New lead in Canadian cold cases: Arrest made four decades after two women killed
Two decades-long Canadian cold cases could be nearing a resolution after a 61-year-old Ontario man was arrested on Thursday.
Joseph George Sutherland was arrested in Moosonee, a town in northern Ontario, and charged in connection with the murders of Susan Tice, 45, and Erin Gilmour, 22.
Both Toronto women were sexually assaulted in their own homes and then stabbed to death in 1983.
Tice was a mom trained and employed in social work, while Gilmour was hoping to become a fashion designer.
Susan Tice (Toronto Police Service)
Looking at the evidence over the years, police determined that the same individual had committed the killings. Toronto Police Chief James Ramer announced Sutherland’s arrest in a news conference on Monday.
“This is a day that I and we’ve been waiting almost an entire lifetime for,” said Sean McCowan, Gilmour’s brother. McCowan was 13 years old at the time of his sister’s death.
Erin Gilmour (Toronto Police Service)
Sutherland was previously not among the suspects in the killings, TPS Chief Ramer noted. He was only flagged in the cold case thanks to genetic testing and DNA investigation.
Now, police will begin looking into other unsolved crimes Sutherland might be connected to since 1983.
He will appear in court on December 9.
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