Canadian Man Identified as Perpetrator of Three Cold Case Homicides in Toronto
A Canadian man who died in 2019 has been identified as the perpetrator of three cold case homicides in Toronto, with investigators believing there could be more victims. The Toronto police announced that recent forensic testing and genetic genealogy conclusively identified Kenneth Smith, 72, of Windsor, Ontario, as the person who killed two women in the 1980s and a third woman in the 1990s.
According to the police, the first woman, Christine Prince, 25, was found dead on June 22, 1982, in the Rouge River in Toronto after she was sexually assaulted and struck on the head. The second victim, Claire Samson, 23, was found dead with gunshot wounds in Oro-Medonte Township on September 1, 1983. The third victim, 41-year-old Gracelyn Greenidge, died of blunt force trauma in her Toronto apartment on July 29, 1997.
Investigation and Identification
Police said Smith lived and worked in Toronto at the time of the homicides and had a history of sexual assault. Investigators believe there could be more victims, given Smith’s history and the fact that he was never investigated for these murders previously. The police used genetic genealogy to track down the suspect, creating a DNA profile to upload to public DNA databases and compare it to other profiles, helping to trace individuals within a family tree.
Det. Sgt. Steve Smith of the Toronto Police stated, “This case had haunted our office.” He also mentioned that the advancement of DNA technology has made it possible to solve cases that were previously unsolvable. Ontario Provincial Police Chief Supt. Karen Gonneau added that the police reviewed a number of unsolved homicides as DNA technology advanced, and it wasn’t until 2017 that they linked a suspect to all three women.
Serial Killers in Canada
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident in Canada. Earlier this year, the remains of two Indigenous women murdered by a convicted serial killer, Jeremy Skibicki, were found in a landfill in central Canada. In October 2024, a woman described by police as a serial killer was arrested in suburban Toronto and charged with three murders spanning three days. In May 2024, convicted Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton, who brought female victims to his pig farm during a crime spree near Vancouver in the late 1990s and early 2000s, died after being assaulted in prison.
The use of genetic genealogy has increasingly been used to track down unidentified criminal suspects and help solve scores of cold cases in recent years. This technology has unmasked several serial killers, including the Golden State Killer, Joseph DeAngelo, who pleaded guilty to 13 murders and 13 rape-related charges that spanned much of California between 1975 and 1986.
For more information on this case, you can visit Here
Image Source: www.cbsnews.com
