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A man who died in 2019 has been posthumously identified as the perpetrator of three cold case murders in Toronto, with investigators suggesting there may be more victims. Toronto police confirmed Thursday that Kenneth Smith, 72, of Windsor, Ontario, has been conclusively linked to the murders of two women in the 1980s and a third in the 1990s.
The breakthrough came through recent forensic testing and genetic genealogy. Christine Prince, 25, was found dead in the Rouge River on June 22, 1982, having been sexually assaulted and bludgeoned over the head. 23-year-old Claire Samson was found with gunshot wounds on September 1, 1983, in Oro-Medonte Township.
They say the third victim, 41-year-old Gracelyn Greenidge, died of blunt force trauma in her Toronto apartment on July 29, 1997.
Police said Smith lived and worked in Toronto at the time of the murders and had a history of sexual assault, and investigators believe there may be more victims.
Genetic genealogy is increasingly being used to locate unknown criminal suspects and help solve a number of cold cases in recent years, some of them dating back more than half a century or involving other serial killers. it exposed golden state killerJoseph DeAngelo, who pleaded guilty to 13 murders and 13 rape-related charges spanning much of the California Between 1975 and 1986.
Police can create a DNA profile to upload to a public DNA database and compare it to other profiles, which will help trace individuals within the family tree.
Ontario Provincial Police Chief Superintendent. Karen Gonew said that as DNA technology advanced, police reviewed many unsolved murders. It wasn’t until 2017 that they linked any suspects to the three women.
Toronto Police Det. sergeant steve smith He said they were able to identify close relatives of the culprit. And he said that with that information the Center for Forensic Sciences was able to make final comparisons that led to the conclusive identification of Smith.
He said Smith lived and worked in Toronto during the period of all three murders. He was known to police and had a history of sexual assault.
“Based on the evidence we have today, we believe it is possible that there may be additional victims who have never been identified,” Smith said.
He said Smith had never been investigated for these murders before. He also said that he had been sent to prison at least once before the first two murders and twice before the Greenidge murder.