Night watcher suspect is released
After holding a night watcher suspect in custody overnight, Halifax police were forced to release the man around 6 a.m. Sept. 16 saying they had insufficient evidence to keep him in custody.
This is the second time police have been forced to release a suspect without laying charges who was thought to have a connection to the night watcher case.
Const. Brian Palmeter says this man was not connected to the previous case of a night watcher suspect. No description of the man has been released.
“They spoke to the man throughout the day but were unable to connect him to the incident,” says Palmeter.
At 5:19 a.m. last Thursday, police received a call that a woman on the 6100 block of South Street woke up to find a man was in her apartment. He had entered through an unlocked door.
Police later confirmed that the woman found the man standing in the doorway of her bedroom.
The woman was described as “university aged.” Other roommates were in the apartment at the time of the break and enter.
Upon discovery, the man walked out of the residence and was picked up by police at 6 a.m. in the area by Gorsebrook Junior High on South Street. A witness reported him as matching the woman’s description. The man was apprehended without incidence.
That morning Palmeter said of the man, “Given the location and that information, everyone is drawing the same conclusion and we are not oblivious to that. We are keeping that in mind but ultimately right now, we are investigating this one particular incident and then we’ll see where that takes us.”
Students speculated on the arrest during the day on Saturday:
“I’ve always read the bulletins on the sleep watcher and thought ‘oh my god, I can’t believe that is happening here,’” said Hilari Dennis-Bohm, a third-year Dal student who lives on Jubilee Road.
She said that lately she had forgotten about the night watcher in Halifax since he hasn’t been in the news. “It’s good to know that, potentially, he’s caught. I always lock the windows and doors to our place.”
Her roommate, Michlyn Fournier, agreed.
“I told my parents about the sleep watcher and they told me never to be home alone and to lock my doors. I’m sure they would be relieved.”
Siobhan O’Beirne, a fourth-year King’s student, said she has never let her guard down.
“We always make sure we lock our doors at night. Even if we’re drunk, we know to lock our door.” She said Halifax gives the illusion of being a safe city, a misconception that can be dangerous for newcomers.
“I hate walking home alone really late at night. If incidences with the sleep watcher can happen once, they can happen again and you just never know.”
This is a revised, extended version of the earlier breaking story. See the first two versions.
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