Canadian police have identified through DNA testing the suspect in two murders committed in 1983, one of the victims of which was the daughter of one of the founders of mining giant Barrick Gold, authorities announced on Monday (28).

Erin Gilmour, a 22-year-old student, and Susan Tice, a mother of 45, were found stabbed to death in their Toronto homes four months apart after being sexually assaulted.

Nearly four decades later, “scientific advances” have enabled Toronto police to detain Joseph George Sutherland, Inspector Steve Smith told a news conference.

After linking the two 2,000 homicides through the suspect’s DNA collected at the scene, authorities used genetic genealogy “to identify a family” and thereby “reduce the number of suspects,” Smith said.

This investigative method involves comparing a suspect’s DNA with the family tree of a distant relative.

“If we hadn’t used this technology, we never would have gotten his name,” Smith explained, adding that Sutherland was never suspected.

“It’s a day that our family has been waiting for almost their entire lives,” said Sean McCowan, Erin Gilmour’s brother.

“In a way, it’s a relief that someone was arrested. But it also brings back so many memories of Erin and her brutal and senseless murder,” he added.

An aspiring fashion designer, Gilmour was the daughter of David Gilmour, co-founder of Barrick Gold, one of the largest gold mining companies in the world.

She was unrelated to the second victim, Susan Tice, a family therapist and mother of four, police said.

Joseph George Sutherland, now 61, will appear in early December on a first-degree murder charge.

It could also be linked to other open cases, authorities said, who are continuing their investigation.

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© Agence France-Presse