durhamregion.com | This Week | Thursday, September 15, 2022 | 4 P: 905-430-4300 E: info@whitby.ca whitby.ca What You Need To Know This Week in Whitby 2022 Final Tax Bill Due September 26 - Residential, Farmland, Pipeline and Managed Forest Properties The final instalment of the Tax Billing for 2022 is due September 26. Questions? Contact the Tax Division at 905-430-4304 or tax@whitby.ca. For more information on how payment can be made, visit whitby.ca/Tax 26 SEPTEMBER Plan Your Vote Use the Town's 'Plan Your Vote' tool to find information on your candidates and available voting locations. You can also add yourself to the Voters' List or correct and update your information. Plan Your Vote Today! Scan the QR code or visit whitby.ca/PlanYourVote Join us in honouring the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Share your thoughts, reflections, and memories of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by signing Whitby's book of condolences online or in person at Town Hall (575 Rossland Rd. East). connectwhitby.ca/HerMajesty Join Us For A Tree Identification Presentation Do you want to know how to tell the difference between a White Pine and a Red Pine, a Sugar Maple and a Red Maple? Join us on September 21 at Whitney Hall at the Iroquois Park Sports Centre between 7 to 8 p.m. for a free presentation. Scan the QR code to register now or visit whitby.ca/TreeID A man accused of causing his girlfriend's death filed a missing-person report with police prior to the discovery of her body in a Whitby park, a jury has heard. Jeffrey Weldon told Durham police that his partner, Melanie Vachon, had left their apartment with the intention of visiting a friend and then disappeared, according to evidence presented at his trial on Thursday, Sept. 8. "I'm very confused about the whole thing," Weldon told an officer at a police station in Whitby when he filed the report on May 18, 2018. Vachon's body was found in a shallow grave near the Lake Ontario shoreline two weeks later, on June 2. Weldon, 47, was arrested in connection with Vachon's death in the summer of 2019. He has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and committing an indignity to a body. On Thursday, jurors watched the video recording of a statement Weldon gave to police when he reported Vachon missing, claiming he'd last seen her on May 7. At that time, Vachon was stressed out and decided to visit a friend in Scarborough who'd been injured in an accident, he told police. "She said she'd be a couple of days," Weldon said during the interview. When a detective asked if anyone had a reason to harm Vachon, Weldon replied, "I really hope not. I can't see any reason why." When the officer asked Weldon if he'd ever harmed Vachon, Weldon denied that was the case. "Oh, God, no," he said. "I never touched her. Never laid a hand on her." Following the discovery of Vachon's body in Gordon Richards Park, Weldon contacted police a number of times with tips about people who claimed they'd seen Vachon in Oshawa after she went missing, and a van the woman had been seen getting into, court heard. Police followed up on the tips, but they did not advance the investigation, court heard. Also on Thursday, a man who considered Vachon a close friend testified that it would be very unusual for her to leave home on her own and stay away without being in touch. "It just didn't happen," said Michael Sneed. Sneed also recounted an instance when he visited Vachon at the Dunlop Street apartment she shared with Weldon in late April of 2018, just before she went missing. Vachon was very upset and had marks on her neck, he said. "It looked like somebody had grabbed her by the neck," Sneed said. Vachon said Weldon had caused the injuries by choking her, the witness testified. "She was crying non-stop," said Sneed. "She told me she didn't want to be in the relationship no more." The trial, before Superior Court judge Howard Leibovich and a jury, continues in Oshawa. ACCUSED IN WOMAN'S DEATH FILED MISSING-PERSON REPORT JEFF MITCHELL jmitchell@durham region.com Jeffrey Weldon is accused of manslaughter in the 2018 death of Melanie Vachon in Whitby. Jeffrey Weldon/Facebook photo NEWS