5 Canadian cold cases solved with help of genetic genealogy | CBC News (2024)

In recent years, Canadian police have looked to genetic genealogy to help solve cold cases dating back decades.

The technique is relatively new andis continuing to make headlines — including this past week, when it was revealed that the 1975 murder of a Montreal teenagerhad finally been solved.

Sharron Prior had never been forgotten in the decades that followed her death. Police questioned scores of people,but an arrest was never made.

Almost five decades laterpolice say her killer has beenidentifiedthrough investigative efforts that included genetic genealogy— a technique whereby genetic database information is used to look at potential family lineages, in this case in a criminal investigation context.

Here's a brief look at othercold cases where the same investigative technique has been used.

A long-awaited name

In February, police in Windsor, Ont., revealed the name of a man investigators say abducted and killedsix-year-old Ljubica Topicin the border city in 1971.

Windsor police had revealed in 2019that the killer had been identified and that he was deceased. His name was not disclosed until this year.

Police named Frank Arthur Hallas the man responsible for her death. He lived on the same road as the Topic family. Halldied in Edmonton in 2019.

Investigators used genetic genealogy in their efforts to identify Hall, police said.

An arrest 4 decades after attack

In July 1981, a man grabbed, dragged and sexually assaulteda teenager in northeast Edmonton.

Forty-one years later, police in that city announced that an arrest had been made.

An investigator from the Edmonton force's historical crimes unit was assigned to review the casein 2018.

Investigators then pursued genetic genealogy in 2021 and found their way to the suspect.

Arrest made in 2 cases from 1983

Two separate, long-unsolved homicides that claimed the lives of Torontonians in 1983 received renewed attention last fall, when police announced the arrest of a suspect.

WATCH |Police announce arrest in deaths of Susan Tice, Erin Gilmour:

Police said the killings of 45-year-old Susan Tice and 22-year-old Erin Gilmour had been tied to a still-living 61-year-oldsuspect.

It had been known since 2000 that DNA linked a single individual to both killings.

But acold-case investigator told reporters that genetic genealogy had been key to identifying the suspect, nowcharged withfirst-degree murder in both women's deaths.

A 36-year wait for the truth

In October 2020, Toronto police announced that investigators had identified the killer of nine-year-old Christine Jessop.

WATCH |Genetic genealogy and the death of Christine Jessop:

Thirty-sixyears earlier, Jessop's abduction, sexual assault and murder had led to an intensive investigation.

A neighbour, Guy Paul Morin, was subsequently arrested and wrongfully convicted in her death. He was later cleared.

Decades later, the application of genetic genealogy led police to identify Calvin Hoover as Jessop's likelykiller. Hoover was deceased by the time this identification occurred.