Peter Demeter

Peter Demeter ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|ɛ|m|ə|t|ər}}; born 19 April 1933) is a Hungarian-born Canadian former real estate developer convicted in 1974 of arranging the murder of his wife. It was the longest trial in Canadian history to that date, and revealed that both husband and wife may have been plotting to murder the other to collect a {{CA$|1|link=yes}}{{nbsp}}million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|CA|1|1974|r=1|fmt=c}}{{nbsp}}million in {{Inflation/year|CA}}) insurance policy. The suspected contract killer Demeter hired was identified but never found.

While serving his sentence and living in a convicts' halfway house, in 1983 Demeter was charged on two counts with trying to arrange the kidnapping and murder of the son of his cousin; the latter was managing his financial affairs. In 1985 Demeter was convicted of the charges and given a second life sentence.

Early life and education

Demeter was born in Budapest, Hungary into a wealthy family that became impoverished following World War II and the rise of the Communist government. In 1956, at the age of 23, Demeter emigrated to Canada. He was among 200,000 refugees who escaped from the country after suppression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 by Soviet forces.{{Cite book |title=The 1956 Hungarian Revolution, A History in Documents |series=A National Security Archive Cold War Reader |editor-first1=Csaba |editor-last1=Békés |editor-first2=Malcolm |editor-last2=Byrne |editor-link2=Malcolm Byrne |editor-first3=János M. |editor-last3=Rainer |chapter=Document 8 {{!}} Report by Soviet Deputy Interior Minister M. N. Holodkov to Interior Minister N. P. Dudorov, November 15, 1956 |publisher=CEU Press |location=Budapest |year=2002 |isbn=978-963-9241-48-0 |url=https://ceupress.com/books/html/The1956HungarianRevolution.html |chapter-url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB76/doc8.pdf |access-date=2024-06-25}}{{Cite book

|title=1956: European and global perspectives, Volume 1 of Global history and international studies

|publisher=Leipziger Universitätsverlag |year=2006 |location=Leipzig |page=16 |isbn=3-937209-56-5}} By 1962, Demeter had started a successful career in Toronto as a land developer.

Marriage and family

In 1967 Demeter married Christine Ferrari, an Austrian-born model. They had a daughter, Andrea,{{cite news |title=Demeter guilty of murder plot |date=1985-07-03 |agency=The Canadian Press |work=The Gazette |location=Montreal |page=B-4 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hRUyAAAAIBAJ&pg=3290,525872&dq=peter-demeter+cousin+convicted&hl=en |access-date=2010-10-17 |via=Google News Archive}} together, but the marriage became strained. On 18 July 1973, the 33-year-old Christine was found murdered, bludgeoned to death in the garage of their family home in Mississauga, Ontario.

By 1985, when Demeter was convicted for later criminal acts, he was engaged to a woman named Lisa Ross.{{cite news |title=Demeter Convicted of Trying to Kill Cousin |date=1985-07-03 |agency=The Canadian Press |work=The Windsor Star |page=A-1 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bWQ_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=oFMMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4644%2C314787 |access-date=2024-06-25 |quote=His fiancee, Lisa Ross, was the only spectator in the courtroom... |via=Google News Archive}}

Criminal charges and trials

Demeter was charged with the murder of his wife Christine on 18 July 1973 at their home at 1437 Dundas Crescent North, Mississauga, Ontario. He was subsequently tried for murder, in London, Ontario, and represented by lawyers Edward Greenspan and Joseph Pomerant.

In what was then the longest trial in Canadian history, he was convicted on 6 December 1974 of arranging for the murder and was sentenced to life imprisonment. The two primary witnesses for the prosecution included a so-called Mr. X who was hooded (to protect his identity) throughout the trial and later identified as Gyala Virag who testified that Demeter had hired a contract killer with the nickname "The Duck" ({{Langx|hu|Kacsa}}), later identified as a small-time criminal named Imre Olejnyik.{{cite news |title=Canada's most notorious murder case happened in Mississauga in the 1970s |last=Newport |first=Ashley |date=2022-10-02 |website=insauga.com |url=https://www.insauga.com/canadas-most-notorious-murder-case-happened-in-mississauga-in-the-1970s/ |access-date=2024-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240302102836/https://www.insauga.com/canadas-most-notorious-murder-case-happened-in-mississauga-in-the-1970s/ |archive-date=2024-03-02 |url-status=live}}

The other significant witness was Demeter's former friend and police informant, Csaba Szilagy, who testified that the defendant had tried to hire him to murder Ferrari.{{cite news |title=Couple Plotted Each Others Murder |first= |last= |date=1974-12-22 |work=San Antonio Express |page=128 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/51094808/ |access-date=2016-07-02 |url-access=subscription |via=Newspapers.com}} The prosecution's case was aided by tapes secretly recorded by Szilagy of conversations with Demeter after his wife's murder. During the trial, it was revealed that the husband and wife may each have been plotting to murder the other to collect on $1 million insurance policies.{{cite news |title=Demeter gets life for murder of wife |agency=The Canadian Press |date=1974-12-06 |work=Ottawa Citizen |pages=1, 35 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GMkyAAAAIBAJ&pg=4508,2410536&dq=peter-demeter&hl=en |access-date=2010-10-17 |via=Google News Archive}} Demeter did not testify but maintained his innocence.{{cite web |url=http://www.cancrime.com/2009/08/18/wife-killer-peter-demeter-gives-up-on-freedom/ |title=Wife killer Peter Demeter gives up on freedom |last=Tripp |first=Rob |date=18 August 2009 |website=CanCrime |publisher=Trumedia |access-date=2 July 2016}}

On 6 December 1974, the Canadian government requested extradition from Hungary of Imre Olejnyik, who was suspected of the physical murder of Christine Demeter.[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GMkyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=m-0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3813,2517412&hl=en The Canadian Press, "Government Requesting Extradition"], Ottawa Citizen, 6 December 1974, accessed 13 December 2012 He was never found. Subsequent news reports indicated that "The Duck" had died in Hungary in 1975.{{cite news |author= |title=Demeter Murder Trial One of Canada's Longest|url=http://www.niagarathisweek.com/opinion-story/3264728-demeter-murder-trial-one-of-canada-s-longest/ |newspaper=Niagara This Week, Metroland Media |location=St. Catharines, Ontario |date=16 April 2012 |access-date=2 July 2016}}

In 1983 while living at a convicts' halfway house, Demeter was charged with planning a kidnapping and murder of the son of the cousin who had been taking care of Demeter's daughter as well as his financial affairs. He intended to have this individual kidnapped to gain money and then have him killed. Demeter was convicted in July 1985 while in prison and given a second life sentence.

He was also charged with arson in 1983 in connection with the family home in Mississauga. In 1988, he was charged with planning to kidnap and murder the daughter of his lawyer, Toby Belman, resulting in two additional life sentences.

In May 2006 a judge ordered Demeter to provide a DNA sample to the country's DNA data bank, as law enforcement was collecting data from prisoners. (Demeter had refused to allow a sample to be taken.)

While in prison, Demeter has suffered a stroke and a heart attack. He has had chemotherapy administered in relation to three diagnoses of cancer.{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/demeter-ordered-to-hand-over-dna-sample-1.590395|title=CBC News - Toronto - Demeter ordered to hand over DNA sample|work=CBC.ca|access-date=17 October 2010|date=30 May 2006}} Demeter is serving his term at the medium-security Bath Institute in Bath, Ontario. In a CBC interview on 30 May 2006, he said conclusively that he will be in prison for the rest of his life.

In March 2019, it was reported that Demeter had applied for parole again more than 20 years after his first day parole had been revoked, but the Parole Board denied to release him from prison.{{Cite web|url=https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/mandel-infamous-millionaire-killer-peter-demeter-denied-parole-at-85|title=Infamous millionaire killer Peter Demeter denied parole at 85|last=Mandel|first=Michele|date=20 March 2019|website=The Toronto Sun|access-date=1 November 2019}}

In popular culture

Demeter's story and trial served as the basis for the 1978 fictional film I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses (also called Drop Dead, Dearest and Left for Dead), directed by Murray Markowitz. His figure in the movie, named Charles Kruschen, is played by actor Donald Pilon. His wife was played by Elke Sommer. The film caused controversy in the UK when it was listed as a video nasty by the Director of Public Prosecutions in 1984.[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1012155-left_for_dead/ I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses], Rotten Tomatoes, accessed 13 December 2012

The murder and trial were the subject of By Persons Unknown: The Strange Death of Christine Demeter, by George Jonas and Barbara Amiel, winner of the Mystery Writers of America's 1978 Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime book.

References

Stanley Gordon, [https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/peter-demeter "Demeter, Peter"], The Canadian Encyclopedia
George Jonas and Barbara Amiel, By Persons Unknown: the Strange Death of Christine Demeter (Macmillan of Canada, 1977)

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20051223081558/http://archives.zinester.com/56505/53970.html "Murders & Mysteries"], Archives at Zinester

Category:Hungarian emigrants to Canada

Category:Canadian businesspeople

Category:1933 births

Category:Living people

Category:Canadian people convicted of murder

Category:Canadian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment

Category:People convicted of murder by Canada

Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Canada

Category:History of Mississauga