Dr. Michael Petrou, Adjunct Research Professor in the History Department, spoke to the National Post following the shooting of Bill Horace in London Ontario. A short excerpt is included below with the full article, “Liberian warlord’s slaying in Ontario puts more than alleged war crimes in spotlight” by Scott Maniquet is available online.
London police are looking for four suspects who forced their way into a house at 232 Pochard Lane early Sunday and shot Horace, 44, a former general in the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), a rebel group led by former Liberian president Charles Taylor that fought in the country’s civil war from 1989 to 1996.
Police have described Horace only as a Toronto man and say his alleged links to the former Liberian militia is part of their investigation.
Horace, who came to Canada around 2001 using falsified documents and who applied for refugee status, had been investigated by Canada’s crimes against humanity and war crimes program, according to Michael Petrou, a journalist and professor at Carleton University in Ottawa.
“It’s a tragedy, because I think he evaded justice for alleged crimes,” Petrou, who confirmed the man killed in London is the former rebel leader, said of Horace.
“Nobody, regardless of their alleged past, deserves to die like that.”
Petrou has traced Horace’s history including his years as a rebel leader for the NPFL accused of war crimes including murder, rape and torture, to a refugee in Ghana before he made his way to Canada using a false name and Dutch documents.