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Police identify victim in suspicious Metchosin death; truck found in Oak Bay

Story updated: Foul play confirmed in Metchosin death - - - Police are seeking witnesses with information related to the suspicious death of a man found inside his Metchosin home on Friday. The man has been identified by police as Martin Payne, 60.

Story updated: Foul play confirmed in Metchosin death

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Police are seeking witnesses with information related to the suspicious death of a man found inside his Metchosin home on Friday.

The man has been identified by police as Martin Payne, 60. Foul play is suspected, West Shore RCMP said. The Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit, which probes homicides and suspicious deaths, is leading the investigation.

Mounties found Payne’s body in his home on Brookview Drive, after receiving a call that he was missing from work. Three days earlier, Oak Bay police found his truck on Woodburn Avenue. The red Ford F150 pickup truck was found at about 1 p.m. on July 9. Police are looking for anyone who might have seen the truck between the afternoon of July 8 and 1 p.m. on July 9.

Kym Hill, who lives next door to Payne, said he moved into the house in January 2016 with his daughter, but had been living alone for some time. She described Payne as a kind and quiet neighbour, although she didn’t know him well. Like many people on the street, he mostly kept to himself, she said.

Hill said her husband heard a commotion a few nights ago, but didn’t think anything of it at the time.

“It’s a bad place to commit a crime because it’s a dead-end and it’s a quiet place,” she said. Many of the houses on the cul-de-sac are set far back from the road with long, tree-lined driveways that afford privacy to the residents.

The house was cordoned off with police tape on Saturday as investigators in white suits gathered evidence.

Despite the scene, Hill said she doesn’t feel scared.

“It still feels peaceful, but it’s a bit tainted,” she said. “It’s super shocking and super sad.”

regan-elliott@timescolonist.com

 

photo Martin Payne truck
Martin Payne's red Ford 150 pickup truck. West Shore RCMP are seeking witnesses who saw this truck on July 8 or 9. - West Shore RCMP