Florida officers in Toronto for investigation into Canadian couple's murder

Hallandale Police Chief Dwayne Flournoy speaks about the murder investigation on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013.

Florida law enforcement officials probing the murder of a Canadian couple in their winter home have arrived in Toronto, where they plan to spend four days interviewing the victims’ family and friends.

Hallandale Beach Police Chief Dwayne Flournoy and three detectives from the force’s homicide unit touched down at Pearson International Airport shortly after 4 p.m. on Sunday.

They are investigating the deaths of David Pichosky, 71, who was known as Donny, and Rochelle Wise, 66, who were found dead in their Hallandale Beach home on Jan. 10. A neighbour had gone to check on the couple after repeated phone calls to their home went unanswered.

Flournoy told reporters at the airport that it wasn’t a specific piece of evidence or break in the case that brought them to Toronto. Their goal, he said, is to learn as much as they can about the slain couple.

“It’s really to develop the victimology of Donny and Rochelle,” Flournoy said. “Who were they? What did they do while they were here? What was their background, their past life experiences? That’s what we’re here for today.”

Pichosky and Wise spent the winters in Hallandale Beach, an eastern Florida community located between Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

The double-murder shocked other residents of the gated community, with residents vowing almost immediately to install alarm systems and put bars on their windows.

Police have remained tight-lipped about their investigation, and have not released the couple’s cause of death or a possible motive for the crime.

On Sunday, Flournoy would only call the case “complicated,” saying it involves “a tremendous amount of evidence.

“We’re going to solve this case,” he said.

With a report from CTV Toronto’s Scott Lightfoot