Police make break in 33-year-old notorious "Woodland Rapist" Canadian cold case

Police in the Greater Toronto Area have arrested and charged a man in British Columbia in connection to the notorious “Woodland Rapist” cold case.

The case — dubbed Project Woodland — had police across jurisdictions attempting to arrest a suspect involved in the alleged sexual assaults of children in the GTA during the early 1990s.

According to the Toronto Star, police used DNA evidence to link three separate assaults that allegedly occurred in Brampton, Oakville, and Kitchener to the same man, who became known as the “Woodland Rapist.”

In November 1995, officers canvassed neighbourhoods trying to find clues and said they received over 1,300 tips, conducted around 1,000 interviews, and collected hundreds of DNA samples, reported the Star.

Despite police efforts, the case went cold in 1996.

In 2009, Peel Police reopened the file but believed the suspect may have died or relocated since the attacks.

Fifteen years later, Peel and Halton police announced that they had finally made an arrest.

On March 3, investigators arrested and charged Richard Neil, a 64-year-old BC man, with 20 criminal charges for kidnapping, uttering death threats, sexual assault, sexual assault with a weapon, sexual interference, invitation to sexual touching, administering noxious thing with intent, and forcible confinement.

Neil was held for a bail hearing and a publication ban is in place to protect the identity of the victims.

Police said no additional information is being released at this time.

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