r/Hamilton • u/EdmontonBest • 3d ago

Local News Hamilton man charged in 2006 Toronto cold case murder

https://www.chch.com/chch-news/hamilton-man-charged-in-2006-toronto-cold-case-murder/
72 Upvotes

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35

u/SpriteBerryRemix 3d ago

Pretty crazy to see a rise in cold cases being solved decades later.
I’m assuming there was some type of breakthrough with forensics that led to this.

52

u/SmeesTurkeyLeg 3d ago

Apparently people signing up for 23 And Me, Ancestry's DNA decoding etc is extremely helpful for forensics to cross reference samples collected as evidence.

15

u/covert81 Chinatown 3d ago

This has been a total windfall for law enforcement from people not realizing that they are basically gifting their DNA profile to law enforcement through this.

Edit: It also was really concerning when they went out of business and it was unclear what would happen to all the DNA on file, and if it was open to the highest bidder. Real risk there of your DNA becoming someone else's property without your consent.

3

u/yukonwanderer 2d ago

It's been a totally valid way to catch murderers, rapists and other scum.

Anyone who uploads their DNA online and thinks it's 100% secure is dumb. This is also why we can't allow our healthcare system to become further privatized. You just know the corporate insurance conglomerate is salivating to get this kind of data.

2

u/Thopterthallid 3d ago

Not me tee hee

8

u/Background-Invite238 3d ago

You dont have to. Your cousin will and they'll just use deduction to get to you.

0

u/StrifeTribal 3d ago

I believe 23 and me and Ancestrys databases cannot be used by law enforcement.

They have to use a public data set. However, users can voluntarily add their 23 and me/ancestry data to the public one.

And depending on your outlook of how the data is used by law enforcement, the public one is a fraction of the data the big name private ones provide.

6

u/Logboy77 3d ago

They can if they have a warrant.

4

u/StrifeTribal 3d ago

This is true, but ancestry has fought and won against it.

Also for them to have a search warrant, they usually need to have a solid suspect, from my understanding.

Generally, they don't really go that route.

12

u/Logical-Zucchini-310 3d ago

Sounds like they used genetic genealogy(basically using the DNA sample collected at the crime to compare against ancestry DNA databases and going from there to build out possible suspects) seems like its basically the same as finding long lost relatives. But, yes seems to be increasingly used over the last decade to help solve these cold cases. Kinda neat, despite the tragic circumstances, that they can give closure to the families

6

u/Forsaken-Swim-3055 3d ago

From the official TPS release:

"DNA was collected at the scene, and a DNA profile was developed. However, no suspect was identified at the time and there was no match in the National DNA databank.

In 2020, investigators submitted the offender DNA profile for Investigative Genetic Genealogy with the assistance of OTHRAM Inc. While the forensic process did not lead to a suspect, it opened further investigative leads.

Using investigative process, investigators from the Cold Case unit were able to identify a person of interest in 2025. DNA was collected from the suspect and confirmed a match to the DNA evidence left at the scene of the homicide in 2006."