UPDATE: A new court date for Calvin Michael Nimoh has been set for March 31. The court was told further evidence, including surveillance footage, needs to be vetted by both counsel before the hearing can move forward.
By Lisa Coombs and Gregory Hanna
A new court date has been set for the man accused of fatally stabbing a Ryerson professor last month.
Calvin Michael Nimoh, 21, is facing first-degree murder charges in the death of Mark Ernsting, biomedical engineer and adjunct professor at Ryerson. Nimoh was in court on Thursday to hear the date for his next court appearance, which has been set for Feb. 25, 2016.
Ernsting, 39, was stabbed on McGill Street shortly before 9:30 p.m. on Dec. 15, 2015. He worked within Ryerson’s engineering faculty on cancer treatment drugs, according to an email following the incident from Ryerson’s interim president Mohamed Lachemi.
Nimoh was initially charged with second-degree murder, but the charges were upgraded to first-degree because police found new evidence that suggests Ernsting was forcibly confined. Investigators say this information is based on witness accounts and nearby video footage.
Tia Thompson, 24, Nimoh’s girlfriend, is also facing charges as an accessory to murder and obstruction of a police officer in relation to the Ernsting’s death.
On the same day Ernsting was stabbed, the accused is alleged to have taken part in another attack where a 65-year-old woman was stabbed multiple times and had her purse stolen by three people near Rosedale station.
Toronto police later charged Nimoh and two women with robbery, aggravated assault and possession of property.
Nimoh is scheduled to appear in court again on Feb. 28.
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