Severed foot sent to Canada’s Conservative Party headquarters
A police officer removed a package from the Conservative Party headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario, Tuesday. A severed human foot was mailed to the headquarters of Canada's Conservative party and another body part was discovered when police intercepted a second suspicious package, police said Tuesday.
OTTAWA, Ontario >> A severed human foot was mailed to the headquarters of Canada’s Conservative Party and another body part was discovered when police intercepted a second suspicious package, police said Tuesday.
Police were called shortly after a receptionist opened a blood-soaked box at the headquarters of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s party. The first officers to arrive saw what appeared to be blood stains on the package and immediately called in a special hazardous-material unit. When the specialists opened the package, police found the severed foot inside.
Police said the package was addressed to the Conservative Party of Canada and not to a specific person. Harper’s office is not located at the party headquarters.
As the investigation developed, Ottawa police said late Tuesday night that they had intercepted a second suspicious package containing another human body part.
Police released no other details about the second find, and said the major crime section continues to investigate.
The horror was not confined to Ottawa. Ottawa police were consulting with their counterparts in Montreal after they discovered a severed torso in a suitcase. Montreal police sifted through a heap of garbage in the city’s west end to see if they might turn up any missing limbs. Authorities in both cities are trying to determine if there might be a link to the foot mailed to Conservative Party headquarters.
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Ottawa police said it was too early to speculate on a link.
A Conservative Parliament member who showed up later at his party’s headquarters was horrified by the discovery.
“It’s just awful,” said Brad Trost, who first learned about the incident from TV. He said it was probably someone’s “sick idea.”
“I don’t think any of us are thinking this necessarily has anything to with politics,” he said.
Trost showed up for a meeting but was told by police it was best to leave.
A spokesman for the Conservative Party would only say that a suspicious package was sent to their office before referring all questions to Ottawa police.
