Investigators are now using the same technology to solve other crimes
Toronto police on Monday said they finally have solved a decades-old cold case, thanks to investigative genetic genealogy and DNA testing. The case dates back to May 17, 1982, when 47-year-old Kevin McBride died of multiple stab wounds inside his apartment on Sheppard Avenue East near Markham Road in Toronto, CBC reported.
He was last seen on May 15, 1982, two days before his body was found, police said. Investigators at the time suggested he had been killed two days earlier, the day he was last seen. They also determined that his vehicle, a credit card, and other personal belongings had been stolen and used between May 15 and May 17, 1982.
McBride lived alone and was not associated with any criminality, police said. However, the case went unsolved for decades. It was re-opened in 2016 when homicide case investigators tried to look for new evidence.
They retested exhibits and seized items from the original investigation hoping that "advancements in forensic testing and a DNA databank creation could determine any further leads."
Testing revealed evidence from the crime scene of a male profile other than that of Mr McBride. Investigators identified William Taylor as a suspect using genetic genealogy along with a private science lab. In 2022, tests confirmed William Taylor, who was 34 years old at the time of the crime, was the source of the unknown DNA left at the scene, as per a press release by the Toronto Police Service.
Investigators believe Talyor ''went in to rob him of his valuables. We believe that he did. Unfortunately in the process of this, he also stabbed our victim and killed him.''
However, Taylor died in May 2023.
Det. Sgt. Steve Smith, with Toronto Police's cold case unit, told Global News, ''Obviously when we identify somebody, we would like to bring them before justice so that they would have to face the crimes that they committed at this time. It's unfortunate when we find out the offender is deceased. But at least we can tell the families what happened to their loved one and who it was that killed their loved one.''
"If William Taylor was alive today, he would be arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Kevin McBride," police said.
Investigators are now using the same technology used to solve McBride's homicide on 65 other cases, involving other homicides, sexual assaults, and unidentified human remains.