http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... le2293677/Suspicious fire destroys Toronto-area farmhouse containing ‘confinement room’
Adrian Morrow
Friday, Jan. 06, 2012
A suspicious fire has destroyed an abandoned farmhouse east of Toronto that contained a room designed to hold someone captive.
The two-storey white clapboard century home, which sits off a secluded rural road north of Pickering, caught fire sometime before 1:45 a.m. Friday. Several passersby called 911.
The house, on land expropriated by Transport Canada to build a future airport, was slated for demolition. The federal government sent a contractor to inspect it in November. The contractor discovered a confinement room in the basement.
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Police would not say whether they had kept the property under surveillance since making the find in November or what progress had been made in their investigation into the confinement room. It is not known who built the room or whether it was used for criminal activity or for some other purpose, such as shooting a movie.
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http://www.thestar.com/news/article/111 ... =1#articlePHOTOS: Look inside the mysterious dungeon room destroyed in fire
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The low-resolution images show several different angles of the room, which is believed to be 12-by-8-feet, and was located in the basement of the abandoned 136-year-old home at 140 Concession Rd. 7 in Pickering.
The dungeon-style room was discovered in December of last year. Police described it as having a heavy door with several locks designed to trap someone inside.
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An unnamed source interviewed by CBC News said the room had been heavily fortified when it was discovered by contractors in mid-December and the door into the room was constructed from layers of lumber.
Speaking as if they’d been inside the room, the source told CBC News the windows in the room were strong enough a crowbar could not break them.
Another image shows four large jugs of water tucked neatly against the wall under the bench.
The source speculated that based on the appearance and contents of the room, it could have been used to hold a hostage or even torture someone.
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The house was last inhabited approximately five years ago, but police said the former tenants are not suspects.
Not a dungeon for play or a film set. You don't torch those. (And you would construct a set to resemble a confinement room, not to function as one.)
I have to wonder why the police disclosed its existence. I have to wonder whether someone with police connections destroyed it.
