In accordance with the Special Investigations Unit’s name release policy which requires consent from next of kin, the Unit is now able to identify 73-year-old Leslie Hegedus as the man who was fatally shot on July 15, 2020, in Haliburton County during an interaction with Haliburton OPP officers.
The SIU had submitted a DNA sample to the Centre of Forensic Sciences (CFS) to establish a possible next-of-kin for Mr. Hegedus, and the results were received this week. The SIU’s investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr. Hegedus is ongoing. So far, five civilian witnesses and four witness officers were interviewed. Another officer was designated as a witness officer, but investigators only requested the notes.
Both officers who were designated as subject officers consented to interviews and submitted their notes. A post-mortem was conducted on July 17, 2020, and the SIU is in possession of those results. A firearm that was collected at the scene as well as the firearms of the two subject officers were sent to the CFS for analysis, and investigators are awaiting those results.