The following is a list of unsolved murders in Canada. Hundreds of homicides occur across Canada each year, many of which end up as cold cases. [1] In 2021, the country's intentional homicide rate stood at around 2.06 per 100,000 individuals, [2] increasing for the third consecutive year. [3] Violent crime continued to increase in Canada during the following year, with the homicide rate reach 2.25 per 100,000 people in 2022, the highest rate in the past three decades. [4]
Year | Victim(s) | Age | Location | Province | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1926 | Agapit Leblanc | 39 | New-Brunswick | Canadian Fishery officer. He was 39 years old when he died on October 20, 1926, while investigating illegal smelt fishing. [5] He was the first Canadian Fishery officer to be murdered while on duty. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] His body was found underwater, weighted down with rocks. His murderers were never found. | |
1967 | Salvatore "Sammy" Triumbari | 34 | Toronto | Ontario | One of Toronto's oldest unsolved mob murders. Salvatore "Sammy" Triumbari was an extortionist who belonged to the Siderno Group. On January 6, 1967, he was gunned down in the driveway of his residence in North Toronto by multiple shooters. Police say that Triumbari was killed out of revenge for disfiguring a rival gang member, a crime he carried out with fellow mobster Filippe Vendemini. Vendemini would be assassinated two years later in another unsolved homicide. [11] [12] [13] |
1988 | Mary O'Donnell | 53 | East Vancouver | British Columbia | On July 28, 1988, Mary O'Donnell was heading back to her home from a A&W Restaurant when she was robbed and beaten to death by an unidentified assailant. Her remains would later surface on the premises of Templeton Secondary School. [14] [15] |
2002 | John Francis Alquiros | 31 | Timberlea | Nova Scotia | Thirty-one-year-old John Alquiros was killed via bullet wounds he sustained after being shot at by an unknown gunman (or gunmen). On the late morning of April 19, 2002, three youths stumbled upon his body while walking in the rural area of the Greenhead Road extension off Nova Scotia Highway 103 in Timberlea. The Halifax RCMP were able to determine that the site where Alquiros was found is also the same location where the fatal shooting took place. [16] [17] [18] |
2005 | Melanie Dawn Geddes | 24 | Regina | Saskatchewan | The skeletal remains of Melanie Geddes were discovered in a field 50 kilometres north of Regina, approximately four months after she had gone missing. Geddes, a First Nations mother of three, had been last seen alive leaving a house party that was only a short walk from her residence. [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] |
1991 | Lori Pinkus | 21 | Brockton High School | Ontario | While working in the area of Bloor Street and Lansdowne Avenue on the early morning of September 8, 1991, 21-year-old Lori Pinkus was assaulted, strangled, and left suffering from medical distress in the car lot of Brockton High School by an unknown assailant. After being alerted by a caretaker who discovered her, paramedics arrived at the scene and attempted to save her life but were unsuccessful in doing so. [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] |
1970 | Claire Gagnon | 16 | Dieppe | New Brunswick | Claire Gagnon's body was found in a field 300 yards from her home on May 25. She had a wire or a rope around her neck and a towel in her mouth. In 1993, charges were filed against a man who confessed to killing Claire. However, it was later confirmed that he had been in a psychiatric hospital when she had been murdered, and the charges were dropped. [31] [32] [33] |
1992 | Mariella Lennie | 17 | Great Slave Lake | Northwest Territories | Mariella Lennie was last seen on October 6, 1991, leaving the Discovery Inn on 50 Avenue. Twelve days later, she was reported missing. Her body was found floating on Great Slave Lake near the now-defunct Con Mine on May 8, 1992. Very little information about this case is available to the public. The police are quoted as saying that "suspicious death, foul play has not been eliminated." She had a four-month-old baby at the time, who she had left at home with her parents in Tulita. Mariella is one of many Indigenous women who went missing or was murdered in and around Yellowknife during this period. [34] [35] [36] |
1990 | Leah Salina Sousa | 13 | Cumberland Beach | Ontario | Shortly after midnight on September 1, 1990, an intruder broke into the home of the Sousa family while the household was asleep. The unidentified trespasser first entered the room of 39-year-old Lora Sousa, violently beating her into a state of unconsciousness before approaching the couch where 13-year-old Leah Salina Sousa was sleeping. Leah was then raped and dragged outside to the backyard of the house, where she was fatally bludgeoned with a blunt object. The family's 9-month-old baby, Michael Sousa, was also present at the scene but left unharmed in his crib. While Lora survived the attack, she was unable to recall any details of the incident, as a result of her sustained head trauma. [37] [38] [39] |
1992 | Marie-Ève Larivière | 11 | Laval | Quebec | On March 7, 1992, Marie-Ève was found strangled and sexually assaulted. Her clothed body was found beside a railroad track, in the industrial area in Chomedey, about 7 km from where she went missing. [40] [41] |
2007 | Fonessa Lynn Louise Bruyere | 17 | Winnipeg | Manitoba | Fonessa Bruyere was a First Nations teenager who was working as a prostitute in the Winnipeg area at the time of her death. She had last been seen alive getting into a green, two-door truck with tinted windows—presumably, a curb crawler who was soliciting her sexual services. Over the course of the following two weeks, she was neither seen nor heard from. Her remains were located at the edge of city limits. [42] [43] [44] |
1997 | Scott Steinert | 35 | St. Lawrence River | Quebec | American-born outlaw biker and prominent member of the Hells Angels Montreal chapter, Scott Steinert was last seen alive on the evening of November 4, 1997, when his presence (along with his bodyguard: Donald "Bam Bam" Magnusen) was requested at a meeting initiated by the gang's top-ranking national leaders. He was said to have departed for the meeting but never returned. On April 15, 1999, his corpse was discovered in the St. Lawrence Seaway, after it had floated to the surface. Examination of Steinert's corpse revealed that he had been tortured and bludgeoned to death. [45] [46] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] |
1982 | Delia Maria Adriano | 25 | Oakville | Ontario | On November 6, 1983, a lifeless naked body was located in a woodsy setting near Milton, Ontario. After examining dental records, the Halton Regional Police Service were able to identify the corpse as Delia Adriano, a 25-year-old Oakville resident who had gone missing six weeks beforehand. [52] [53] [54] [55] |
1933 | George Anthony Lenhard | 28 | Regina | Saskatchewan | In 1933, Constable George Lenhard was gunned down in Regina's warehouse district by an unknown individual(s). The very first Regina police officer to die in the line of duty, Lenhard was serving his third year on the police force when his death occurred. To this day, the murder remains unsolved. [56] [57] [58] [59] |
2005 | Sherri Lee Hiltz | 44 | Kamloops | British Columbia | In the spring of 2005, a dead body was spotted in the backyard of a vacant lot located within the 800 block of Surrey Avenue. Using the forensic science technique of dactyloscopy (fingerprint identification) would soon reveal to pathologists that the corpse belonged to 44-year-old Sherri Lee Hiltz. Hiltz, a recovering drug addict, was known to work in the sex trade. Investigators have concluded that Hiltz was the victim of foul play, as her body had been severely beaten. [60] [61] [62] |
2007 | Diane Gloria Paul | 54 | Dauphin | Manitoba | Diane Gloria Paul, the late wife of former Dauphin two-term mayor Alex Paul, was shot and killed inside the home they shared. Although initially thought to have been a case of suicide, an autopsy revealed to investigators that she had been murdered. [63] [64] [65] [66] |
1981 | Tammy Leakey | 12 | Dorval | Quebec | Tammy disappeared on the evening of March 12, 1981. At about 10:45 pm that evening, 73-year-old Ewing Tait was driving along Lindsay street in Dorval's industrial park, when he noticed something along the side of the road. Tammy's body was still warm when it was taken to Lachine General Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The autopsy revealed that she had been strangled with a rope or electrical wire. [67] [68] [69] [70] |
2002 | Donna Marie Kasyon | 20 | Saskatoon | Saskatchewan | Donna Marie Kasyon was stabbed to death at a Saskatoon bus stop by an unknown assailant. [71] [72] [73] |
1993 | Jillian Blatchford Fuller | 28 | Vancouver | British Columbia | In the early morning of March 4, 1993, an individual delivering newspapers contacted emergency services to report an active apartment fire. Vancouver Fire Department personnel were subsequently dispatched to the scene, where they discovered the remains of 28-year-old tenant Jillian Blatchford Fuller after extinguishing the flames. The victim's death was found to be a homicide, and that her apartment was set ablaze in an attempt to conceal the crime. Fuller had last been seen alive at the Fraser Arms Hotel (a bar inside the Rock Cellar Pub) by a waitress working there. The waitress told investigators that Jillian had made contact with a man that evening, and the two agreed to meet up later at her apartment. This individual has not since been identified, but is considered an important person of interest. [74] [75] [76] [77] |
1986 | Mary Ann Birmingham | 15 | Iqaluit | Nunavut | Mary Ann's body was found in her home in Iqaluit, Nunavut on May 28, 1986. [78] [79] [80] |
1987 | Lyette Gibb | 18 | Laval | Quebec | Eighteen-year-old Lyette Gibb was last seen at 1:50 am on April 25, 1987, after leaving a friend's house in Notre-Dame Street, Laval. Her remains were discovered on October 25, 1987, in L'Assomption. [81] [82] [83] [84] |
2007 | Glenn Brian Bourgeois | 37 | Halifax | Nova Scotia | Halifax Regional Police were sent to investigate the area of Maynard and Woodill Street after gunshots were reported within its vicinity. The officers arrived at the location to discover Glenn Bourgeois suffering from multiple gunshot wounds that would end up being fatal. Two African-Canadian teenagers were witnessed fleeing the scene, one of them wielding a firearm. These individuals have not since been identified, but remain significant persons of interest. [85] [86] [87] |
2000 | Patricia "Patty" Real | 46 | Etobicoke | Ontario | On the evening of July 18, 2000, Real and her boyfriend had just arrived home when an unknown intruder came up behind them and shot Real in the head. Her boyfriend struggled with the man, but he got away on his bicycle. [11] [88] [89] |
1969 | Teresa Martin | 14 | Montreal | Quebec | On September 12, 1969, the body of Teresa Martin was found in the parking lot of the Vieux Cyprès Tavern. Her body had been positioned deliberately to make her appear as she was sitting up against a wall. She was last seen leaving the Galeries d'Anjou cinema with her friends. [90] [91] [92] |
2008 | Brianna Danielle Torvalson | 21 | Edmonton | Alberta | The body of Brianna Danielle Torvalson was discovered in a rural area of Strathcona County, East of Edmonton. [93] [94] [95] [96] |
1999 | Richard Chacon | 31 | Vancouver | British Columbia | On July 25, 1999, Richard Chacon attempted to break up a fight between two men outside of The Car Wash, an after-hours nightclub, of which he was the manager. A gunshot rang out, and one of the men involved in the fight was shot in the stomach, rendering him paralyzed. Richard was also shot by the same bullet, and later died from his injuries. It is unknown who had shot the two men. [97] [98] [99] |
2011 | Graham Thomas and Jason Chapman | 35 & 31 | Ottawa | Ontario | Convicted felon Graham Thomas and Jason Chapman were left for dead in a pool of blood as they were closing up shop at Caribbean Exposure tanning salon in the Gloucester Centre. The shootings appeared carefully orchestrated, with a gunman walking into the mall at closing time surrounded by few witnesses, and making a speedy getaway out of an emergency exit door. Police seized $15 million in drugs linked to the double murder a year later. [100] |
1953 | Babes in the Woods murders (David and Derek D'Alton) | 6 & 7 | Stanley Park, Vancouver | British Columbia | The bodies of two boys were found concealed at Stanley Park in 1953, six years after the time they were actually murdered. Forty-five years later, upon DNA testing, the boys were identified as the brothers David and Derek D'Alton, aged 6 and 7. [101] The police had thought the boys to be between the ages of 7 and 10; both were wearing aviation helmets. [102] |
1977 | Ivan Wheeler | 27 | London | Ontario | Ivan was found dead in his taxi in the early morning of February 18, 1977, in the parking lot of a London racquet club. He had been shot in the back of the head. His wallet, coin changer, and brief case were found in the cab untouched. [103] [104] [105] [106] |
1978 | Theresa Allore | 19 | Compton | Quebec | Champlain College student Theresa Allore went missing on November 3, 1978. Her remains were found on April 13, 1979, approximately one kilometre from her dormitory building. |
2007 | Angel Edna Carlick | 19–20 | Whitehorse | Yukon | Angel Carlick was last seen on May 27, 2007, at a celebratory barbecue, not long before her graduation ceremony. On November 9, 2007, a hiker found Angel's body in a wooded area in Pilot Mountain, near Whitehorse, 5½ months after she went missing. The search for Angel didn't begin for weeks, as the RCMP believed that she was a runaway. The results of her autopsy were inconclusive, and investigators were unable to determine the cause of death. [107] [108] [109] [110] |
2005 | Cynthia Kudjick | 35 | Montreal | Quebec | Cynthia Kudjick was found on January 3, 2005. She had been savagely beaten and left for dead on the street. She was found unconscious on the sidewalk by EMTs who took her to the hospital, where she died soon after. She was considered the first Indigenous female murder victim of 2005. [111] [112] [113] [114] [115] |
2008 | Lindsay Buziak | 24 | Saanich | British Columbia | Lindsay Buziak, a real estate agent, was stabbed to death after being lured to an empty home by a couple posing as prospective buyers. She had been stabbed over 40 times in the head and chest. [116] |
2008 | Jaumar "Maury" Carvery | 21 | Halifax | Nova Scotia | At 12:08 am on May 3, 2008, police officers heard gunshots near Sunrise Walk and Olympic Court in north Halifax. They found 21-year-old Jaumar Carvery, who had been shot. He was rushed to the hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. [117] [118] [119] [120] [121] [122] |
1995 | Nola Belisle | 37 | Regina | Saskatchewan | While participating in a charity walk from Moose Jaw to Regina, a truck speeding on the Trans-Canada Highway struck Nola Belisle with its side-view mirror. She was immediately propelled into a roadside ditch as the driver continued on. Her accompanying companion, Laurie Acott, quickly sought for help. Right after the accident had occurred, the truck was reported to have allegedly pulled in front of a motor coach that had been serving as an escort for the pair. Suddenly, after coming to a brief stop, it fled the scene. Nola Belisle was promptly rushed to the closest hospital, where she would die as a result of the severe injuries she had sustained from the traffic collision. The driver of the truck responsible for Belisle's death has never come forward or been identified. [123] [124] [125] |
1998 | Bindy Johal | 27 | Vancouver | British Columbia | Bhupinder "Bindy" Singh Johal was an Indo-Canadian mobster and drug trafficker with connections to the criminal underworld of British Columbia. On December 20, 1998, he was shot behind the right ear while on the dance floor of the Palladium nightclub. |
1976–1977 | Gordon Sanderson ("Septic Tank Sam") | 26 | Tofield | Alberta | On April 13, 1977, a body was discovered in a septic tank on a rural property in Tofield, Alberta, after the property owner discovered a leg in the tank. The police spent an hour emptying the tank with ice cream buckets and retrieved the body. An autopsy revealed that Sanderson, then known as "Septic Tank Sam," had been beaten, burned with a butane torch and cigarettes, and sexually mutilated to the point where it took months for his sex to be determined, before finally being shot in the head and torso. His murderer(s) then dumped the body into the septic tank headfirst, and filled it with quicklime to speed up decomposition, although it actually slowed it instead. On June 30, 2021, 44 years after Sam's initial discovery, he was identified as Gordon Edwin Sanderson through genetic genealogy. |
2020 | O'Neill-Cius Williams | 23 | Montreal | Quebec | Longtime West Island resident O'Neill-Cius Williams was using drugs with another 23-year-old man in a parked vehicle in Pierrefonds-Roxboro, when a car pulled up next to the pair and started shooting. Williams attempted to drive away, but crashed into a fence outside a house on Dauville Street. O'Neill-Cius Williams was later taken to a hospital, but died as a result of the wounds sustained in the shooting. The passenger who accompanied Williams was unharmed. [126] [127] |
1999 | Raymond Paul Chase | 34 | Dartmouth | Nova Scotia | Dartmouth resident Raymond Paul Chase was shot in his vehicle as he pulled into the driveway of his residence at Cole Harbour. [128] [129] [130] Chase had been a known drug dealer who was reportedly associated with outlaw motorcycle clubs, including the notorious Hells Angels. [131] It is still unknown who gunned him down, or the motive, but the homicide may have been gang-related or connected to organized crime. |
1995–1996 | Mary Lidguerre | 30 | Mount Seymour | British Columbia | Mary Lidguerre disappeared from Vancouver's Downtown East Side in July 1995. Her skeletal remains were discovered on Mount Seymour in August 1996, she was not identified until 1997. Mary was a sex worker and drug addict. Her case has been linked by some officials to The Hemlock Valley Murders. [132] [133] [134] [135] |
1990 | Henri Léger | 70 | Haute-Aboujagane | New Brunswick | On the evening of November 28, 1990, two armed and masked men forcibly entered Henri's home. Henri was with his wife, Eveline Leger, and Sophie Leger, all of who were senior citizens. Eveline and Sopher were tied up while Henri was severely beaten. The men sacked the home and left with an undisclosed amount of money. Henri never regained consciousness, and died in August 1993. [136] |
2000 | Gaetano "Guy" Panepinto | 41 | Toronto | Ontario | Gaetano Panepinto was a Toronto mobster and funeral home owner, who was attempting to distance himself from organized crime. The murder of his alleged lover, Patricia Real, occurred in the same year, and also remains unsolved. [137] [138] [139] |
2012 | Bernadine Leanne Quewezance | 36 | Saskatchewan Highway 16 | Saskatchewan | Bernadine Quewezance's body was found in a ditch beside a service road near Highway 16, about two kilometres outside of Saskatoon. She had been living with friends at the time of her death, and had five children. [140] [141] [142] |
2011 | Paul Frappier (Bad News Brown) | 33 | Montreal | Quebec | Rapper Paul Frappier, better known by his stage name Bad News Brown, was found murdered near the Lachine Canal in southwest Montreal. Local police say that he had sustained injuries to his head with "clear signs of violence" on his upper body. So far, no arrests have been made, and the motive for the killing is unknown. [143] [144] [145] |
1962 | Alexandra Wiwcharuk | 23 | City Park, Saskatoon | Saskatchewan | Nursing student and beauty queen Alexandra Wiwcharuk was found brutally murdered in a shallow grave at a Saskatoon river bank, nearly two weeks after she went missing. [146] |
1978 | Manon Dubé | 10 | Ayer's Cliff | Quebec | Manon Dubé was a child from Sherbrooke, in southern Quebec, Canada. She went missing in January 1978, and her remains were found many kilometres away, about two months later. There was speculation that she might have been killed by a hit-and-run driver, who then hid the body to conceal the crime. [147] [148] [149] [150] [151] |
2005 | Melissa Ivy Chaboyer | 35 | Thompson | Manitoba | The body of Melissa Ivy Chaboyer, a part-time taxi driver, was discovered beside her cab in the City Centre Mall parking lot, after being stabbed by her two passengers who fled on foot. [152] [153] |
2008 | Willene Wah Ying Chong | 76 | Vancouver | British Columbia | While asleep in her bed in the early hours of September 11, 2008, an arsonist set fire to the home of Willene Chong. She had succumbed to the severe burns that she sustained in the fire. Vancouver Police Department investigators have noted that a number of fires in the vicinity had been set that same morning. The police are currently searching for a group of unidentified youths who were spotted around Ms. Chong's house and the scenes of the other fires. [154] [155] [156] [157] |
1968 | Newton Harold Boutilier | 81 | French Village | Nova Scotia | Newton Boutilier was found deceased in his residence, which also served as a small general store, which he owned and operated on Highway 33. Foul play was not originally suspected. Traces of blood were found on a door and an ice cream cooler, and an autopsy was later ordered. [158] [159] [160] [161] |
1971 | Alice Pare | 14 | Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton | Quebec | Alice Pare disappeared on her way home from a music lesson in Drummondville. On the morning of April 26, 1971, her body was found about 60 feet from a gravel road, still in her school uniform. [162] [163] [164] [165] |
2014 | Tina Fontaine | 15 | Winnipeg | Manitoba | Tina Fontaine was a First Nations teenage youth who initially went missing multiple times throughout the early month of August 2014, but was later found deceased. She was last seen alive accompanying an individual who was soliciting a sex act from her. Fontaine's body was later found at the bottom of the Red River. |
2009 | Tanya Jean Brooks | 36 | Halifax | Nova Scotia | Tanya's remains were found beside the former St. Patrick's-Alexandra School on Maitland Street in Halifax on May 11, 2009. Investigators believe that Tanya knew her assailant(s). [166] [167] [168] [169] [170] [171] |
1984 | Napanee Jane Doe | 16–25 (estimate) | Napanee | Ontario | The corpse of an unidentified white female between the ages of 18 and 25 years old was found in a ditch along a rural highway near Napanee, Ontario. It is believed that she was not a local resident, but had been murdered elsewhere, possibly in Quebec, and dumped at this location. [172] [173] |
2004 | Rhoda Maksagak | 49 | Cambridge Bay | Nunavut | In March 2007, Christopher James Allukpik pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the death of Rhoda Maghagak. He was sentenced to life without eligibility for parole for 10 years. Rhoda had been dragged out of bed in the early morning hours and stabbed 23 times. Allukpik stated that he "hated women", and his motive was to "take his anger out on [Rhoda]". [174] [175] |
1988 | Chantal Rochon | 17 | Blainville | Quebec | Chantal Rochon had last been seen on June 11, 1988, near her home. She was reported missing on June 15, and her remains were founded in a wooded area in Blainville on June 22. [176] [177] [178] |
1962 | Julian "Julie" Wolanski | 16 | Toronto | Ontario | Julian Wolanski was found in a roadside ditch by the Humber River in northwest Toronto, wearing only silk stockings. Her autopsy revealed that she had been raped and beaten, and then her killer shot her in the heart with a .32-calibre bullet fired at close range. [179] [180] [181] [182] |
1977 | Louise Camirand | 20 | Magog | Quebec | Louise Camirand was last seen on March 23, 1977, at a Provi-Soir convenience store in Sherbrooke. Her remains were found two days later along McDonell Road near Giguère Road (now Duval Road), near Austin (now Magog). [183] [184] [185] [92] |
2017 | Michael Widner | 39 | Vancouver Island | British Columbia | The body of Michael Widner, a prospect for the Nanaimo chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, was discovered near Port Renfrew in March 2017. Widner's homicide is believed to have been an assassination, due to his involvement with the Hells Angels and organized crime. [186] [187] [188] [189] |
1993 | Shelley Denise Connors | 17 | Halifax | Nova Scotia | On June 1, 1993, Shelley's body was found about 200 yards from the Spryfield Lyons Rink at 25 Drysdale Road. She had disappeared from her home on May 29. [190] [191] [192] [193] [194] [195] |
2007 | Eric Boateng | 21 | Toronto | Ontario | Eric Boateng had visited an inmate at the Don Jail, and while he was returning to his parked car, he was shot and killed. He had a history of trouble with the law. [196] [197] [198] [199] [200] [201] [202] |
1998 | Tara Singh Hayer | 62 | Surrey | British Columbia | Indo-Canadian newspaper publisher Tara Singh Hayer was killed via gunshot while getting out of his car in the garage of his residency. It was later determined that Hayer was murdered after reporting about terrorism, as this had not been the first attempt on his life. As of 2020, no one was ever charged with Tara Singh Hayer's murder, and the case remains unsolved. |
1991 | Cartierville John Doe | 30–49 (estimate) | Cartierville | Quebec | On March 1, 1991, the remains of a naked unidentified male who had sustained traumatic injuries were discovered in Parc de Louisbourg in the Cartierville suburb of northern Montreal. The victim's hands had been severed, and he had been stabbed 127 times in various parts of his body, including his face and penis. [203] |
1996 | Bao Manh Le | 27 | Toronto | Ontario | A shooting occurred on October 28, 1996, on Carlaw Avenue, and Bao Manh Le was pronounced dead at the scene. The gunman and the motive for the crime remain unknown. [204] [205] |
1996 | David Jon Malloy | 44 | North Vancouver | British Columbia | David was found laying in the alley in the 700 Blk. of West 20th St. suffering from multiple stab wounds. His cab had been stolen by the individual who stabbed him. The man had also stolen his wallet. [206] [207] [208] [209] |
1985 | Franklin Dimitrios Shoofey | 44 | Montreal | Quebec | Shoofey, a prominent criminal defense lawyer in Canada, was gunned down outside his Montreal law office on Cherrier Street. [210] The hit was carried out in a professional manner. [211] Just shortly after his death, the Montreal Gazette received a phone call from a male individual who claimed to be affiliated with a terrorist group known as the Red Army Liberation Front. He spoke on behalf of the organization, proudly announcing that he and his "colleagues" were responsible for Shoofey's assassination. On the contrary, a representative for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service suggested that the call may have simply been an attempt to throw-off the investigation, as this was the first that authorities had ever heard of such a group. [212] A prominent theory regarding the Frank Shoofey homicide case names mobsters as the ones responsible for the crime. At the time of his death, Shoofey had reportedly been involved in a dispute with Cotroni crime family kingpin Frank Cotroni over the interests of Montreal boxer Dave Hilton Sr. [213] [214] |
1996 | Samuel Lottery | 17 | London | Ontario | Samuel was reported missing to London Police Service on January 19, 1996. In March 1996, a letter was found at the Pillar of Fire Church. The letter contained information about Sam, as well as a picture of him that had been in his wallet. In November 1996, another letter arrived at Samuel's parents' home. In May 1997, human bones were located along the Thames River south of Blackfriars Bridge. In November 2003, a human jawbone was located near the same location. In April 2008, a human skull was found on the bank of the Thames River. [103] [215] [216] |
2001–2002 | Laura Lee Cross | 33–34 | Dartmouth | Nova Scotia | Initially having been reported as missing over a year earlier, the skeletal remains of Dartmouth woman Laura Lee Cross were recovered in late 2002. [217] [218] [219] |
2010 | Nicolo Rizzuto | 86 | Montreal | Quebec | Godfather of the notorious Rizzuto crime family. Shot dead by an unidentified assailant while in his Cartierville residence. [220] |
2010 | Sultan Dailey | 20 | Parkdale | Ontario | Sultan Dailey was found in the Close Avenue Parkette, near Queen Victoria Junior Public School. The crime is believed by police to be related to the drug trade. Dailey had previously been in trouble with the law. [221] [222] [223] [224] |
2005 | Samantha Tayleen Berg | 19 | Edmonton | Alberta | Samantha's body was found frozen under a pile of snow in a parking lot known for prostitution. In December 2003, Samantha had registered with Project Kare. She provided them with a photo and contact information, in the event that she went missing or was found dead. [225] [226] [227] [228] [229] |
2010 | Amber Tuccaro | 20 | Edmonton | Alberta | A First Nations woman who was last seen accepting a ride from an unidentified male. Tuccaro intended to hitchhike from Nisku to Edmonton, but police believe her driver took her to rural Leduc County. Her body was found in Leduc County in 2012. The driver has never been identified, and the case remains unsolved. [230] |
1999 | Cathy Berard | 61 | Vancouver | British Columbia | A jogger found Cathy, bleeding and unconscious, at David Thompson Secondary School on July 5, 1996. She had been beaten and sexually assaulted. Cathy died on January 2, 1999. [231] [232] |
1991 | Asau Tran | 38 | Toronto | Ontario | Vietnamese mobster Asau "Johnny" Tran was fatally shot, along with his girlfriend, outside a Dundas St. restaurant in downtown Toronto. While his killer has never been named, his death was thought to be caused by a turf war between Vietnamese gangs, as it was one of more than 10 murders at Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants that summer in 1991. [233] |
1981 | Kristin Gurholt | 34 | Vancouver | British Columbia | Kristin Gurholt's body was found in an alley behind 575 Richards Street on September 4, 1981. She was naked, and her skull was fractured. Her clothing was scattered around her, and a suitcase with her possessions was found nearby. [234] [235] [236] [237] [238] |
1975 | Diane Déry and Mario Corbeil | 13 & 15 | Longueuil | Quebec | On May 20, 1975, Diane Déry and Mario Corbeil left Diane's home to go for a motorcycle ride. Their bodies were found the next morning in a wooded area at the end of Rolland-Therrien boulevard. [239] [240] [241] |
2005 | Leon Anthony Adams | 32 | Halifax | Nova Scotia | On May 22, 2005, Leon Anthony Adams had been found lying in a hallway in his home, after being shot. He was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital. His murder remains unsolved. [242] [243] |
2001 | Cecil Hinds | 33 | Rexdale | Ontario | Cecil Hinds was a pharmacist who had immigrated to Canada from Guyana in 1982 with his six older siblings and his mother. The family initially lived in Rexdale, but later moved to Woodbridge, Ontario, to escape the violence of the neighbourhood. A few years after living in Woodbridge, Hinds returned to his former neighbourhood in Rexdale for a visit. While sitting with a friend after watching a basketball game, three youths wearing ski masks came running from around the corner and opened fire. As Hinds dove for cover, he was hit by gunfire and pronounced dead at the scene. [89] [244] The young perpetrators were gang members who commenced the shooting as part of a conflict between the Mount Olive Crips and Jamestown Crips. Investigators believe that Hinds' killing was a case of mistaken identity. [245] |
2012 | Ranjit Cheema | 43 | Vancouver | British Columbia | In May 2012, Indo-Canadian gangster Ranjit Singh Cheema was killed in a targeted drive-by shooting. |
1975 | Lisa Choquette | 30 | Vimont | Quebec | The nude corpse of 30-year-old Montreal woman Lisa Choquette was found at a construction site in Laval on April 22, 1975, in an apparent strangulation slaying. [246] [247] |
2013 | Lisa Ann Zielke Elick | 41 | Surrey | British Columbia | Lisa Ann Zielke Elick's body was found near Hi-Knoll Park on October 31, 2013. She was a sex worker and a drug addict. [248] [249] [250] [251] [252] |
1989 | Michael Masson | 27 | Medicine Hat | Alberta | On June 5, 1989, Michael Masson checked into the "Hat Motel," left within two hours of checking in, and never returned. On July 31, 1989, his decomposed body was found in a shallow grave just south of Medicine Hat. [253] [254] |
2016 | Christian Saarah | 28 | Rexdale | Ontario | Christian Saraah was killed in a targeted drive-by shooting; his brother was also shot, and was rushed to hospital in life-threatening condition. Although police speculate that Christian had gotten into an argument or altercation with an unidentified person or group of people, it is unknown who shot him and his brother, or what the motive was. [255] [256] [257] [258] |
1989 | Valérie Dalpé | 13 | Montreal | Quebec | [177] [259] [260] [261] |
2002 | Phouvong Phommaviset | 26 | Richmond | British Columbia | Phommaviset's charred remains were found on January 2, 2002, by the Fraser River. At the time of his death, he was a suspect in the abduction of Ned Mander on October 9, 2001. [262] [263] [264] [265] |
2006–2007 | Marie Lynn Lasas | 19 | Saskatoon | Saskatchewan | Marie went missing on her way home on September 21, 2006. Her body was found 9 months later, under a pile of wood pallets behind an abandoned house on the south side of Saskatoon. [266] [267] [268] [269] [270] |
1986 | Kerrie Ann Brown | 15 | Thompson | Manitoba | On October 16, 1986, Kerrie Ann Brown disappeared from a house party. Her corpse was found sexually assaulted in a wooded area on the outskirts of Thompson on October 18. [102] [271] [272] [273] |
1979 | Nicole Gaudreaux | 31 | Montreal | Quebec | Nicole's body was found on August 3, 1979, in a field behind 2032 rue Saint-Andre. She was naked, on her back, with her face bloody. She had sustained blunt force trauma to the head, and had been raped. [274] |
2017 | Clayton Benoit | 51 | Whitehorse General Hospital | Yukon | Clayton Benoit had been rushed to Whitehorse General Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries. An autopsy later revealed his death to have been a homicide. Clayton was originally from Northwest Territories, and was believed to have been living in Yukon for some time. [275] [276] |
1924 | Janet Smith | 22 | Vancouver | British Columbia | Janet Kennedy Smith, a Scottish immigrant who worked as a nursemaid, was found dead in the cellar of her residency in 1924. She had been discovered by a fellow suitemate with a gunshot wound through her temple and a .45-caliber revolver near her right hand. The fellow suitemate was a Chinese immigrant named Wong Foon Sing. He also worked as a domestic worker alongside Smith. On the night of the murder, Sing claims to have heard what sounded like a car backfiring, and then went down to the cellar of the house where he found Smith's body. Although authorities and the coroner who examined her body both initially thought that Smith killed herself, many believe that she had actually been the victim of murder. |
1973 | Pauline Ivy Dudley | 17 | Lakeshore Road | Ontario | Pauline is said to have left Oakville at about 10 pm on August 20, 1973. Her decomposed body was found by a farmer near Highway 25 and Lower Base Line a week later on August 28. She was fully clothed, with a hairline fracture in her jaw and her wallet nearby. Police believe there were efforts made by the perpetrator to conceal her body. [277] [278] [279] [280] |
1982 | Atilla Altıkat | 45 | Ottawa | Ontario | Altıkat was a Colonel in the Turkish Armed Forces who had been operating in Canada as a military attaché. He was fatally gunned down on his way to work, as part of a series of attacks on Turkish diplomats around the world. Although far-left Armenian militant group ASALA claimed responsibility for these attacks, Altıkat's specific killer has not since been named. |
1976 | Rhona Margaret Duncan | 16 | North Vancouver | British Columbia | On the evening of July 16, 1976, Rhona Duncan and some friends attended a house party on East Queens Avenue in North Vancouver. Duncan's body was discovered the following morning behind a neighbour's garage. She was partially undressed, and had been sexually assaulted and strangled. [102] [281] |
1956 | Susan Cadieux | 5 | London | Ontario | Susan Cadieux had been playing with her brothers and a friend at St. Mary's Church across the street from her home. A male stranger approached, claiming that he was to meet with the priest. When one of the other children fell on the ice, everyone was distracted, and Susan and the man vanished. At 10:08 am the next morning, a father-son search team found Susan's body just over a mile away. Her autopsy said that she had been dead for less than three hours. She had been found fully clothed, but she had been sexually assaulted. [282] [283] [284] [285] |
1977 | Katherine Hawkes | 34 | Cartierville | Quebec | In the early evening of September 21, 1977, the body of Katherine Hawkes was discovered at Montreal's Saint Laurent region by a pair of students. [286] [287] [288] |
1995 | Diane Dobson | 36 | Windsor | Ontario | Diane Dobson was last seen in the late afternoon of 14 February 1995, after leaving home. Her body was found at 8:30 am on 15 February by a Windsor municipal worker at Brighton Beach on the west side of Windsor. Cause of death was blunt force trauma from multiple blows to the head with a heavy object, and there were indications Dobson had been murdered elsewhere and the body subsequently dumped where it was found. A police investigation cleared both Dobson's ex-husband and her current boyfriend. The primary crime scene was never identified. [289] |
1981 | Kelly Cook | 15 | Standard | Alberta | On June 28, 1981, the body of Kelly Cook was located in the Chin Lake Reservoir near Taber, Alberta. While Kelly's body was at a funeral home in Calgary, an unknown man demanded to see her body. Even though he claimed to be a family friend, he was denied, and eventually left. This man has never been identified, but authorities believe it may have been her killer. [290] |
1981–1983 | Theodore Frederick Kampf | 46 | Dawson City | Yukon | Kampf had travelled from New Jersey to the Yukon in July 1981. His family reported him missing in October. In May 1983, remains were found in a wooded area near the North Fork Dam and the Dempster Highway. Forty years later, these remains were identified as Kampf. [291] [292] [293] [294] [295] |
1994 | Melanie Cabay | 19 | Mascouche | Quebec | Melanie was found in a wooded area by an off-road motorcyclist near Mascouche, about 25 km from Montreal. She was naked, and her body was too decomposed to make a positive identification. She had been strangled and struck on the head. It was not possible to determine if she had been sexually assaulted. [296] [297] |
2011 | Nathan Ross Cross | 21 | North Preston | Nova Scotia | On April 28, 2011, Nathan Ross Cross was found unconscious, after having been shot, and later died in hospital. While its believed by police that Nathan and a group of individuals were ambushed by the gunman, the events, the perpetrator, and the motive are still unknown. [298] [299] [300] [301] [302] |
1993 | Dino Bravo | 44 | Laval | Quebec | Italian Canadian professional wrestler Adolfo Bresciano, better known by his stage name Dino Bravo, was killed in his home by multiple gunshots on March 10, 1993. |
1979 | Banff Jane Doe | 24–25 (estimate) | Banff National Park | Alberta | The name given to an unidentified homicide victim whose remains were discovered by hikers at Banff National Park, about 330 metres off the Trans-Canada Highway. [303] |
1993 | Sheila McIndoe Henry | 26 | Kitsilano | British Columbia | Sheila McIndoe Henry's body was found by her husband, David, in their home at about 8 pm. David is the primary suspect in her murder. [99] [304] [305] [306] |
2001 | Sudarsan "Maudo" Velauthapillai | 21 | Etobicoke | Ontario | Sudarsan Velauthapillai was shot and killed in his driveway on October 1, 2001. An unidentified man, described as Sri Lankan, fled from the scene. In March 2002, police developed a DNA profile that they believe belongs to the killer. [89] [307] [308] |
1977 | Jocelyne Houle | 24 | Saint-Calixte | Quebec | On April 14, 1977, Jocelyne and a group of friends were at the bar Vieux Munich, when her friends left to go to another bar. Jocelyne, who had been seen walking in another direction with two men, never arrived, and was found dead in a ditch three days later. [309] [310] |
1996 | Jane and Cathryn Johnson | 36 & 8 | Turner Valley | Alberta | Jane Johnson, along with her daughter, Cathryn, were murdered in their home on the evening of September 3, 1996. The culprit(s) set fire to the residence in an effort to conceal the crime. According to the RCMP, these killings were likely committed by an individual, or individuals, who had been acquainted with the victims, and was aware of their routinely day-to-day patterns. [311] |
2001 | David Buller | 50 | Toronto | Ontario | David was found murdered in his office at the University of Toronto on January 18, 2001. The case is unresolved. [312] |
2014 | Allan Donald Waugh | 69 | Whitehorse | Yukon | Allan was found deceased in his home on May 30, 2014. Police determined that he was murdered by someone who had entered his home in the night. [313] [314] [315] [316] |
2013 | Salvatore Calautti | 42 | Vaughan | Ontario | 'Ndrangheta hitman Salvatore "Sam" Calautti was shot dead outside of a bachelor party. |
1995 | Chantel Gillade | 28 | Downtown Vancouver | British Columbia | Construction workers found Chantel's body at their worksite behind 826 Homer Street. Chantel was a transgender sex worker, who had been going through sex reassignment surgery at the time of her death. According to another sex worker, Chantel's last client had picked her up at 4 am in a black pick-up truck with a canopy, tinted windows, and a red stripe painted on the side of the canopy. [317] [318] [319] There is a possibility that the murder was a hate crime. |
1983 | Andrea Scherpf and Bernd Göricke | 23 & 26 | Chetwynd | British Columbia | A young couple from Germany who were visiting Canada. The pair hitchhiked a ride from an unidentified driver of a 1960s Chevrolet pick-up. The murderer then shot the two, stole their belongings, and dumped their corpses 32 kilometres west of Chetwynd, near Highway 97 and the Pine River. |
1977 | Hélène Monast | 18 | Chambly Canal | Quebec | Hélène's naked body was found on September 11, 1977, in a park along Chambly Canal. [320] [321] [322] [323] |
1981 | Dana Bradley | 14 | St. John's | Newfoundland and Labrador | Dana had been hitchhiking on Topsail Road on December 14, 1981. Her body was found four days later in the woods near Maddox Cove. She had a fractured skull, and there was evidence of sexual assault. [324] |
2017 | Barry and Honey Sherman | 75 & 69 | Toronto | Ontario | Barry and Honey Sherman were found dead in their Toronto mansion on December 15, 2017. They were hanging by belts from a railing surrounding their indoor pool. The couple was among Canada's most generous philanthropists. It has been suggested by Honey's sister that the murder might be religiously motivated, as the Shermans' were strong supporters of Israel, and very vocal about being Jewish. [325] [326] |
2000 | André Desjardins | 69 | Montreal | Quebec | On the morning of April 27, André Desjardins was shot 11 times in his back, just moments after departing from a popular restaurant in Montreal. In the years leading up to his death, Desjardins had become one of the leading (and most successful) loan sharks in the city, with strong ties to organized crime. There is widespread speculation that Desjardins' assassin had been a member of the local Hells Angels chapter in Quebec, or possibly a member of the Rock Machine. On the morning of his death, Desjardins had been scheduled to meet with Quebec chapter president, Maurice Boucher to discuss business matters. Boucher, however, did not show up. Prior to the murder of Desjardins, Boucher had apparently asked him to "forgive" a $400,000 loan with 52% interest that had been taken out by a friend of Boucher's. Failing to be intimidated by the notorious biker, Desjardins angrily refused to excuse the loan. As Boucher continued to ominously insist that the loan be forgiven, Desjardins told Boucher that he did not take orders from the Hells Angels, and reminded him that he had powerful friends in the Mafia, the police, and in Quebec politics, saying he was not afraid of Boucher at all. Following this brief argument between the two, Boucher asked Desjardins to meet him the following day for breakfast to further discuss the matter. Desjardins agreed, but Boucher did not show up as he had planned. It was on the same morning that André Desjardins had been murdered. |
1998 | Donna Ogilvie | 24 | Toronto | Ontario | Donna Ogilvie was four months pregnant at the time of her death. She was a prostitute who split her time between Vancouver and Toronto. She was found strangled to death in a parking lot. [327] [328] |
1980 | Gérald Lapierre | 50–59 (estimate) | Saint-Janvier-de-Joly | Quebec | On January 16, 1980, Gérald's body was found completely frozen by police officers. He had been shot and killed. [329] |
2009 | Cherisse Diane Marie Houle | 17 | Sturgeon Creek | Manitoba | The First Nations mother of an 18-month-old son, Cherisse Diane Marie Houle was last seen in Winnipeg on May 25, 2009, before disappearing without a trace. On July 1 of that same year, her remains were found in Sturgeon Creek. Houle's death was ruled as a homicide, and is undergoing investigation. [330] [331] [332] |
1983 | Paul Volpe | 56 | Toronto | Ontario | Nicknamed "The Fox", Paul Volpe was an Italian-Canadian Mafioso who belonged to New York's Buffalo crime family. Prior to his death, he had made a real estate financial transaction involving the Commisso 'ndrina, in which he cheated them. Additionally, Volpe expanded his organized crime operations from Southern Ontario to the State of New Jersey. This greatly annoyed the American Mafiosi, as it violated the "Mafia Code". Volpe had also agreed to be on documentary films by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation about the role of the Mafia in Canada's economy, causing his fellow mafia members to become very angry with him. As a result of Volpe's behavior, the Commissos struck an arrangement with the Buffalo crime family to have Volpe killed. The Buffalo crime family ultimately agreed, hiring hitman Cecil Kirby to carry out the deed. Unbeknownst to the mafia, Cecil Kirby had been working as an informant for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at the time when the Commisso 'ndrina contracted him to kill Paul Volpe. Kirby told his law enforcement handlers about the plot to assassinate Volpe. Sgt. Al King of the Toronto Police Service then paid Volpe a visit, informing him that a contract had been placed on his life. King offered Volpe a deal where he would stage his death, to which Volpe agreed. While being hidden from the public eye within the Toronto RCMP Building, Cecil Kirby visited Rocco Remo of the Commisso 'ndrina to tell him that he had killed Volpe. Remo believed the lie, but only gave Kirby a portion of his promised money for the crime, assuring them that he would provide him with the rest later. With proper evidence to convict the Comissos, its bosses were arrested by the RCMP in 1982. They were charged with conspiracy to commit murder. The following year, Paul Volpe was found dead in the trunk of his wife's BMW at Toronto Pearson International Airport. |
1972 | Ursula Schulze | 19 | Saint-Philippe | Quebec | Ursula's body was found on July 14, 1972, behind a former soap warehouse on rang Saint-Claude. She had been shot. On July 13, 1972, while Ursula had been waiting for a bus, witnesses saw an individual get out of a burgundy red or red-brown Buick Skylark or Toyota, grab Ursula by the arm, and force her into the car. [333] [334] [335] [336] |
1995 | Craig Abrahams | 28 | Downtown Vancouver | British Columbia | Craig's body was discovered by his neighbour on December 21, 1995. It is believed that Craig was selling cocaine from his apartment. [337] |
1987 | Naomi Leigh Desjarlais | 21 | Regina | Saskatchewan | Naomi's nude body was found on March 27, 1987, in a ditch near the city dump. She had been shot. [338] [339] [340] |
1982 | Dianne Aubert | 23 | Quebec City | Quebec | In February 1982, two unknown men entered the flat shared by dormmates Dianne Aubert and Maryline Grenier. Dianne, a transsexual, was stabbed to death, while Maryline suffered severe (but non-fatal) injuries. The event is regarded to be a case of transphobic violence. [341] [342] [343] [344] |
2001 | Gavin Hunter | 22 | Toronto | Ontario | Gavin Hunter was found dead in a car after being shot. He was a suspect in the murders of Craig Palmer and Tyrone King a year prior. [89] [345] |
1990 | Alfred and Dolores Palmer | 71 & 35 | Medicine Hat (near) | Alberta | On December 30, 1990, Alfred Palmer and his daughter-in-law, Dolores Palmer, were found west of Medicine Hat, having been shot with a .410 shotgun. [271] |
1995 | Ramona Lisa Wilson | 16 | Smithers | British Columbia | On April 9, 1995, Wilson's body was found in a bush area near the Smithers Airport. [271] |
2009 | Sherri Leigh Green | 39 | Wasagaming | Manitoba | Sherri's body was found at the family cabin on September 17, 2009, by one of her sisters and her brother-in-law. [346] [347] [348] [349] [153] |
2000 | Hani Othman | 16 | Rexdale | Ontario | [89] [350] [351] |
1977–1986 | Claudette Poirier | 15–24 | Saint-Lucien | Quebec | [352] [353] |
2004 | Janine René Wesaquate-Oakes | 20 | Regina | Saskatchewan | The charred remains of Janine René Wesaquate-Oakes were discovered in a burned-out house, which police speculate had been deliberately set on fire. [354] [355] [356] [357] [358] It has been suggested that Janine's murder may have been connected to street gang activity in the area—specifically, a notorious Indigenous-based organized crime group known as the Native Syndicate. [359] [360] |
2002 | Shizuo Kado | 98 | Burnaby | British Columbia | On or around September 9, 2002, Shizuo Kado and his 94-year-old wife, Tokuyo, were assaulted at their home by person(s) who unlawfully entered the residence. [271] |
1988 | Debbie Faye Pelletier | 27 | Regina | Saskatchewan | Debbie was found stabbed to death in a house in Regina on December 25, 1988. [361] [355] |
2006 | Evan Garber | 59 | Vancouver | British Columbia | [362] [363] [364] [365] |
1977 | Joanne Dorion | 17 | Fabreville | Quebec | Joanne's body was found on August 11, 1977, off of a gravel road about eight blocks from where she had last been seen. Her body was in an advanced state of decomposition. She had been stabbed multiple times, and it was impossible to determine if she had been sexually assaulted. [366] [367] [368] |
2010 | Albert Kiwubeyi | 24 | Toronto | Ontario | [369] [370] [371] [372] [373] |
1959 | Lynne Harper | 12 | Clinton | Ontario | Lynne Harper disappeared near a Canadian Air Force Base, before her body was found two days later on a nearby farm. Lynne's classmate Steven Truscott was convicted of the murder, later having the conviction overturned. [102] |
1999 | Jason MacCullough | 19 | Dartmouth | Nova Scotia | On August 28, 1999, Jason MacCullough was shot in the back of the head at near-point-blank range while walking to his parents' home after a party. [374] |
1978 | Lison Blais | 17 | Montreal | Quebec | Lison's body was found by Rudolf Pacesa on June 4, 1978, in the alley behind her home. She was almost fully nude, had been sexually assaulted with an object, hit on the head by a brick, and had strangulation marks on her neck. Her clothes and purse were not found. [375] [376] [377] |
2000 | Ruben Grant | 19 | Etobicoke | Ontario | On April 5, 2000, police responded to a shooting, and found Ruben outside a residence with gunshot wounds to the neck. It was suggested by a Toronto Star article that Grant, a member of the Crips gang, died because he didn't properly avenge a shooting in north Etobicoke that left another Crip paralyzed. [89] [378] |
2004 | Shana Lee Labatte | 30 | Kelowna | British Columbia | Shana's body was found in Mission Flats Park on the morning of March 23, 2004. She was a prostitute in the area. [61] [379] [380] |
1975 | Mariam Peters | 16 | Toronto | Ontario | Mariam had been leaving St. Patrick station on November 7, 1975, around 8 pm, to visit her grandfather at Mount Sinai Hospital, when she was stabbed 16 times. Police found her unconscious on an escalator, and she died four days later. [381] |
1994 | Mindy Tran | 8 | Kelowna | British Columbia | Mindy Tran disappeared in August 1994 while riding her bike in her Kelowna neighbourhood. Her body was found in a shallow grave in a nearby park in October 1994. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. A neighbour, Shannon Murrin, was charged with her murder but acquitted in January 2000. [382] |
1971 | Mary Anne Plett | 29 | Edmonton | Alberta | An Edmonton real estate agent, Mary Anne Plett disappeared on September 15, 1971, while showing property to a prospective client. Plett's car was found abandoned two days later; her briefcase was found in October near Fort Assiniboine, 160 kilometres north of Edmonton. Plett's body was found in the same area the following April. [383] |
1979 | Dora Ferguson | New Brunswick | In late April, 1996, the skeletal remains of Dora Ferguson were found in a garbage bag by a man walking his dog in a nature trail. Before her death, she was last seen in August 1979 walking along the Trans-Canada Highway. [384] | ||
1989 | James "Jim" Allan Killam | 39 | Saint John | New Brunswick | James Allan Killam, who also went by Jim Killam, disappeared from his home on May 15, 1989 in Saint John after getting in his car and leaving everything behind. In the past, he had disappeared two years prior, ultimately being found at his sister's house around two weeks later in Calgary, Alberta. [385] His remains were found by hunters on November 19, 1991, in a wooded area located east from Saint John, in the Quispamsis region. [386] [387] |
1982 | Stéphane Gauthier | 12 | Montreal | Quebec | On 21 December 1982, twelve-year-old Stéphane Gauthier disappeared from Montreal's Plateau neighborhood. His body was found two days later in a field in Anjou; he had been sexually assaulted and strangled. No one has been arrested in connection with the murder. [388] |
1997-1998 | Temistocle Casas, also known as the Conception Bay John Doe | late 30s to early 40s | Conception Bay | Newfoundland and Labrador | In 2001, a severed head was found at a dump site in Conception Bay, near St. John's, Newfoundland. Examination of the skull indicated the victim was male, between the ages of 20 and 40, and had shoulder length curly black hair. Isotope and carbon dating analysis indicated the unidentified victim was probably born in the late 1950s or early 1960s and had spent time in Ontario and Quebec. The rest of the body was never found. The victim remained unidentified until April 2024, when a DNA match with a first cousin was found using genetic geneaology. The victim was subsequently identified as Temistocle Casas, a Cuban national who arrived in Canada on a tourist visa on 1 April 1992. [389] |
1973-1974 | Carole Dupont | 18 | Sainte-Thérèse | Quebec | On April 13, 1974, police were notified of a pair of human legs sticking out of a snow bank near the parking lot of Foyer Drapeau, a nursing care residence in Sainte-Thérèse. They discovered the body of Claudette Dupont alongside clothes and a knife. The victim had suffered multiple stab wounds to her torso and back, was diagonally slashed at the thighs, and had a cut on her left breast. She had last been seen on the night of December 22 leaving the Hôtel Blainville bar with three men after having drinks with a female friend, and was subsequently reported missing. [390] [391] |
2011 | Valérie Leblanc | 18 | Gatineau | Quebec | On 23 August 2011, the body of Valérie Leblanc was discovered in a wooded area near Cégep de l'Outaouais, where she was a student. A group of teenagers came across her body at around 1:00 PM, but initially believed her body was possibly a mannequin being used by the college's police education program as part of a crime scene simulation. It was reported that the teenagers had likely tampered with Leblanc's body before finally alerting law enforcement at 3:30. [392] [393] Gatineau police interviewed hundreds of locals and received nearly 2,200 tips from the public in connection to Leblanc and her murder. They also released a composite sketch of an unidentified "key witness", but no arrests have been made in connection to the case. [394] |
Unsolved murder cases where numerous victims are tied to an event/pattern or series of events (e.g., mass murders, serial killings).
Year | Event | # of victims | Location | Province | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1924 | Canadian Pacific Railway train bombing | 9 | Columbia and Western Railway | British Columbia | On the early morning of October 29, 1924, an explosion on the remote Kettle Valley Railway in southeastern British Columbia ripped apart Canadian Pacific Railroad Car 1586, killing a total of 9 individuals, including: Peter Verigin (65); Verigin's female companion Marie Strelaeff (17); Grand Forks MLA John McKie; P.J Campbell; Hakim Singh; Harry J. Bishop; W. J. Armstrong; and Neil E. Armstrong. The government initially, during investigation, stated the crime was perpetrated by people within the Doukhobor community, while the Doukhobors suspected Canadian government involvement. [395] [396] |
1968–1970 | The Forest City Killer | 8 | London | Ontario | From the 1960s to the early 1970s, eight victims were found in and around the town of London, Ontario, Canada. One notable victim was 15-year-old Jackie English, who disappeared in October 1969, and was found in a creek five days after being reported missing. All eight murders remain unsolved. [397] [398] [399] |
1965 | Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 21 | 52 | 100 Mile House | British Columbia | A scheduled domestic flight heading to Whitehorse, Yukon, exploded on July 8, 1965, killing all 52 passengers. This aviation incident was later discovered to have been caused by a bomb, and is considered to be one of Canada's largest unsolved mass murders. [400] RCMP investigators believe that the perpetrator was one of four suspicious passengers on board, classifying it as a suicide attack. |
1969–2011 | Highway of Tears | 18≥ | Highway 16, between Prince George and Prince Rupert | British Columbia | The Highway of Tears is the informal nickname given to the transport corridor between the cities of Prince George and Prince Rupert in British Columbia. It is utilized in a particular context that is meant to pertain to the location's notoriety of being a frequent area where many Indigenous Canadian women have gone missing and/or have been murdered. These said occurrences have ultimately been grouped together as a single string of homicides, kidnappings, and disappearances. [102] |
1980–1981 | Toronto hospital baby deaths | 7≥ | The Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto) | Ontario | At least seven babies mysteriously died between the years 1980 and 1981, in what was then believed to be a case of homicide. |
1990–1993 | Calgary prostitute murder victims | 7 | Calgary | Alberta | The murders of various sex workers in Calgary in the early 1990s led many to believe that a serial killer was at large. These victims were found individually in shallow graves throughout Calgary. [102] [401]
One possible suspect investigated in the Calgary murders was a pimp and convicted sex offender named Barry Thomas Niedermier from Lethbridge. [401] |
1995 | Hemlock Valley Murders | 3 | East Vancouver | British Columbia | Three murder victims were discovered in East Vancouver in 1995, all of whom were prostitutes that had worked in the same area of Vancouver. The three had all been murdered the same way, and left in the same area.
Police indefinitely jailed Ronald Richard McCauley, but had no physical evidence linking him to the murders. In 2001, police tested DNA samples, which did not match McCauley. [102] |
2004 | Mirage Spa shooting | 3 | Markham | Ontario | On February 8, 2004, the bodies of Zhu Xia Lin (35), Yan Jun Liu (40), and Yan Walter Xiao Chen Zhang (40) were found bound and wrapped in sheets in the back of Zhang's red Ford Explorer, behind Victoria Square United Church at Woodbine Avenue and Elgin Mills Road. They had all been shot and killed at Mirage Spa, a Markham massage parlour, located at 7170 Warden Ave. York Regional Police believe Lin was the main target, and that Liu and Zhang were likely in the wrong place at the wrong time in the triple murder. [402] |
2008 | Lunness Road shooting | 3 | Toronto | Ontario | On July 20, 2008, Adrian Inglis Bannerman (29), Aaron MacDonald (20), and Kurt Charles (27) were all shot and killed while driving in an SUV on nearby Lunness Road, in Etobicoke. The driver of the SUV abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot unharmed. Toronto Police suspect two or more gunmen were involved in the drive-by triple homicide, and believe they were members of an Etobicoke gang. [403] |
2010 | Htoo-Maw Family murders | 3 | Regina | Saskatchewan | On August 6, 2010, the bodies of Gray Nay Htoo (30), Maw Maw (28), and June Htoo (3) were discovered murdered in their home on Oakview Drive. The family had lived in Regina for nearly two years, and had formerly lived in a refugee camp in Thailand. Regina Police never released specific details about the triple murder. [404] [405] [406] |
Initially unsolved cases which were subsequently solved, mostly as cold cases.
Year | Year Solved | Victim(s) | Age | Location | Province | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1994 | 2023 | Marie-Chantale Desjardins | 10 | Rosemère | Quebec | The body of 10-year-old Marie-Chantale Desjardins was located in the woods behind the Place Rosemère shopping centre. Police have ruled her death as a murder. Desjardins had last been seen alive on July 16 of that same year. [407] [408] On 12 December 2023, Réal Courtemanche, an inmate at federal medium-security prison La Macaza Institution, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the Desjardins case. The Sûreté du Québec announced the arrest and indicated that advanced forensic biology methods had led to the arrest 29 years after the murder. [409] |
1975 | 2023 | Nation River Lady, subsequently identified as Jewell Parchman Langford | 25–50 (estimate); 48 (confirmed by DNA identification) | Casselman | Ontario | On May 3, 1975, the body of an unidentified White woman was found floating along the Nation River. The autopsy report revealed that she had been strangled to death with coaxial cable television wire. Police suspected her body was thrown from the westbound lane of the Highway 417 bridge into the river. [410] In September 2022, using DNA and genetic genealogy, the victim was identified as Jewell Parchman Langford, aged 48 at the time of her death, from Tennessee. Rodney Nichols, an acquaintance of Langford's in Montreal, now 81 and resident in Florida, was charged with her murder and an extradition request was pending as of July 2023. [411] On 1 December 2023, Nichols was extradited to Canada to face charges in relation to the murder. [412] |
1975 | 2023 | Sharron Prior | 16 | Longueuil | Quebec | In 1975, Sharron Prior left her home on the evening of March 29 to meet some friends and her boyfriend at a nearby pizzeria. However, Sharron never arrived at the restaurant, and could not be located. Four days after her disappearance, her body was discovered in a beekeeper's field. [413] In May 2023, DNA samples and genetic genealogy identified Prior's killer as Franklin Romine, a West Virginia man who died in 1982. Romine had been living in Montreal in 1975 and had a long list of criminal activity in Montreal and West Virginia. [414] |
1983 | 2023 | Susan Tice and Erin Gilmour | 45 & 22 | Toronto | Ontario | Susan Tice was discovered by her brother, after having been sexually assaulted and stabbed to death in her own bed. A few months later, a short walk away from Tice's home, the body of Erin Gilmour was found having suffered the same trauma and injuries as Tice, also in her bed. [102] [415] Gilmour was the only daughter of David Gilmour, co-founder of Barrick Gold; David's business partner, Peter Munk, was the father of Erin's boyfriend. [415] DNA tests in 2002 showed that the same person had killed both women. [102] In November 2020, through genetic genealogy, police researchers successfully identified the great-grandparents of the unknown suspect. [415] On 24 November 2022, police arrested Joseph George Sutherland (61) in Moosonee, Ontario. Sutherland was transferred to Toronto, where he faced two counts of first-degree murder in the Tice and Gilmour deaths. [416] On 5 October 2023, Sutherland pleaded guilty to both murders. [417] |
2000 | 2022 | Guylaine Potvin | 19 | Saguenay | Quebec | Cégep de Jonquière student Guylaine Potvin was found dead in the basement of her apartment on the morning of April 28, 2000. She shared the apartment with two fellow female students, who were not present on the night of her murder. [418] [419] [420] [421] On 12 October 2022, the Sûreté du Québec announced the arrest of Marc-André Grenon (47) on the charge of first-degree murder in the Potvin case. Grenon was also charged with attempted murder and assault in connection with two separate cases against female students in 2000. [422] On 20 February 2024, Grenon was found guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault. [423] |
2016 | 2023 | Jennifer Hillier-Penney | 38 | St. Anthony | Newfoundland | Jennifer Hillier-Penney was last seen 30 November 2016 at her estranged husband's house in St. Anthony; she and her husband Dean Penney were separated and she had moved in with her father. She was watching her youngest daughter while her husband was duck hunting at the family cabin in Northwest Arm. The RCMP believe Hillier-Penney was murdered sometime after arriving at the house that night. Her body has never been found. [424] On 15 December 2023, Dean Penney was arrested in Deer Lake, Newfoundland, and charged with first-degree murder in the disappearance of his wife. [425] |
2008 | 2023 | Lucas Shortreed | 17 | Alma | Ontario | On Thanksgiving weekend in 2008, Lucas Shortreed left a party in Alma, Ontario, to walk home. He was struck from behind by a 1995–1997 white Dodge Neon, and the unidentified driver fled the scene of the accident. Though they were unable to find the car, police believed that the driver was someone in the community. [426] [427] [428] [429] [430] In September 2023, acting on a tip from the public, police searched the property of David and Anastasia Haliburton in Mapleton Township, near the scene of the accident; a white Dodge Neon was seized and the Haliburtons were arrested and charged in the death of Shortreed. The car had been hidden behind a false wall in a semi-trailer. In September 2024, David Haliburton pleaded guilty to charges of leaving the scene of an accident causing bodily harm or death, and obstructing justice; Anastasia Haliburton pleaded guilty to obstructing justice. [431] |
1976-1977 | 2024 | Eva Dvorak, Patricia McQueen, Barbara Maclean and Melissa Rehorek | 14, 14, 19 & 20 | Calgary | Alberta | Classmates Eva Dvorak and Patricia McQueen, both 14, disappeared on or about February 15, 1976, near 9th Avenue and 12th Street S.E. in Calgary; the bodies of the two girls were found the following morning under the Happy Valley underpass, west of Calgary. [432] On February 26, 1977, the body of Marbara Maclean (19) was found by a man walking along a gravel road near 80th Avenue and 6th Street NE. Barbara and her boyfriend had gotten into an argument on the evening of February 25, and he left her in the parking lot of a bar. Barbara decided to hitchhike to a party but never arrived. It was believed that the individual who gave Barbara a ride was responsible for her death, and that the same individual also killed Melissa Rehorek (20), who was found September 16, 1976, in a ditch along a gravel road about 20 km west of Calgary. [102] [433] [434] [435] On May 17, 2024, the Alberta RCMP announced that all four murders had been solved. DNA evidence found on all four bodies connected the murders to Gary Allen Srery, a serial killer and repeat sexual offender who died in prison in Idaho in 2011 while serving a life sentence for rape. [432] |
Provincial Police:
City/Regional Police:
The Sûreté du Québec is the provincial police service for the Canadian province of Quebec. The agency's name is sometimes translated to Quebec Provincial Police (QPP) and Quebec Police Force (QPF) in English-language sources. The headquarters of the Sûreté du Québec are located on Parthenais Street in Montreal's Sainte-Marie neighbourhood, and the service employs over 5,700 officers. The SQ is the second-largest provincial police service and the third-largest police service in Canada.
CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.
Law enforcement in Canada is the responsibility of police services, special constabularies, and civil law enforcement agencies, which are operated by every level of government, some private and Crown corporations, and First Nations. In contrast to the United States or Mexico, and with the exception of the Unité permanente anticorruption in Quebec and the Organized Crime Agency of British Columbia, there are no organizations dedicated exclusively to the investigation of criminal activity in Canada. Criminal investigations are instead conducted by police services, which maintain specialized criminal investigation units in addition to their mandate for emergency response and general community safety.
The Highway of Tears is a 719-kilometre (447 mi) corridor of Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert in British Columbia, Canada, which has been the location of crimes against many women, beginning in 1970 when the highway was completed. The phrase was coined during a vigil held in Terrace, British Columbia in 1998, by Florence Naziel, who was thinking of the victims' families crying over their loved ones. There are a disproportionately high number of Indigenous women on the list of victims, hence the association with the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement.
Theresa Allore was a Canadian college student who disappeared on Friday, November 3, 1978, from Champlain College Lennoxville in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. She was later found dead under suspicious circumstances. Allore's brother later started the true crime podcast Who Killed Theresa.
David Russell Williams is a Canadian serial rapist, murderer and former colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force. He is currently serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 25 years for two murders, committed in November 2009 and January 2010.
An Integrated Safety and Security Group (ISSG), formerly known as an Integrated Security Unit (ISU) is a unified and coordinated task force comprising multiple law enforcement agencies in Canada. It is responsible for coordinating the safety and security for major national and international events, including the G7 Summit and the Olympics. This administrative and operational entity was first created by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in 2003.
Events from the year 2014 in Canada.
Indo-Canadian organized crime is made up predominantly of young adults and teenagers of Indian ethnic, cultural and linguistic background. Collectively, these groups are among the top 5 major homegrown organized crime hierarchy across the nation in Canada coming in 3rd place, after the Asian Triads and White biker gangs. The 2004 RCMP British Columbia Annual Police Report ranked them third in terms of organization and sophistication in British Columbia, ranked behind outlaw motorcycle clubs and aforementioned Chinese criminal organizations such as the Triads drug clans.
Michael Andrew Arntfield is a Canadian academic, author, criminologist, true crime broadcaster and podcaster, a professor at the University of Western Ontario, and a Fulbright scholar. He is also a workplace violence harassment consultant, threat assessor, and former police officer. From 1999 to 2014, Arntfield was employed with the London, Ontario, Police Service as a police officer and detective. In 2014, Arntfield left policing to accept a customized academic appointment at the University of Western Ontario. Today, Arntfield teaches "literary criminology," a term he adopted combined English literature and crime studies program.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women are instances of violence against Indigenous women in Canada and the United States, notably those in the First Nations in Canada and Native American communities, but also amongst other Indigenous peoples such as in Australia and New Zealand, and the grassroots movement to raise awareness of MMIW through organizing marches; building databases of the missing; holding local community, city council, and tribal council meetings; and conducting domestic violence trainings and other informational sessions for police.
ProjectE-Pana is a Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) task force created in 2005 with the purpose of solving cases of missing and murdered persons along a section of Highway 16, all female, between Prince Rupert, British Columbia and Prince George, British Columbia, dubbed the Highway of Tears. Though it started with the scope of investigating victims of Highway 16, within a year of formation, it morphed to include victims along Highways 5, 24 and 97. It is no longer specifically dedicated to Highway of Tears cases.
The police in Canada's ranks differ according to the different police forces and depend on different laws at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels.
Manon Dubé was a 10-year-old Canadian girl from Sherbrooke, Quebec who disappeared on January 27, 1978, in the Eastern Townships of Quebec, and was found dead in Ayer's Cliff on March 24, 1978. Although the precise cause of Dubé's death remains uncertain, Canada's National Post has unveiled compelling evidence that she was murdered. After discovering links between the circumstances of Dubé's case and the close resemblance to the recent deaths of two other girls, Theresa Allore and Louise Camirand, they theorized that the three deaths may have been committed by the same person. After bringing in geographic profiler, Kim Rossmo, an expert in connecting serial crimes, he strongly suggested that a serial killer was operating in the area during the late 1970's.
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, an international outlaw biker gang, has been involved in multiple crimes, alleged crimes, and violent incidents in Canada. The Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC) has designated the Hells Angels an outlaw motorcycle gang. Hells Angels MC have been linked with drug trafficking and production, as well as many violent crimes including murder, in Canada.
Police brutality is an instance or pattern of excessive and unwarranted force used against an individual or group of people. The Indigenous peoples of Canada include, as designated by the Canadian government, Inuit, Metis, and First Nations individuals and are officially considered Aboriginal peoples. Indigenous Canadians have experienced strenuous relationships with police as a result of colonization and lasting tensions. Since the early 2000s, several instances of police brutality against Indigenous Canadians have prompted media attention.
Jonathan Allore, usually credited as John Allore, was a Canadian actor and podcaster, most noted for his true crime podcast Who Killed Theresa. The podcast started out as a personal exploration of the Death of Theresa Allore, his sister, and later expanded its focus to cover other unsolved crimes.
On October 20, 1926, he was killed in the line of duty while investigating illegal fishing vessels in New Brunswick.
CCGS A. LeBlanc, after Fishery Officer Agapit LeBlanc, of Bouctouche, New Brunswick. Mr. Leblanc joined the Canadian Fisheries and Marine Service in 1920. He was killed on October 20, 1926, while investigating illegal fishing vessels. His murder remains unsolved.
Today the Canadian Coast Guard inaugurated its newest Hero-class mid-shore patrol vessel, CCGS A. LeBlanc into the fleet.This vessel will be used mainly to enforce fisheries regulations in the St. Lawrence River and Gulf of St. Lawrence.