Bill Horace (
– June 21, 2020
) was a Liberian fighter, a former member of the
National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL)
and alleged
war criminal.
He fled to Canada in 2002 and was killed in his home in
London, Ontario
London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...
in 2020.
Early life
Horace was born around 1976 in
Buchanan, Liberia.
At the age of 12 he fled Buchanan as the NPFL took over the area, he later joined the NPFL.
Liberian civil war
In the early 1990s, during the
First Liberian Civil War, Horace was a General in
Charles Taylor's NPFL and was reported to have participated in or ordered massacres, executions,
crucifixion
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagi ...
s, and the recruitment of
child soldiers, primarily in
Maryland County
Maryland County is a county in the southeastern portion of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has two districts. Harper serves as the capital with the area of the county mea ...
.
Many of these activities were documented in Liberia's
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
A truth commission, also known as a truth and reconciliation commission or truth and justice commission, is an official body tasked with discovering and revealing past wrongdoing by a government (or, depending on the circumstances, non-state act ...
and the Commission's final report recommended that he face justice, but the recommendations of the Commission's report were never implemented.
In 1993-1994 word of Horace's activities in
Maryland County
Maryland County is a county in the southeastern portion of Liberia. One of 15 counties that comprise the first-level of administrative division in the nation, it has two districts. Harper serves as the capital with the area of the county mea ...
eventually reached Taylor, who sent a team to remove Horace, who then fled to the
Ivory Coast.
Canada, death
Horace moved to Canada in 2002 and applied for
refugee status, which was rejected in 2005, and also applied for
permanent residency
Permanent residency is a person's legal resident status in a country or territory of which such person is not a citizen but where they have the right to reside on a permanent basis. This is usually for a permanent period; a person with suc ...
.
Through the 2010s he was investigated by the Canadian government for war crimes, stalling his immigration proceedings.
He lived in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
and then in
London, Ontario
London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...
, where he was fatally shot in his home in a planned attack on June 21, 2020.
Investigation
In 2022, a 23-year-old suspect was charged with Horace's murder.
BBC News reported on speculation that his killing was linked to activities in Liberia, but that Canadian police stated his death was presumed linked to a network of criminal fraudsters in Canada.
Family
Horace was married and lived with his two children, who were 4 and 9 years old when he was killed.
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Horace, Bill
1970s births
2020 deaths
African warlords
Deaths by firearm in Canada
Liberian exiles
Liberian mass murderers
Liberian rebels
People from Buchanan, Liberia
War criminals