The mother of Rori Hache, whose torso was discovered in Oshawa last year, said she will “never bounce back” from the details she anticipates to hear surrounding her daughter’s death as her accused killer appears in court.
A 45-year-old man charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Hache and Kandis Fitzpatrick, who were both 18 years old at the time they went missing, appeared via video link in court on Friday morning.
“I don’t have any words for this guy,” the mother of Hache, Shanan Dionne, told reporters outside of the courtroom on Friday. “I don’t have any names to call him.”
Holding back tears, Dionne said learning about the details surrounding her daughter’s death while attending these court hearings will be “horrible to hear.”
“I will probably never be able to bounce back from the details but I’m her mother,” she said.
Dionne described the suspect as “smug to the bitter core” and “born without a soul.”
Hache, who was pregnant, was last seen alive at an Oshawa-area hospital on Aug. 29, 2017. Her torso was discovered floating in the water by an 11-year-old boy fishing at Oshawa pier with his grandfather in September 2017. Other remains later identified as Hache’s were found in a basement apartment belonging to Adam Jeffery Strong.
He was initially charged with improper interference with a dead body. The charge was upgraded to first-degree murder on Thursday, subsequently the Crown dropped the improper interference charge he was facing.
Officers said they also located DNA evidence belonging to a second woman, Fitzpatrick, at Strong’s home. Fitzpatrick was last seen in 2008 and was reported missing to authorities in 2010. Her body has not been located. Strong was also charged with first-degree murder in her death on Thursday.
Dionne said this investigation has brought strangers together as they deal with the loss of these two women.
“Unbelievable the way stars line up. Rori’s godmother actually brought Kandis’ name to me about six months ago and three months after that I was out for lunch and having a moment and a young lady recognized me and it turned out to be Kandis’ baby sister and she’s a wonderful girl, her father is a wonderful man, her brother is adorable and I couldn’t imagine going 10 years – we’re barely surviving the year and a half going through this,” she said.
Fitzpatrick’s family was not present at the court hearing on Friday.
Strong was remanded and is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 30 in Oshawa.
