COPS SAY VICTIM'S FRIENDS HOLD KEY TO SOLVING CASE

Police believe friends of the victim hold information that's key to
solving the murder of a man who was fatally beaten while guarding a
marijuana grow operation on the Mountain about three-and-a-half years
ago.

Damian David Dymitraszczuk, 26, described as the caretaker of the
illegal crop, died in hospital on March 26, 2000, three days after he
was attacked inside a rental unit in an industrial mall at 55 Lancing
Dr.

Police are also appealing to the public for any information about a
full-size white Carter rental van that was seen behind the complex
where two units were broken into in the late hours of March 22 and
early March 23.

Dymitraszczuk, a native of Poland who grew up in Hamilton, was barely
alive when ambulance attendants removed him from one of the units in
the complex at about 10 a.m., March 23. He had suffered massive
injuries believed to have been inflicted with a baseball bat.

Police say he was living in the unit and looking after a marijuana
grow operation for another man who was later convicted of drug
trafficking. It was one of two units that were broken into and where
marijuana plants were being grown.

Police say they haven't established a positive link between the two
burglaries, other than the fact they appear to have happened at the
same time. Another man was charged and convicted with the marijuana
plants found at the second location.

Detective Paul Lahaie, of the major crimes unit, recently prepared a
Crimestoppers television re-enactment of the fatal attack showing the
rental van and another vehicle he described as a "passenger van." The
TV segment also showed one person walking across the street and two
people getting into the Carter truck in what was described as a "hub
of activity" the night of the fatal attack.

Lahaie suggested the victim might have gotten in the way while these
people were breaking into the unit or units and his death was a kind
of "collateral damage."

"It's a very solvable homicide," Lahaie said, "if people associated
with the deceased would come forward and assist police with background
about his associates and his activities the night before the homicide
and a month or so leading up to his death."