Hamilton police charge Alberta man with murder in killing of Waterdown father of 2

An Alberta man has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of 55-year-old Dirk Nyhuis who was found dead in his Waterdown home on March 6, Hamilton police say.

Nyhuis, often called Jeff by friends and family, died of a gunshot, becoming the city's third homicide victim this year, police say.

Police said a concerned friend had gone to check on Nyhuis after not hearing from him for a while. The friend called police and first responders found Nyhuis dead in his home near Dundas Street East and Spring Creek Drive. 

At a news conference Friday morning, Det. David Brewster said investigators have since discovered that Nyhuis was killed on March 3.

"I would like to announce that we have arrested and charged 40-year-old Cory Mahoney of Alberta with the second-degree murder of Jeff Nyhuis," Brewster said.

According to Brewester, the motive "remains unclear at this time, but I can say that it does not appear to be a robbery and we have no information that it was drug related."

He said the accused and Nyhuis, a previously married father of two adult children, knew each other and it appears that Mahoney was invited into Nyhuis's home.

"An interaction between the two ultimately led to Jeff being shot inside the home. The details of the interaction remain unknown at this time, but we do not believe that it was a random act," Brewster said.

Brewster said Hamilton police travelled to Alberta earlier this week and arrested Mahoney without incident. He said police executed a search warrant at his residence, looking for additional evidence.

Mahoney was taken back to Hamilton to go before the courts, Brewster said.