'Broken' family of murdered Tay man still looking for answers amid 'stalled' case

The family of a man murdered in Tay Township continues to grieve without any closure.

Christine Palmer said they’ve grown frustrated by what they see as a lack of response from police regarding the death of Jonus Keegan Palmer on July 5.

“We feel the case is stalled,” Palmer said, referring to police’s efforts to find her 24-year-old stepson’s killer.

“Any contact Jonus’s mom or dad have received haven’t given any hope this will be solved.”

Palmer said the rumour mill is rife throughout the township with stories about the murder.

“We have heard multiple stories from different people,” she said. “We have forwarded the information to the police. We forwarded the names of two suspects.”

But she said they recently received a text from an inspector who is no longer on the case saying “he had nothing to report.”

Requests to Southern Georgian Bay OPP for comment were forwarded to OPP headquarters.

“The OPP is continuing the investigation into the murder of Jonus Palmer,” OPP acting media relations manager Bill Dickson said. “While no arrests have been made, this very much remains an active investigation.”

Dickson said that since the investigation began, an OPP victim liaison officer has been in close contact with members of the Palmer family.

“The family has received regular updates and are meeting with the OPP lead investigators again this week,” Dickson said.

“While we empathize with the tragedy and loss experienced by the family, investigators are not able to share case details with the family or the media to protect the integrity of the investigation.”

The investigation began on Monday, July 5, 2021 at approximately 11 p.m. when Southern Georgian Bay OPP officers responded to a residence on Old Fort Road in Tay Township. Officers located a deceased man outside the home.

A post-mortem examination conducted two days later at the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service in Toronto confirmed the cause of death was a gunshot wound.

At the time, police said that there was no threat to the general public as Palmer’s murder was “not believed to be a random incident.”

Investigators did make an arrest at the scene, but it was unrelated to the homicide.

Furthermore, Dickson said police are interested in speaking with anyone who has information that could assist with the investigation. The public can call the OPP at 888-310-1122 or can provide information anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

For the Palmers, meanwhile, Christine said she vividly recalls how they were woken up by the police at 5:30 in the morning on July 6 and told the news no parent ever wants to hear.

“I feel like we’re part of this messed-up movie,” she said, noting undercover police officers attended Jonus’s funeral.

Palmer said her husband, John, continues to deal with a great deal of guilt related to his son’s death.

“Jonus moved out when he was 16 years old because he made some bad choices with drugs,” she said, noting that she and John opted to practise "tough love" to shield their two younger children, now aged 17 and 15, who live in the home.

“(John) has definitely changed a lot since this. It’s affecting the other kids, too. Our family is very broken and nothing’s being done.”

She said Jonus was living in a world that they knew nothing about.

“We thought Jonus did a lot of drugs as well, but one of his friends told us he just did pot," she said.

Jonus attended Saint-Antoine Daniel Catholic School in Victoria Harbour during his elementary years and then St. Theresa’s Catholic High School in Midland.

When he started to get into drugs in high school, Palmer said they took him for counselling to try to help him.

But as she remembers her stepson, Palmer said Jonus had a big heart and would always help out anyone in need.

“Jonus was a good kid,” she said. “He just had some issues. Nobody deserves this.

“Personally, my impression was he got caught up in that world and he could not get out of it.”