As family and friends laid flowers at a memorial held last week-end, the question still loomed large: who killed David Buller?
Buller was found stabbed to death in his office at 1 Spadina Crescent on Jan. 19, 2001. Three years later, the killer of the beloved U of T fine art professor is still on the loose.
While a box remains on the desk of Detective Ken Taylor as a symbol that the case is still open, family and friends struggle with their own theories of what happened.
Some, such as Patricia Wilde, a lifelong friend of Buller’s, claims the person responsible for the murder knew Buller. When asked if he/she was a member of the university community, she said, “No comment…that means yes.” Wilde declined to name the individual.
Buller’s niece, Karyn Sandlos, wouldn’t pin down any suspects but believes that the fact that Buller was murdered on university grounds, in the middle of the day, is a significant piece of information. “It was someone he knew, beyond that…the time and place is connected [to the murder].”
The Chair of Fine Art at U of T, Marc Gotlibb, dismissed the fact that the killer was from U of T. “I’ve learned to not pay attention to rumours.”
The memorial was held on Sunday at Buller’s old office, the scene of the crime. The atmosphere was charged with emotion as the dozen family and friends that attended shared their memories.
Many recalled Buller’s dedication during his 17 years at the Fine Art department. “He loved teaching because of how rigorous the students were,” said Paul Casseleman, a lifelong friend of Buller’s. “He never spoke negatively of the responsibility of being a teacher.”
Gotlibb also had praise for Buller, calling him a “model faculty member and an anchor of the program.” Karyn Sandlos, Buller’s niece, remembers him primarily as someone who was accessible and devoted to his students: “He had a way of relating to young people that reflected in his teaching.”
Acting as a spokeswoman for her family, Sandlos was front and centre following Buller’s death. Sandlos spoke about the need to show how the murder had impacted her family, an impact which continues to resonate. “There’s not just grief but anger that someone’s walking out there who’s done this.”
Presenting her own prospective on Buller’s life was also forefront in Sandlos’ mind in seeking the media spotlight. “There was an assumed connection between the fact that he was a gay man and his murder. We all felt it was important to speak to who Dave was.”
Sandlos denied that the murder was a result of Buller’s lifestyle or that it was an act of homophobia.
Several endeavours are being made to keep Buller’s name and work alive. An exhibit of Buller’s art is to be held and one painting is slotted to be hung in the Fine Art student lounge. The David Buller scholarship will also be awarded this spring to three Visual Studies Master’s students, a program which Buller initiated.
