2 Women Were Found Slain, Sexually Assaulted Within Months of Each Other in 1983: How DNA Led to Arrest

Joseph George Sutherland.Photo: Toronto Police Service

On Monday, Toronto Policeannounced a massive breakin a pair of cold-case Canadian homicides committed nearly 40 years ago.

The department zeroed in on Sutherland with the help of advances in DNA technology that had previously made solving these sorts of complex cold cases difficult.

On August 17, 1983, a family member found Tice’s body in the upstairs bedroom of her home. The mother of four had been stabbed numerous times and was also sexually assaulted, per the Toronto Police’s statement. In December 1983,Erin Gilmour, an aspiring fashion designer, was found dead in her bedroom, not far from Tice’s home, also stabbed to death. She was sexually assaulted as well. The two women did not know each other, police say.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

In 2000, detectives were able to link the two unsolved murders to a then-unidentified suspect who had left behind trace DNA at both crime scenes. Investigators used a technique dubbed investigative genetic genealogy to create a sort of “family tree” of the perpetrator’s relatives, comparing crime-scene DNA samples against samples that strangers voluntarily contributed to web databases like 23 and Me. Eventually, investigators built enough of a case to serve Sutherland with a warrant to obtain a current DNA sample from him to compare against the crime-scene samples.

On Nov. 25, after it was determined to be a match, Sutherland was arrested at his home in Moosonee, Northern Ontario.

At a Nov. 28 press conference,Det.-Sgt. Steve Smith said the case was the most complex he’d ever worked throughout his 25 years on the police force.

“As relieved 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,“Chief James Ramer said at the press conference. “Toronto Police homicide detectives have never stopped investigating these reprehensible crimes or seeking to find the person responsible.”

Sutherland is due in court on Dec. 9. PEOPLE reached out to the Toronto Police for comment but did not immediately hear back. It is unclear if Sutherland has entered a plea or retained an attorney who can speak on his behalf.

source: people.com