Matthew Thomas Sudds was shot to death, say Halifax police

Halifax Regional Police are investigating the city's sixth homicide this year after a 24-year-old man's body was found near Africville Park, a popular park in the city's north end.

The body of Matthew Thomas Sudds was found in a ditch by a passerby just after noon on Monday and the case had been declared a homicide by Monday night. He'd been shot to death.

Theresa Rath, a spokeswoman for Halifax Regional Police, said the passerby checked for a pulse and when she couldn't find one, she flagged down a vehicle to contact police.

"Investigators in our integrated major crime unit are leading the investigation into this homicide. They have spoken with Mr. Sudds' family and the family has told us that they actually last saw him on Thursday," Rath said Monday night.

"We're looking to speak to anyone who could tell us about his whereabouts or his movements in the last number of days."

Sudds' body was found on Africville Road, halfway between the Africville Museum and the Fairview Cove container terminal. The grisly discovery led to the overnight closure of the road between Barrington Street to the Windsor Street Exchange.

Officers were back on the scene Tuesday morning.

Sudds' body was removed from the scene at approximately 6 p.m. on Monday and an autopsy was conducted Monday night.

In 2012, Sudds was on the most-wanted list for the Halifax Regional Police, for assault and failing to comply with conditions. He was arrested in May 2012 by the Bridgewater Police Service and was scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 1 to face charges of possessing a weapon.

Sudds also had another court appearance scheduled in January 2014 to deal with two charges of assault.

"At this point we can't speak to any motive. It is very early in the investigation but we are looking for anyone who may be able to piece together Matthew Sudds' whereabouts over the last number of days or who he was with, what he was doing," Rath said.

"At this point we're still trying to determine what might have happened to him, cause of death, and we'll explore all the possibilities."