Man accused in Montreal Street stabbings dies in custody

A man accused of last year’s deadly stabbings on Montreal Street in Kingston has died in custody.

Andre Wareham, who was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder in relation to the stabbings of three people, has been confirmed to have died in late April of 2025 while in custody at Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Ontario. 

On Tuesday, May 13, 2025, Wareham’s lawyer, Steven Hinkson, answered a Kingstonist inquiry confirming the death and location.

Hinkson wrote, “Wareham died in custody. I am trying to find out what happened.”

Kingstonist originally received unconfirmed reports of Wareham's death on April 30, 2025, and contacted the Ministry of the Solicitor General on May 1, 2025, requesting confirmation .

A spokesperson for the ministry responded on Monday, May 5, 2025, with an email saying, “When a death involving an individual in custody occurs, the Office of the Chief Coroner conducts an investigation to determine cause and manner of death and the Ministry of the Solicitor General conducts an internal investigation and review of policies and procedures and quality of care. The ministry does not comment on any specific case that is under investigation; subject to a Coroner’s inquest; or subject to criminal investigations or proceedings.”

The case in retrospect

On Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, Kingston Police reported that three people had been stabbed in and around the area of the Integrated Care Hub (ICH) on Montreal Street.

Following the violent incidents, the accused man, Andre Wareham, ended up in an hours-long standoff with police. As the standoff continued, police confirmed that two of the three stabbing victims had died. 

The standoff ended just before 5 p.m., and the incident resulted in the closure of the ICH and the removal of people living in the encampment beside it, followed by a safety and security review on the part of the service providers at the ICH. 

Meanwhile, just before Wareham was apprehended, Mayor Bryan Paterson released a statement calling for the closure of the ICH, consumption treatment services (CTS), and encampment. This led many people to ask if those involved were confirmed to be clients of the ICH and/or living at the encampment --- information police had not yet disclosed. Services at the ICH have since resumed.

On the morning of Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, Kingston Police confirmed the accused's identity, along with those of the victims of his assaults: Taylor Wilkinson, 38, and John Hood, 41, who died on Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024. Kingston Police would not identify the third victim, who sustained life-threatening injuries, to protect that victim's privacy.

Kingston police also confirmed that Wareham lived near the ICH, but not in the adjacent encampment.

Kingstonist continued to follow the case through the courts, and by February 2025, the list of people Wareham was ordered not to contact had grown to over 80.

According to social media posts, Wareham was a proud father of daughters but had led a troubled life. Indeed, court documents from Thunder Bay show Wareham had been charged in 2009 with a murder in that city: the stabbing death of a neighbour. Wareham, who was also represented at the time by Hinkson, testified that the killing was done in self-defence. He was ultimately found not guilty of the charge of second-degree murder in that case.

A GoFundMe was created on May 4, 2025, by Wareham’s friend Shane Desloges, to help Wareham’s mother with the cost of cremation and a memorial, and to support Wareham’s young daughters.

Kingstonist will provide follow-up coverage of this matter if and when more information becomes available.