16 January 2011

APRIL 26, 1973



I grew up in the area where these murders occurred and, for some reason, this case has remained with me. At the time, my mum worked at a women's clothing store in the shopping centre were the girls reportedly attended (I have faint memories as a kid driving with my dad in an old Ford Falcon during nighttime to pick my mum after work). The birthday gift that Wendy's sister mentions in the video was a blouse, based on information I found on the internet and old newspaper articles. So, accordingly, I deduced the plausibility that Wendy and Donna shopped at the store where my mum worked. I asked my mum about this a few years back but, alas, she has no memory of such an occurrence, nor does she recall the homicide case as such.


The Toronto Homicide link for this cold case can be found here. The attending newspaper article for the video above is here. Also, there is a detailed public discussion thread/forum covering many aspects of the case here.

A new year has just arrived and it has been 37+ years since the homicides happened. Perhaps the reader might take a few moments to say a Hail Mary for Wendy/Donna and their families, with the additional intention for Toronto Police to solve this cold case.

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10 comments:

Mary said...

Very, very tragic. Almost as if it was done on a dare, or as part of a gang initiation. Prayers being said as you requested.

TH2 said...

Thanks, One. You are quite perceptive. One of the theories is gang involvement. Many twists and turns and mysteries in this case.

Mary said...

I've rethought my comment after reading the thread discussion; there are details that would preclude a random act. After thirty seven years, the crime may be solved only with the perp's deathbed confession.

TH2 said...

Going through the thread, I guess that you noticed the many inconsistencies in witness claims, autopsy report, etc. It's a complex case. A deathbed confession (unfortunately) would seem the only way to solve it.

Anita Moore said...

Does Ontario have a DNA database for convicted felons?

TH2 said...

Yes, there is. Though, I think it runs on a national level (i.e. RCMP), rather than provincially. If DNA was found, as the link to the TO Star indicates, then it likely would have been compared against the database already. The video/article is from late 2009, so it can be surmised that a check has been done already. Results of the DNA DB check, if done, have not been released, so far as I am aware.

Al said...

This made me think of an unsolved murder here in DBQ. Saturday, 4 Jan 1975, at about7:45 p.m., a customer at Dubuque’s “Marino’s Meal on a Bun” on Central Ave found waitress Jackie Shireman lying in a pool of blood in the walk-in cooler. The 21-year-old newlywed & Sunday School teacher had been stabbed approximately 30 times with a pair of scissors. The arrested someone who was probably the murderer. But the trial returned no homicide conviction. Many people think it was mishandled. So the case remains open.

Optimusmastro said...

Prayers ascending,...God Bless.

TH2 said...

Al: just read an article on that case at an Iowa cold case website. Very tragic. What's worse is that her husband drowned in an swimming accident just 6 months later.

Marco: thank you, sir.

Al said...

Yes, the whole thing was very tragic. I was a student here at Loras at the time, but was home for Christmas break.
As I said, I feel that they caught the murderer, but the case was mishandled like it said in the article you read.

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