DNA found, Toronto police offer $50K reward in Cabbagetown murder

Toronto police said they have found DNA evidence and are offering a $50,000 reward for information that will lead to an arrest in a six-month-old Cabbagetown murder.

For the first time, police said robbery was a “strong possibility” for motive in the death of Nighisti Semret.

Semret, 55, was stabbed to death in an alley near Bleecker Street on Oct. 23, 2012. She was returning home from her job as a cleaner at the Delta Chelsea hotel around 7 a.m. and police do not believe she knew her attacker.

“Male DNA was found under the fingernail of her right hand and on the canvas portion of the umbrella used by the citizen who confronted the offender as the attack was ongoing,” Det. Sgt. Gary Giroux said at a news conference at police headquarters on Monday.

“Male DNA – blood – was detected on the black canvas bag the deceased was carrying. Those male genetic DNA profiles are all from the same individual.”

However, the DNA profile did not match any information in the national data bank.

“The blade was over 20 centimetres in length. At least one of the stab wounds touched her spine, travelling completely through her body,” Giroux said at the news conference.

Giroux said the attacker likely wounded himself with the same knife but may not have sought medical treatment.

Police are looking for someone who had a knife wound in his hand or arm around that time.

It’s likely that the attacker was familiar to the area but may not have lived there.  He may have visited a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter in the area, Giroux said.

Police have released two different sets of security footage in the hopes of identifying the suspect, but no arrests have been made.

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