After nearly four decades, authorities have arrested a man in connection with two cold case murders.
Joseph George Sutherland, 61, was arrested Friday and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, the Toronto Police Service announced. He was arrested for the murders of Susan Tice and Erin Gilmour.
Tice was 45 years old when her relative found her deceased in her upstairs bedroom on Aug. 17, 1983. According to authorities, Tice had been sexually assaulted and stabbed numerous times.
Around four months after Tice’s body was discovered, a friend found Gilmour deceased. She was also found in her bedroom and, like Tice, had been sexually assaulted and stabbed numerous times.
Gilmour and Tice did not know each other, said police. The Toronto Police Homicide and Missing Persons Unit, Cold Case section, had already been investigating the case for years when DNA obtained from the crime scenes linked both cases to the same man in 2000.
Eight years later, the police service announced a reward for information about the homicides, followed by another appeal for information eight years after that.
Finally, a Genetic Genealogy investigation began in 2019 with the assistance of OTHRAM Inc. This technique helped investigators find Sutherland in Moosonee, Ontario.
“As pleased as we are to announce this arrest, it will never bring Erin or Susan back, and on behalf of the Toronto Police Service, I want to again express my condolences to their families,” said Chief James Ramer. “After 39 years of dogged police work, our investigators have made sure this individual will answer for these heinous crimes. The Toronto Police Service will never give up on finding people who commit crimes in our city and who show a flagrant disregard for people’s lives.”
Sutherland is set to appear in court Dec. 9.
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