Police chief rules London woman’s death as murder-suicide, names killer

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Linda Davidson was ready to fight for as long as it took.

The grieving mother had pushed London police to release more information surrounding the death of her daughter, Tiffany Gates, who was found dead alongside her boyfriend, Chris Charlton, inside his Proudfoot Lane apartment building on Sept. 7, 2023.

Gates, 30, died from a single gunshot wound to the head, according to a coroner’s report that ruled her death a homicide, but police said privacy legislation prevented them from publicly identifying either deceased or saying whether either was a homicide victim.

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Davidson refused to back down in her quest for justice and personally lobbied police Chief Thai Truong to release more information on the case.

Now, nearly a year since Gates died, Truong confirmed Charlton killed her before shooting himself. Truong pledged to improve the way the force handles femicides, the killing of women and girls because of their gender.

“Nothing can change what happened . . . but I don’t think anybody else should have to go through this to try and fight for justice for somebody that was murdered,” Davidson said. “It’s stupid.”

London police are adopting new approach to combat intimate partner violence and femicide by raising awareness through public education initiatives and collaboration with partners at the municipal, provincial and federal level. In addition to taking recommendations from inquests, commissions and research, police are also working to improve data collection on femicides and intimate partner violence, providing investigators with a better understanding of the crimes and guiding prevention and enforcement efforts.

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Truong said releasing information on murder-suicides will be taken on a case-by-case basis.

“I need to weigh the greater impact to the community,” he said.

It was Davidson’s repeated calls that initially brought police to Charlton’s apartment at 565 Proudfoot Lane, where officers found two bodies inside. Police said the pair was known to each other and there was no threat to public safety, suggesting they weren’t looking for any suspects.

One week later, police said investigators recovered a gun from the scene and autopsies determined both deceased, whose names weren’t released, died from gunshot wounds, but neither death was ruled a homicide.

The void of information prompted Davidson, who lives in Niagara Falls, to turn to the media to get her message out.

“The thing that bothered me is that his family could easily say that she killed him,” she said of Charlton, a man she’d never met but saw as a threat to her daughter.

Charlton’s family hasn’t spoken publicly since his death.

“I couldn’t understand why they were protecting him. I was so mad,” Davidson said of police.

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Davidson’s frustration with London police grew earlier this year when the OPP publicly ruled a Jan. 31 double death in Central Elgin to be a murder-suicide. The OPP identified Tanya Wiebe, 34, and Kyle Savage, 34, as the two people found dead inside a Roberts Line home, saying both died of gunshot wounds and Wiebe was the victim of a homicide.

Davidson applauded Truong for listening to her concerns and taking action. She met with the chief and he even gave her his cellphone number, telling Davidson to call him any time.

“I told him I wasn’t giving up. I was going to fight until my death,” Davidson said. “He did the right thing.”

dcarruthers@postmedia.com

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