Woman accused in downtown Toronto stabbing now charged with 1st-degree murder

TORONTO – A woman charged in an apparently unprovoked fatal stabbing in Toronto’s financial district late last year is now charged with first-degree murder.

A Toronto police spokeswoman says the charge against 40-year-old Rohinie Bisesar was upgraded from second-degree murder in court on Wednesday.

Const. Jenifferjit Sidhu says Bisesar is to return to court on Feb. 29.

Rosemarie Junor, 28, died several days after being stabbed at a Shoppers Drug Mart in Toronto’s popular underground PATH network of shops and restaurants on Dec. 11.

Security images taken at the time of the stabbing showed a well-dressed, long-haired woman making a hasty retreat from the drugstore.

Junor, a newlywed medical technician who worked nearby, was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries and died five days after the attack.

Bisesar was the subject of a manhunt for several days before her arrest.

Her lawyer said Wednesday that the case is still in its very early stages.

“It’s so early we don’t even have the package of what the allegations entail,” Calvin Barry said. “We just have to wait to see how it unravels.”

Barry added that being in custody has been “trying” for Bisesar.

“We’re just taking it week by week right now.”