Barrie Police have evacuated approximately 25 homes as a precaution after explosives were found at a residence on Virgilwood Crescent in Barrie, Ont., Thursday, July 12, 2012. The explosives were found after the arrest of two individuals.Benjamin Ricetto
Police have removed nearly 50 explosive devices from a suburban Barrie home, forcing the evacuation of dozens of residents in the area and adding further mystery to the investigation of a decades-old unsolved murder.
The devices were discovered after Donald Feldhoff, 54, walked into a Barrie police station last week saying he believed there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest, police said. He was later charged with first-degree murder, and his father, William Feldhoff, 75, was charged with being an accessory after the fact.
When Barrie police visited the men's home in the north end of the city, they discovered dozens of improvised explosive devices, and wires and unlabelled chemicals. Some of the material was "just lying around the house on the ground," said Constable Angela Butler.
Fifty devices were removed from the Virgilwood Crescent home and neutralized by Sunday afternoon, she said, adding that police believe they may find more as they continue to scour the house.
"Officers are only so far within that home," she said. "They have to go extremely slowly and methodically and step by step. Some of these explosive devices have been there for 20 years, and they're extremely dangerous."
An underground bunker was found behind the house, which police said contained "living supplies," and at least two firearms were found at the home.
Residents of the area were evacuated late last week, and on Sunday evening, police said about 60 people would likely be kept away from their homes for several days longer.
"We're definitely going to be here for a few more days," Constable Butler said. "We're taking it day by day and going as slowly as we need to."
People who were evacuated are staying with friends and family, and a few families have been put up in hotels by the Red Cross.
The explosives were discovered after the younger Mr. Feldhoff showed up at a Barrie police station last Wednesday claiming there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest in connection with the 1978 death of Michael Traynor, police said.
Mr. Traynor, 26, was last seen with friends at a bar in downtown Barrie in the early hours of Sept. 13, 1978. His mother reported him missing five days later, and a duck hunter discovered his body on Oct. 3 in a brush-covered area just north of Barrie, near the village of Midhurst, police said.
His hands and feet were bound with copper wire, and he had been shot twice in the chest with a .22-calibre weapon.
No arrest warrant was outstanding against Mr. Feldhoff, and he had not been a suspect in the murder, police said.
Investigators pursued "a number of investigative avenues" in trying to solve the case over the years, OPP Detective Inspector Martin Graham said, adding, "We have found no link between Mr. Feldhoff, junior or senior, and to the victim."
Speaking by phone from her Innisfill home, Mr. Traynor's sister-in-law said news of the charges had set the family reeling, as they remembered a man they said was a caring brother and son.
"We're re-living it, is what we're doing," Gail Long-Traynor said. "We never thought we'd feel like this, ever."
Mr. Traynor died one year after Ms. Long-Traynor married his brother, Andy. She said her husband and his brothers aren't ready to speak about the charges, but added the family plans to follow the investigation closely.
"Everything is hard, but we have a lot of questions, a lot of things that are unanswered," she said.
Mr. Traynor was married to a woman named Bev at the time he was killed, she said. Ms. Long-Traynor says the family has since lost touch with her, but believes she moved out of the province.
"The relief of it is that I thank that man for turning himself in, we all do," Ms. Long-Traynor said. "Other than that, there's no relief."