Cold case of two women murdered in Toronto sees arrest almost 4 decades later
Posted February 13, 2023 8:51 am.
Last Updated February 13, 2023 8:53 am.
On this week’s episode of the “Tracking a Killer: The Cold Case Files” podcast, CityNews’ Fil Martino and Madison Fitzpatrick take a look at the murders of Erin Gilmour and Susan Tice.
Susan Tice, 45, was a social worker and mother of four who lived in Toronto’s Bickford Park neighbourhood.
Erin Gilmour, 22, was an aspiring fashion designer who lived in Yorkville.
The two women, with no ties to each other, were both sexually assaulted and stabbed to death within months of each other in 1983.
For decades their killer eluded police but, advances in science and the use of genetic genealogy finally led investigators to a suspect they believe is responsible.
Joseph George Sutherland, 61, of Moosonee has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of both Gilmour and Tice.
Gilmour’s brother Sean McCowan said his mother until the very end of her life had always wanted someone to be held accountable for his sister’s murder and for Susan Tice’s murder.
“Unfortunately, she is not here to see this day happen, but at the same time it was what she wanted, and I am super happy that we finally got at least a name and an arrest of someone who allegedly has committed the crimes,” said McCowan.
Toronto Police Acting Det. Sgt. Steve Smith said this gives everybody hope that cases from the past that seemed previously unsolvable can now be solved.
“Every case is not going to be able to be solved this way, but there are enough cases that will be able to be solved that it is going to provide a lot more victims with answers,” said Acting Det. Sgt. Smith.
The Erin Gilmour and Susan Tice cold case is now getting closer and closer to becoming a closed case.
