Toronto police say man who died in 2019 is perpetrator of 3 cold case homicides

TORONTO AP A Canadian man who died in has been identified as the perpetrator of three cold matter homicides in Toronto and investigators believe there could be more sufferers Toronto police declared Thursday new forensic testing and genetic genealogy has conclusively identified Kenneth Smith of Windsor Ontario as the person who killed two women in the s and a third woman in the s They say the first woman Christine Prince was discovered dead on June in the Rouge River in Toronto after she was sexually assaulted and struck on the head Police say Claire Samson was unveiled dead with gunshot wounds in Oro-Medonte Township on Sept They say the third victim -year-old Gracelyn Greenidge died of blunt force trauma in her Toronto apartment on July Police announced Smith lived and worked in Toronto at the time of the homicides and had a history of sexual assault and investigators believe there could be more casualties Genetic genealogy has increasingly been used to track down unidentified criminal persons of interest and help solve scores of cold cases in modern years chosen of them more than a half-century old or involving other serial killers It unmasked the Golden State Killer Joseph DeAngelo who pleaded guilty to murders and rape-related charges that spanned much of California between and Police can create a DNA profile to upload to inhabitants DNA databases and compare it to other profiles helping to trace individuals within a family tree Ontario Provincial Police Chief Supt Karen Gonneau disclosed as DNA device advanced police reviewed a number of unsolved homicides It wasn t until that they linked a suspect to all three women Toronto Police Det Sgt Steve Smith commented they were able to identify close familial relatives of the offender And he noted with that information the center of forensic science was then able to conduct the final comparison that led to the conclusive identification of Smith He noted 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 this day we believe it is feasible that there may be additional casualties who have never been identified Smith declared He explained Smith was never investigated for these murders previously He also mentioned he had been jailed at least once before the first two murders and twice before Greenidge s murder Source