Suspect in NYE double homicide in Halifax was wanted in Toronto shooting

CITYnews halifax / By The Canadian Press

Halifax police say the 39-year-old man who allegedly killed a woman and her father on New Year’s Eve was a fugitive wanted in a 2019 Toronto nightclub shooting.

Investigators say Matthew Costain died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound a few hours after he shot and killed 40-year-old Cora-Lee Smith and her 73-year-old father, Bradford Downey, in downtown Halifax on Dec. 31.

Police say Costain was in a relationship with Smith, and that the deaths involve a case of intimate partner violence.

Toronto police issued a warrant for Costain’s arrest on Sept. 6, 2019, alleging he was involved in a nightclub shooting a month earlier that injured four people.

Related:

• Killing of woman, her father in Halifax a case of intimate partner violence: police
• NYE murders in North End deemed to stem from intimate partner violence
• String of three murders in Nova Scotia raises alarm about intimate partner violence

The original warrant said Costain was wanted for illegal possession of a restricted firearm, aggravated assault and breach of probation.

Rev. Jivaro Smith, the pastor to the grieving families of the Halifax victims, says a time of counselling, prayer and healing is being planned for Monday evening in the historically Black community where they lived.

Smith, the lead minister of the Saint Thomas Baptist Church, said the church in North Preston, N.S., will partner with trauma counsellors and 902 Man Up, a non-profit group created to reduce community violence, to offer assistance to anyone affected by the killings.

He says the small community on the eastern outskirts of Halifax has been stunned and saddened by the deaths, which are the fourth and fifth murders linked to intimate partner violence in Nova Scotia since October.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 3, 2025.