Pinkus, Lori

Unsolved: The Murder of Lori Pinkus

Any information, contact Toronto Homicide at 416-808-7400, homocide@torontopolice.ca
or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-TIPS (8477), www.222tips.com, text TOR message to CRIMES (274637)
Download the Crime Stoppers App on iTunes, Google Play or Blackberry App World

Lori Pinkus left a bar after having drinks with friends on September 8, 1991, but she never made it home. Her nude body was found strangled in the Brockton High School parking lot by the school caretaker later that morning.

The Case: Facts & Speculations

All persons of interest in the case have been ruled out by police
Police have strong DNA evidence, but have not been able to make a match (yet)
Suspect would be over 50 years-old now

Lori Pinkus, 21, was assaulted, strangled, and left dead in the parking lot of Brockton High School on a Sunday morning in September of 1991. Her body had been displayed on her back with her arms at her sides and her eyes open. She was wearing only a halter top.

The school caretaker found her just before 10 a.m. and several members of a Sikh religious group who met nearby on Sundays saw her body before police arrived.

Lori had just moved to Toronto from Ottawa five months earlier and lived in a basement apartment with her boyfriend a few blocks from the crime scene.

Born in Ottawa, Lori was the youngest of nine children and had a troubled past. She had been stabbed in the chest by two male assailants in her home, but the charges had been dropped after Lori failed to appear in an Ottawa court. A warrant was out for her arrest for failing to appear.

Lori was addicted to drugs and worked in the sex trade in the Bloor and Lansdowne neighbourhood to support her habit. The school parking lot where her body was found was notorious for drug dealing activities after hours.

Toronto police have collected DNA of her assailant, but have yet to make a match.

Images of the Lori Pinkus Case

Video of the Lori Pinkus Case

Lori Pinkus Map

Possible Suspects

No suspects

June 26, 2018June 26, 2018

McWilliam, Margaret

Unsolved: The Murder of Margaret McWilliam

Margaret McWilliam went for a jog in Warden Woods Park around 7 p.m. on August 27, 1987. Her body was later found in a secluded area. She had been sexually assaulted, beaten and strangled with a piece of her own jogging suit.

The Case: Facts & Speculations

Police believe Margaret was not targeted and did not know her assaillant
Police believe this was a crime of opportunity (wrong place at wrong time)
A very distinctive shoe print was found at the scene of a Korean-made gray and white runner with vinyl tops and the letters AAU on the heel. The shoes were only sold at Bata Shoe Stores in Canada.

A little after 7 p.m. on Thursday, August 27, 1987, Margaret McWilliam was jogging along a path in Warden Woods Park when she was attacked by an unknown assailant and dragged into a secluded area. There he beat, sexually assaulted and strangled her with a piece of her own jogging suit.

Margaret jogged from her basement apartment on Santamonica Blvd north to St. Clair Ave. E., then traveled west towards Warden Woods park where she entered the trail on the southwest side of St. Clair and Warden. Her body was discovered in bush on the east side of the path.

Police believe that she did not sense the attack coming because she was wearing headphones to her walkman at the time.

Margaret, 21, was a student at Ryerson University and worked part-time as a receptionist and dining room supervisor at Fellowship Towers seniors’ home (now called Davenhill Senior Living). When she did not show up for work on August 28, 1987, her supervisor contacted her landlord who found Margaret’s keys hanging from her doorknob where she had left them to go jogging.

A police dog found her body in the park later that day. Her assailant had punched her in the face leaving bruising and there were signs she fought him during the assault. Police were able to collect DNA samples from cells on her sweater that have lead to a strong profile of her killer, but it has yet to match anyone.

The case, called the “Cinderella Murder” was very high-profile at the time because Margaret had been murdered during broad daylight in a public area.

Map

Images from the Margaret McWilliam Case

Video of the Margaret McWilliam Case

Possible Suspects

Two months after the murder, police provided a sketch of a “potential witness” who left Warden Woods Park after 8 p.m. He was described as a light-skinned black man in his 30s with a thin moustache. He had a muscular build and was wearing a red hat.

Police developed a psychological profile of the killer that said:

He would have difficulty communications with and maintaining relationships with women
He would work in a low-end job and change jobs frequently
Probably uses drugs and alcohol
Possible traumatic incident involving his family at the time of the murder, either family violence or some kind of emotional turmoil with his mother

Police do not believe this was his first or last attack, but his DNA has not been matched yet because he is dead or left the country. Police do believe he confessed his crime to someone who has the key to bringing justice to Margaret’s killer.

Sources

Nearly 30 years later no leads in ‘Cinderella murder’, Toronto Star, Dec 27, 2016

Cold Case Files: Ontario family recalls moments after daughter’s death 29 years ago, Global News, Sept 29, 2016

May 12, 2018June 2, 2018

Adriano, Delia

Unsolved: The Murder of Delia Adriano

Any information, contact Det. Phil Campbell at 905-465-8736 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477)
www.haltoncrimestoppers.ca or by texting “Tip 201” with your message to 274637 (crimes)

Delia Adriano’s fiancée dropped her at her parent’s Oakville home on a Sunday night and drove away. Delia never made it inside. Her body was found Nov. 6, 1982, in the woods near Campbellville.

On Sunday, Sept. 26, 1982, 25-year-old Delia Adriano spent the day with her fiancé Danny Dutra watching a soccer game and hanging out at a barbecue before he dropped at her parents’ home in Oakville around 9:30 p.m. Before she could get into the house, she was abducted.

Six weeks later, on Nov. 6, 1982, Delia was found nude in a wooded lot just south of Milton by Del Parcham, a woodcutter. Her body was too decomposed to determine cause of death or whether she had been sexually assaulted.

Witnesses reported hearing a woman’s screens a few blocks from Delia’s home that night around 10:30 p.m. Others also reported seeing a woman who fit Delia’s description being forced into a car by a man. The man and woman argued inside the car for about five minutes before the man drove the car off with the car’s lights off.

Delia’s purse was found on the sidewalk in the area of the incident the next morning.

The Case: Facts & Speculations

Police think Delia knew her assailant. Delia’s family also think it could be someone who knew their family because the family dog did not bark while she interacted with the man on the street. Also, witnesses said it seemed like a couple arguing and not strangers.
The fact that she was found nude suggests sexual assault as a motive even though her body was too decomposed to provide definitive answers.
A composite sketch was made of the suspect who was described as white, 5’7 to 5’9, medium build, with brown hair feathered back to the neck.
The car was descried as a dark blue, 2-door subcompact 1970s Chevrolet Chevette (or something similar) with three stripes on the side. The car had Ontario plates and was seen parked in the driveway of a model home sales office nearby.
Adriano was part of a very close-knit Portuguese community, so it is possible the killer was someone in that group. Even the priest made a comment about it at her funeral.
Her fiancee is not a suspect in her murder.

Map

Images from the Delia Adriano Case

Possible Suspects

Larry Talbot (pseudonym)

In his book, “A Viable Suspect:The Story of Multiple Murders and How a Police Force’s Reach Proved Too Short for Canada’s Most Notorious Cold Case”, retired OPP officer Barry Ruhl believes a serial killer he calls Larry Talbot could be responsible for the death of Leah Sousa, as well as many other girls and women in southwestern Ontario.

In 1971, Talbot broke into Ruhl’s Sauble Beach cottage and attacked his fiancée. Luckily, Ruhl interrupted the assault and arrested Talbot at the scene.

Later, he attended a community policing meeting about Leah Sousa’s murder where he learned that the intruder gained entrance to the home by smashing out the back door window. This was also how Talbot broke into Ruhl’s cottage 21 years earlier.

A traveling salesman, Talbot frequented the highways of southwestern Ontario and a “rape kit” was found in his car, but he died before he was thoroughly investigated for any unsolved murders, including:

Lynne Harper, 12, from Vanastra. Her 1959 murder saw Steven Truscott wrongly convicted.
Lynda White, 19, went missing from London in 1968. Her remains were found in Norfolk County in 1973.
Jacqueline English, 15, went missing from London in 1969. Her body was found near Tilsonburg.
Pauline Ivy Dudley, 17, from Oakville, was killed in 1973. Halton Regional Police informed Ruhl that Talbot was the prime suspect in her case.
Christine Prince, from Toronto, was killed in 1982. Her body was found floating in Toronto’s Rouge River.
Leah Sousa, 13, from Cumberland Beach, was killed in 1992. Her body was found in her back yard.
Valerie Stevens, 19, from Toronto, murdered in 1992. Her body was found in Burford.
Cindy Hallaway, 17, last seen in Midland, was murdered in 1992. Her body was found near Phelpston.

Sources

35 years ago Delia Adriano was dropped off in front of her Oakville home but she never made it inside, Toronto Star, Nov. 30, 2017

Who killed Delia Adriano?, Inside Halton, Sept. 26, 2007

Defrosting Cold Cases

Police re-examine cold case, The Globe and Mail, Apr. 4, 2005

May 10, 2018June 2, 2018

Dudley, Pauline Ivy

Unsolved: The Murder of Pauline Ivy Dudley

Any information, call Halton police at 905-465-8768 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477)

Pauline Dudley left her parents home on Lakeshore Dr. in Oakville around 10 p.m. to hitchhike her way back to the apartment she shared with her boyfriend in Milton. Her decomposed body was found by a farmer in his Oakville field August 28, 1973.

Here’s are facts and speculations about the case:

Her killer was probably a stranger that picked her up while she was hitchhiking
Robbery was not a motive as her wallet was found at the scene
Her boyfriend has been totally cleared as a suspect in the case
DNA evidence was recovered from the scene although it is not known if it is too degraded to test

Seventeen-year-old Pauline Dudley had settled down in a Milton apartment with her boyfriend after they had spent some time travelling. She was looking forward to finding a job and had recently filled out applications for secretarial work in the area.

She spent some time with friends on Monday, August 10, 1973, before she was dropped off at her parents home on Lakeshore Drive, in the Bronte area of Oakville. Her mother saw her off around 10 p.m. that evening as Pauline planned to hitchhike home to Milton, but her boyfriend said she never arrived. He reported her missing the next day.

A farmer found her fully-clothed body in his Oakville wheat field at Lower Base Line and hwy #25 on August 28, 1983. Her killer had partially concealed her body under hay and her wallet was found lying close by.

Her body was too decomposed to established cause of death or whether she had been sexually assaulted, although it was reported that she suffered a hairline fracture to her jaw. Police collected DNA evidence from the scene.

Map

Images

Possible Suspects

Larry Talbot (pseudonym)

In his book, “A Viable Suspect:The Story of Multiple Murders and How a Police Force’s Reach Proved Too Short for Canada’s Most Notorious Cold Case”, retired OPP officer Barry Ruhl believes a serial killer he calls Larry Talbot could be responsible for the death of Pauline Ivy Dudely, as well as many other girls and women in southwestern Ontario.

At the time of Pauline’s murder, Ruhl was the prime suspect in the case.

In 1971, Talbot broke into Ruhl’s Sauble Beach cottage and attacked his fiancée. Luckily, Ruhl interrupted the assault and arrested Talbot at the scene.

Lynne Harper, 12, from Vanastra. Her 1959 murder saw Steven Truscott wrongly convicted.
Lynda White, 19, went missing from London in 1968. Her remains were found in Norfolk County in 1973.
Jacqueline English, 15, went missing from London in 1969. Her body was found near Tilsonburg.
Christine Prince, from Toronto, was killed in 1982. Her body was found floating in Toronto’s Rouge River.
Delia Adriano, 25, from Oakville, was killed in 1982. Her body was found in rural Oakville west of Campbellville.
Leah Sousa, 13, from Cumberland Beach, was killed in 1992. Her body was found in her back yard.
Valerie Stevens, 19, from Toronto, murdered in 1992. Her body was found in Burford.
Cindy Hallaway, 17, last seen in Midland, was murdered in 1992. Her body was found near Phelpston.

Sources

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/05/06/police-still-looking-for-oakville-womans-killer-45-years-later.html

May 10, 2018May 19, 2018

Prince, Christine

Unsolved: The Murder of Christine Price

Any information, call Toronto Homicide at 416-808-7400 or homicide@torontopolice.on.ca, Case File #24/1982
Call anonymously to Crime Stoppers 416-222-TIPS (8477)

In the early hours of Monday, June 21, 1982, 25-year-old Christine Prince was abducted from downtown Toronto, taken to a hidden lane along the Rouge River in Scarborough, where she was sexually assaulted and murdered.

Here is what police think:

Christine was cautious and would never had accepted a ride from a stranger.
Christine was abducted from the east sidewalk outside of 18 Pinewood Ave. where her umbrella was found.
It is likely there was more than one assailant because the abduction was so quick and noiseless, and to subdue Christine for the 30 km drive to Rouge River.
The assailants were very familiar with the back roads along the Rouge River
Christine’s missing jewelery could have been given as a gift to wife, mother or girlfriend of the assailant.
Tire tracks belonging to a four-wheel drive Toyota were found near the crime scene that may or may not be connected to Christine’s murder.
Police do have DNA evidence collected from the scene.

Help bring Christine’s killer to justice!!

On Sunday, June 20, 1982, Christine Prince met up with her friend, Gloria Betts, to watch a movie at the Yonge- Bloor cinema. Both women had traveled from their homeland of Wales to work as live-in nannies for families in Toronto.

After the movie, they walked to the Four Seasons Hotel to meet up with Christine’s boyfriend, David Curtis-Smith, who was finishing work as a chef at the hotel. The three then went to a cafe nearby for donuts before heading home.

Between 1-1:30 a.m., Monday, June 21, 1982, Christine and Gloria got on the Bloor St. subway heading north to St. Clair St., while David traveled east. Exiting the subway at the St. Clair station, the women caught the westbound St. Clair streetcar. Gloria got off at Bathurst St. leaving Christine to travel two stops to Wychwood Ave., where she got off the streetcar, walked a very short distance to Pinewood Ave. and headed north towards the Kruzick residence.

Her distinctive umbrella was found at 6 a.m. by a woman walking south on Pinewood past Humewood park. Noticing the umbrella was in good condition, she picked it up and hung it on the doorknob of a shop located at St. Clair Ave. W. and Christie St.

The Kruzicks became worried when Christine had not returned by 7:30 a.m. and contacted the police.

Around 9 a.m., Dominic Dodds, a city worker cutting the grass beside HWY 401 near Meadowvale Rd., found Christine’s wallet.

On the morning of Tuesday, June 22, 1982, people walking to work along Sewell’s Rd. spotted Christine’s nude body floating face down in the Rouge River. She had been sexually assaulted and murdered.

Investigators identified the crime scene along a hidden lane that runs beside the Rouge River, about 200 metres upstream from where Christine’s body came to rest. There, they found her clothing and purse, which was missing her wallet and an instant camera, and rope believed to tie her wrists. Two pieces of jewelery that Christine always wore – a gold ring with two joined hearts and a gold watch – were missing and have never been found.

Although she had been badly beaten, Christine’s cause of death was drowning, either by the assailant holding her under water or she was unable to save herself due to her injuries.

Places & Routes in Christine Prince Case

The Christine Prince Case

Possible Suspects

FBI Profile of Christine’s Killers

The FBI profilers were contacted by Toronto police in 1985. The following is their thoughts on Christine’s assailants.

She was kidnapped by two men, and her wrists were immediately bound
Her assailants were familiar with the back road near the Rouge River where she was taken
One assailant (the leader) raped and murdered Christine while the other (the follower) stood by

The Slim Black Man

On May 30, 1982, a woman was attacked in an attempted rape as she walked south on Humewood Ave. at 7:30 a.m. She bit her attacker’s hand and ran into the street waving down a passing vehicle. She described the assailant as a slim, 6′ black man. Investigators made a tentative link to Christine’s case.

William Brett Henson

Through DNA, Henson was convicted of the murder of 19-year-old Jenny Isford 15 years after her death in 1982. Jenny was attacked walking home after exited a public bus in North York.

Danny Wood

Danny Wood was a drifter who had already murdered a woman in Calgary, Alberta, before he located to the Timmons/North Bay area of Ontario in the early 1980s. There he raped and murdered women along the Highway 11 corridor. Police think he may be responsible for up to 15 murders in Canada.

Paul Bernardo

Although Bernardo is not known to have committed any murders before the 1990s, he was active as the Scarborough Rapist in the late 80s. He would have been 18-years-old at the time Christine was murdered.

Larry Talbot (pseudonym)

In his book, “A Viable Suspect:The Story of Multiple Murders and How a Police Force’s Reach Proved Too Short for Canada’s Most Notorious Cold Case”, retired OPP officer Barry Ruhl believes a serial killer he calls Larry Talbot could be responsible for the death of Christine Prince, as well as many other girls and women in southwestern Ontario.

In 1971, Talbot broke into Ruhl’s Sauble Beach cottage and attacked his fiancée. Luckily, Ruhl interrupted the assault and arrested Talbot at the scene.

Lynne Harper, 12, from Vanastra. Her 1959 murder saw Steven Truscott wrongly convicted.
Lynda White, 19, went missing from London in 1968. Her remains were found in Norfolk County in 1973.
Jacqueline English, 15, went missing from London in 1969. Her body was found near Tilsonburg.
Pauline Ivy Dudley, 17, from Oakville, was killed in 1973. Halton Regional Police informed Ruhl that Talbot was the prime suspect in her case.
Delia Adriano, 25, from Oakville, was killed in 1982. Her body was found in rural Oakville west of Campbellville.
Leah Sousa, 13, from Cumberland Beach, was killed in 1982. Her body was found in her backyard.
Valerie Stevens, 19, from Toronto, murdered in 1992. Her body was found in Burford.
Cindy Hallaway, 17, last seen in Midland, was murdered in 1992. Her body was found near Phelpston.

Sources

Mellor, Lee. Cold North Killers: Canadian Serial Murder, 1982

Survivors of Heinous Crimes Blog

March 13, 2018May 19, 2018

Sousa, Leah

Unsolved: The Murder of Leah Sousa

$50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Leah’s killer
Call the OPP at 1-888-310-1122 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS)

Leah was about to enter high school after the Labour Day long weekend when she was viciously sexually assaulted and beaten to death.

Map of Cumberland Beach

On Sept. 1, 1990, 13-year-old Leah Sousa, her 9-month-old brother, Michael, and mother Lora, 36, returned to their Cumberland Beach, Ontario, home from an extended vacation. Exhausted from their trip, they all fell asleep, Lora in the bedroom with the baby and Leah on the living room couch.

Sometime between 1:30 a.m. and 3 a.m., an intruder(s) broke the glass of the back door, entered the home and beat Lora into unconsciousness. She was found on the living room floor with a smashed portable phone nearby. Michael was left unharmed in the bedroom.

The assailant(s) then sexually assaulted Leah, dragged her into the backyard where she was brutally beaten to death with a blunt object, possibly a crowbar or tire iron.

Her body was found around 10:30 a.m.by a school friend.

Although Lora survived, she suffered memory loss from the attack, making it difficult to identify a suspect(s) and the only evidence left at the scene was a bloody footprint made by a man’s size 9 or 10 all-leather Nike court or tennis shoe.

Here is what police think:

The assailant(s) either lived in the area or were very familiar with the Cumberland Beach
The assailant(s) targeted the Sousas knowing they were vulnerable; a single-mother with a baby and teenage daughter
The murder weapon has never been recovered
The assailant(s) would have been covered in blood after the assault, so someone would have noticed or he/they changed clothes and washed up directly afterwards
The attack occurred during the long-weekend and Cumberland Beach is located near tourist areas along Lake Couchiching

Help bring Leah’s killer to justice!!

Cumberland Beach is a small community about an hour’s drive north of Toronto. It is situated on Lake Couchiching in Simcoe County. The closest large city is Orillia.

The Sousa’s cottage (3421 Beachview Ave.) was situated about halfway between Cumberland Rd.and Lakeside Dr. on the north-east side of the street. The neighbours are both sides are very close to the home, but the backyard is shaded by a thicket of trees that leads to an empty lot on Coronation Ave. The nighttime and trees would cover the killer as he approached the back door.

The lot the house sits on is about 132×50 feet.

Highway 11, which connects Cumberland Beach to Orillia and Severn, is about 350 metres from the Sousa’s front door, while Bayou Beach (a public beach) is just over 400 metres. On either side of Bayou Beach are plenty of cottages with private docks.

The Sousa home as it looked in 1990

Possible Suspects

The OPP conducted over 1,800 interviews and followed-up on all tips, but no one has ever been arrested for the murder of Leah Sousa.

Investigators describe Leah’s killing as one of Ontario’s most brutal homicides ever, yet the was very little forensic evidence left behind. They believe that someone still living in Cumberland has information that could help them crack the case.

Following are some official and some completely speculative persons of interest.

Brian Timothy Elson

Brian Elson was interviewed multiple times by investigators after Leah’s murder. Police believe he was in Cumberland Beach on Sept. 1, 1990, and his grandmother lived on Beachfront Dr., down the street from the Sousas, at the time.

A mere four months after Leah’s death, Elson stabbed 17-year-old Sandra Bannister to death at a party. He was convicted of manslaughter and spent six years in prison. He was considered such a threat to society that police monitored his movements for three years after his release.

Larry Talbot (pseudonym)

In 1971, Talbot broke into Ruhl’s Sauble Beach cottage and attacked his fiancée. Luckily, Ruhl interrupted the assault and arrested Talbot at the scene.

Lynne Harper, 12, from Vanastra. Her 1959 murder saw Steven Truscott wrongly convicted.
Lynda White, 19, went missing from London in 1968. Her remains were found in Norfolk County in 1973.
Jacqueline English, 15, went missing from London in 1969. Her body was found near Tilsonburg.
Pauline Ivy Dudley, 17, from Oakville, was killed in 1973. Halton Regional Police informed Ruhl that Talbot was the prime suspect in her case.
Christine Prince, from Toronto, was killed in 1982. Her body was found floating in Toronto’s Rouge River.
Delia Adriano, 25, from Oakville, was killed in 1982. Her body was found in rural Oakville west of Campbellville.
Valerie Stevens, 19, from Toronto, murdered in 1992. Her body was found in Burford.
Cindy Hallaway, 17, last seen in Midland, was murdered in 1992. Her body was found near Phelpston.

Possible Drug Vendetta

In her book, “Poetic Justice: The Search for Leah’s Killers”, Leah’s mother Lora reveals that her brother was a drug dealer who was living with them at the time of the murder. She says it is possible that the assault was drug-related and that the killers were actually looking for him.

Michael Wayne Mcgray

A Sept. 23, 2012, a user named Chrisdiane posted the following on unsolvedcanada.ca:

“I was in prison with a serial killer named Mike Wayne Mcgray. He described in great detail to me this murder….maybe because I am an ex-con or there is a 50 thousand dollar reward my credibility is questioned. Noone seems to take me seriously but I am telling you I interviewed the devil. I was a career criminal who thought I was a bad person until I met Wayne. I have never reoffended since my release from prison and I have turned my life around. I truly believe with all my heart this man did this crime which he described in great detail to me. I am ashamed to admitt I befriended him while in prison but sometimes you keep your enemies closer than your friends as the saying goes. I grew up on a small town on Vancouver Island and had no wayof ever knowingabout this crime. I dont care about the reward money allthough I would not refuse it. I have looked into this crime and i think the family deserves closure…..Mcgray told me if he was ever questioned about this crime he would not deny his guilt. Please someone hear this”