Dark look inside Barrie’s encampment devastation: Where garbage and tragedy collide

Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall talks about the homeless encampment and homicide investigation.

Heaps of rotting trash, molded wood from makeshift two-storey shelters, and a jumble of belongings and debris hoard the fenced-off grounds of what was once a buzzing homeless encampment in central Barrie.

Recycling bins overflown, broken tents sit unattended in the mud, and collapsed man-made structures remain empty as a massive and long-overdue cleanup takes place.

The Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks has deemed the Barrie site ‘so hazardous’ that cameras are not even permitted inside.

As of Saturday, the damaged property remains still. Devastation fills the stale air. Fences block off the area that is scattered with belongings of former residents.

Photos obtained by CTV News show a dark look at the encampment’s level of living conditions.

The grounds, located in a quiet wooded area between Victoria Street, John Street, and Anne Street South was once home to nearly 40 to 60 people and quickly became the center of a frightening investigation.

Barrie police flooded the encampment on July 30, and the site has remained closed off ever since. Now city officials and environmental crews are taking the lead after a twisted months-long investigation.

The once tight-lipped probe has taken a grim turn. Robert Ladouceur, known on the streets as “Tattoo Rob,” according to police, is responsible for the deaths of William “Blake” Robinson, 45, and David Cheesequay, 41.

CTV News has learned Robinson and Cheesequay each had intricate pasts with criminal records. Whether the trio was known to each other remains unclear.

Officials say this investigation spans across multiple areas in the community outside of Barrie, including Huntsville and north Simcoe County, where suspected human remains were found. The evidence is now undergoing testing at a Toronto forensic centre.

On Friday, Barrie Mayor Alex Nuttall called the crime “heinous,” saying the impact on residents of the encampment is “unbearable.”

“As a city there is a lot to take in here,” Nuttall said. “We’re in the midst of a cleanup, and sometimes it just feels a little bit surreal for us.”

The greenspace is expected to remain closed for months, with cleanup costs projected to be steep.

Ladouceur, who was first arrested earlier this month on weapons-related charges and fleeing from police, appeared virtually in court Friday from Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene wearing an orange jumpsuit.

He is facing further charges of first and second-degree murder, two counts of indignity to a body, along with additional weapons and drug-related offences.

Police will not share any additional details until August 26, when a news conference is scheduled to be held at the Barrie police headquarters.

The allegations against Ladouceur have not been tested in court.

Related

• Former OPP commissioner calls Barrie homicide case ‘very complex’ with many challenges
• Barrie encampment site to remain closed for months as city begins multi-million dollar cleanup
• Barrie, Ont. encampment site remains closed: Here’s a timeline of what we know so far
• Primary suspect, 52, linked to week-long encampment investigation faces criminal charges
• Heavy police presence in Huntsville area linked to Barrie investigation