philip believed he may have lost consciousness for a few minutes but when he regained consciousness, the assailant was demanding his keys and money, which Philip handed over.

Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Police, as they were known at the time, were on the case but initially it was being investigated as a robbery and stolen car.

The head injury sustained by Philip was far more serious than previously thought and eventually, symptoms forced him into the hospital.

Philip eventually died as a direct result of the head injury on Oct. 6, 1985. He was in his early 60s.

Police then started to treat the case as a homicide but the suspect in the case has never been apprehended.

The suspect was described at the time as: white, 6’1”, 180 pounds with a medium build. He had short, straight dark hair and was wearing dark clothes and a jacket.

Anyone with information about this homicide is being asked to contact S/Sgt Dave Oleniuk Major Crime at 905-546-3829.

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