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TORONTO - A fugitive sought in the hospital deathbed robbery of an elderly woman has been taunting detectives with phone calls in which he says he can't be caught.
"He has called a couple times already today," said Det. Chris Higgins, of 54 Division. "He calls from different phones from across the city."
The suspect says to police, "You can't catch me," and hangs up, Higgins said.
"He is on borrowed time," the officer said. "It's only a matter of time 'til we get him."
Police said the noose is closing on Marcos Marinoni, 26, who's sought for conspiracy to commit an indictable offence and theft.
His co-accused, Isaac Lewkowicz, 29, appeared for a bail hearing at College Park court on Friday and his case was adjourned until March 23.
Purses and credit cards, which were later used, were stolen from patients in at least five hospitals in the GTA, Higgins said.
"They had this down to a science," he said. "It appears as if they have been doing this for a while."
The addresses of all the hospitals in the GTA were stored on a GPS, Higgins said.
Patients in maternity wards or palliative care units were targeted by the "heartless" thieves, he said.
Police have been flooded with tips after photos of the suspects were released. Officers said even criminals were calling in with leads.
The investigation began Tuesday night after family members of a woman in her 70s called police from the palliative care unit at Toronto East General to report she had been robbed of about $7,000 in jewelry when they briefly left the fifth-floor room.
The woman passed away minutes before police arrived.
Her gold necklaces, a diamond ring and some other items are still missing.
Police are in contact with pawnshops in the downtown area in case the jewelry is fenced.
Peel Regional Police Const. J.P. Valade said his officers are probing whether a Jan. 26 robbery at Credit Valley Hospital was linked to the case.
In that incident, a camera and laptop computer worth about $2,000 were stolen from the room of parents of a newborn, he said.
"We are looking to see if any of our open cases will have similarities to the incidents in Toronto," Valade said.
tom.godfrey@sunmedia.ca