This is why it is so important to never tresspass, and to always be safe when ghost hunting. It may be cool to investigate abandoned old buildings, but often there are many unseen dangers that can result in serious injury and even death. This is a tragic case, and one that urban explorers and ghost hunters should pay special attention to.
Ghost hunter killed in fall from building
By DON PEAT AND TOM GODFREY, SUN MEDIA
TORONTO — A first date with a playful, late-night search for ghosts inside a University of Toronto landmark ended in tragedy yesterday when a 29-year-old woman plunged to her death.
Leah Kubik, just two weeks shy of her 30th birthday, was found without vital signs inside a courtyard just before 2 a.m.
“They were believed to be exploring an old building because it’s rumoured to be haunted,” Toronto Police Const. Wendy Drummond told the Sun.
The Gothic-style, 134-year-old Connaught medical research building was the site of a grisly murder in 2001 but paranormal experts stress it’s not haunted, only rumoured to be cursed.
Police said the pair managed to enter the ivy-covered building through an open window and then climbed three flights of stairs to the roof. There was still dust used by forensic investigators to recover fingerprints around the window yesterday.
The man crossed from one roof to the other, but a wire the woman was holding onto gave way and she plunged several storeys to her death, Drummond said.
Police tape was still blocking people from one stairway, which is suspected to have been used by the pair to gain access to the roof.
Police said they are still trying to determine whether it was death by misadventure.
“(The investigation) is ongoing and we’ll have to go over any video surveillance, if there is any,” Drummond said, adding they are also awaiting toxicology reports and an autopsy.
American-born Kubik worked in Toronto as a support centre engineer. She had also worked as a bartender.
Bar owner George Bozikis recalled the former employee as a nice person who had an eccentric style accented by the homemade eyeglasses she fashioned.
The building, erected in 1875 as the former seminary for Knox College, is no stranger to tragedy.
In January 2001, U of T professor David Buller was found stabbed there.
The talented artist suffered several wounds during the knifing frenzy in the second-floor studio where he’d taught painting for 15 years.
Professor George Hawken said he was friends and a colleague of Buller. Hawken said employees use swipe cards to gain access to the building.
DON.PEAT@SUNMEDIA.CA
