Toronto Star reporter dies

Toronto Star police reporter John Duncanson died in his sleep earlier this week, at the age of 43.

Duncanson left the Star in 2007 to seek treatment for alchoholism. He landed his first job at the paper right of of j-school at age 22.

He worked on a number of high-profile stories, inlcuding the Paul Bernardo case and corruption within the Toronto Police Service. He won a National Newspaper Award in 2002 for a series on race, crime and policing and another NNA in 2004.

Former Star publisher John Honderich said:

“John was the epitome of a superb police reporter. It’s sad that it ended this way. He had so much more in him.”

Duncanson’s Star colleague Jim Rankin said:

“John was a master at cultivating sources and making the people he interviewed feel at ease, even when speaking to a reporter wasn’t necessarily a good idea. If it was John Duncanson calling, you were usually in trouble, or about to be.”