Toronto police say man who died in 2019 is perpetrator of 3 cold case homicides

TORONTO (AP) — A Canadian man who died in 2019 has been identified as the perpetrator of three cold case homicides in Toronto, and investigators believe there could be more victims.

Toronto police said Thursday recent forensic testing and genetic genealogy has conclusively identified Kenneth Smith, 72, of Windsor, Ontario, as the person who killed two women in the 1980s and a third woman in the 1990s.

They say the first woman, Christine Prince, 25, was found dead on June 22, 1982 in the Rouge River in Toronto after she was sexually assaulted and struck on the head.

Police say Claire Samson, 23, was found dead with gunshot wounds in Oro-Medonte Township on Sept. 1, 1983.

They say the third victim, 41-year-old Gracelyn Greenidge, died of blunt force trauma in her Toronto apartment on July 29, 1997.

Police said Smith lived and worked in Toronto at the time of the homicides and had a history of sexual assault, and investigators believe there could be more victims.

Genetic genealogy has increasingly been used to track down unidentified criminal suspects and help solve scores of cold cases in recent years, some of them more than a half-century old or involving other serial killers. It unmasked the Golden State Killer, Joseph DeAngelo, who pleaded guilty to 13 murders and 13 rape-related charges that spanned much of California between 1975 and 1986.

Police can create a DNA profile to upload to public DNA databases and compare it to other profiles, helping to trace individuals within a family tree.

Ontario Provincial Police Chief Supt. Karen Gonneau said as DNA technology advanced police reviewed a number of unsolved homicides. It wasn’t until 2017 that they linked a suspect to all three women.

Toronto Police Det. Sgt. Steve Smith said they were able to identify close relatives of the offender. And he said with that information the center of forensic science was then able to conduct the final comparison that led to the conclusive identification of Smith.

He said Smith lived and worked in Toronto during the period of all three murders. He was known to police and had a history of sexual assault.

“Based on the evidence we have today we believe it is possible that there may be additional victims who have never been identified,” Smith said.

He said Smith was never investigated for these murders previously. He also said he had been jailed at least once before the first two murders and twice before Greenidge’s murder.

Detective Sergeant Steve Smith of the Cold Case Unit, center, Deputy Chief Rob Johnson, left, and Chief Superintendent Karen Gonneau of the Ontario Provincial Police provide a development in three historical homicide investigations, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, during a news conference at police headquarters in Toronto. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Images of Kenneth Smith are displayed as police provide a development in three historical homicide investigations, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, during a news conference at police headquarters in Toronto. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Images of Kenneth Smith are displayed as police provide a development in three historical homicide investigations, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, during a news conference at police headquarters in Toronto. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Detective Sergeant Steve Smith of the Cold Case Unit, center, Deputy Chief Rob Johnson, left, and Chief Superintendent Karen Gonneau of the Ontario Provincial Police provide a development in three historical homicide investigations, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, during a news conference at police headquarters in Toronto. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

Chief Superintendent Karen Gonneau of the Ontario Provincial Police stands in front of a screen displaying images of Kenneth Smith as police provide a development in three historical homicide investigations, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, during a news conference at police headquarters in Toronto. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A grand jury declined for a second time to re-indict New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday, refusing to resurrect a mortgage fraud prosecution encouraged by President Donald Trump, according to a person familiar with the matter.

It’s another major blow to the Justice Department after the dismissal of earlier charges against James and another longtime Trump foe, former FBI Director James Comey, in a stunning rebuke of the Trump administration’s efforts to prosecute the president’s political opponents.

A judge threw out the original indictment against James and Comey in November, ruling that the prosecutor who presented to the grand jury, Lindsey Halligan, was illegally appointed U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The Justice Department asked a grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, to return an indictment Thursday after a different grand jury in Norfolk last week refused to do so. The person who confirmed the failure to secure an indictment was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The allegations related to James’ purchase of modest house in Norfolk, where she has family.

James says the case is politically motivated and has denied any wrongdoing.

FILE - New York Attorney General, Letitia James, speaks after pleading not guilty outside the United States District Court Oct. 24, 2025, in Norfolk, Va. (AP Photo/John Clark, File)