Charges against the 32-year-old London man accused of setting another man on fire in an east end parking lot have been upgraded to first degree murder.
Jonathan Lawrence Graham, 29, of London died in hospital hours after he was set ablaze in a commercial plaza near Admiral Drive and Trafalgar Street. Emergency crews were alerted to the fire attack by a 911 call that came in around 2:20 a.m. When they arrived on scene the flames had been extinguished and the 29-year-old was rushed to hospital with critical injuries. He died in a Toronto hospital.
London police at the scene where a man was set on fire at Trafalgar Street and Admiral Drive, July 12, 2022. (Photo by Miranda Chant, Blackburn Media)
Bradley Joudrey was arrested a few blocks from the parking lot around 3 a.m. as part of an unrelated impaired driving investigation. Investigators identified him as the suspect in the fire attack soon after. He was originally charged with attempted murder, but those charges were upgraded to first degree murder on Thursday, police confirmed. Joudrey is scheduled to appear in London court in relation to the charges on Friday.
According to police, Graham and Joudrey knew each other and had been engaged in a physical fight at a home on Noel Avenue before the fatal incident. Both had left the home separately, police said.
This is London’s third homicide of the year. Stephen Hutchinson, 66 died after being stabbed in the area of Springbank Drive and Wharncliffe Road on January 31. Gregory Cane, 38, of London has been charged with second degree murder in that case. On March 11, a woman died inside of a home at 455 Billybrook Crescent near Phillbrook Drive, leading to second degree murder charges against her 52-year-old husband.
