List of unsolved murders in Canada


The following is a list of unsolved homicides in Canada. Hundreds of homicides occur across Canada each year, many of which end up as cold cases. In 2021, the country's intentional homicide rate stood at around 2.06 per 100,000 individuals, increasing for the third consecutive year. Violent crime continued to increase in Canada during the following year, with the homicide rate reaching 2.25 per 100,000 people in 2022, the highest rate in the past three decades.

Multiple victims

Unsolved murder cases where numerous victims are tied to an event/pattern or series of events.
YearEvent# of victimsLocationProvinceNotes
1924Canadian Pacific Railway train bombing9Columbia and Western RailwayBritish ColumbiaOn the early morning of October 29, 1924, an explosion on the remote Kettle Valley Railway in southeastern British Columbia ripped apart Canadian Pacific Railroad Car 1586, killing a total of 9 individuals, including: Peter Verigin ; Verigin's female companion Marie Strelaeff ; Grand Forks MLA John McKie; P.J Campbell; Hakim Singh; Harry J. Bishop; W. J. Armstrong; and Neil E. Armstrong.
The government initially, during investigation, stated the crime was perpetrated by people within the Doukhobor community, while the Doukhobors suspected Canadian government involvement.
1968–1970The Forest City Killer8LondonOntarioFrom the 1960s to the early 1970s, eight victims were found in and around the town of London, Ontario, Canada. One notable victim was 15-year-old Jackie English, who disappeared in October 1969, and was found in a creek five days after being reported missing. All eight murders remain unsolved.
1965Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 2152100 Mile HouseBritish ColumbiaA scheduled domestic flight heading to Whitehorse, Yukon, exploded on July 8, 1965, killing all 52 passengers. This aviation incident was later discovered to have been caused by a bomb, and is considered to be one of Canada's largest unsolved mass murders.
RCMP investigators believe that the perpetrator was one of four suspicious passengers on board, classifying it as a suicide attack.
1969–2011Highway of Tears18≥Highway 16, between Prince George and Prince RupertBritish ColumbiaThe Highway of Tears is the informal nickname given to the transport corridor between the cities of Prince George and Prince Rupert in British Columbia. It is utilized in a particular context that is meant to pertain to the location's notoriety of being a frequent area where many Indigenous Canadian women have gone missing and/or have been murdered. These said occurrences have ultimately been grouped together as a single string of homicides, kidnappings, and disappearances.
1980–1981Toronto hospital baby deaths7≥The Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto)OntarioAt least seven babies mysteriously died in the years 1980 and 1981, in what was then believed to be a case of homicide.
1990–1993Calgary prostitute murder victims7CalgaryAlbertaThe murders of various sex workers in Calgary in the early 1990s led many to believe that a serial killer was at large. These victims were found individually in shallow graves throughout Calgary.Jennifer Janzs badly beaten body was found on August 13, 1991, in a shallow grave at a construction site along the Trans-Canada Highway, northwest of Calgary.Rebecca Lynn Boutilier disappeared on February 2, 1993, in Calgary, and her remains were found the next month on March 11.Joanne Shaver was murdered in January 1990; her body was found sexually assaulted and strangled. James Arthur Link was charged with first-degree murder, but was later acquitted.Shawna Vanderbaschs nude body was discovered on the morning of June 20, 1991, beside a rural road about from the Priddis turnoff north of Highway 22X.Jennifer Joyes disappeared in August 1991, and was found on October 6 in a shallow grave.Keely Louise Pincott was reported missing by her mother in November 1991. On March 10, 1992, Pincott's skeletal remains were found in a wooded area northeast of Cochrane, Alberta, off Highway 1A.Tracy Maunder disappeared on October 28, 1992, and was found three days later beaten and stabbed to death in a grassy field.
One possible suspect investigated in the Calgary murders was a pimp and convicted sex offender named Barry Thomas Niedermier from Lethbridge.
1995Hemlock Valley Murders3East VancouverBritish ColumbiaThree murder victims were discovered in East Vancouver in 1995, all of whom were prostitutes that had worked in the same area of Vancouver. The three had all been murdered the same way, and left in the same area.Tracy Olajide : Olajide's nude body was found on August 12, on a trail adjacent to the Morris Valley logging road about north of the Lougheed Highway #7, Harrison Mills, near Agassiz.Tammy Lee Pipe : Pipe's nude body was found on September 2 near Agassiz, in the middle of a side road in a remote wooded area about north of Highway 7.Victoria Lynn Younker : Younker's nude and partially decomposed body was located on October 21 near Mission, about north of Highway 7. The body was found laying about down an embankment at the dead end of the logging spur road.
Police indefinitely jailed Ronald Richard McCauley, but had no physical evidence linking him to the murders. In 2001, police tested DNA samples, which did not match McCauley.
2004Mirage Spa shooting3MarkhamOntarioOn February 8, 2004, the bodies of Zhu Xia Lin, Yan Jun Liu, and Yan Walter Xiao Chen Zhang were found bound and wrapped in sheets in the back of Zhang's red Ford Explorer, behind Victoria Square United Church at Woodbine Avenue and Elgin Mills Road. They had all been shot and killed at Mirage Spa, a Markham massage parlour, located at 7170 Warden Ave.
York Regional Police believe Lin was the main target, and that Liu and Zhang were likely in the wrong place at the wrong time in the triple murder.
2008Lunness Road shooting3TorontoOntarioOn July 20, 2008, Adrian Inglis Bannerman, Aaron MacDonald, and Kurt Charles were all shot and killed while driving in an SUV on nearby Lunness Road, in Etobicoke. The driver of the SUV abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot unharmed.
Toronto Police suspect two or more gunmen were involved in the drive-by triple homicide, and believe they were members of an Etobicoke gang.
2010Htoo-Maw Family murders3ReginaSaskatchewanOn August 6, 2010, the bodies of Gray Nay Htoo, Maw Maw, and Seven June Htoo were discovered murdered in their home on Oakview Drive. The family had lived in Regina for nearly two years, and had formerly lived in a refugee camp in Thailand. Regina Police never released specific details about the triple murder.

Solved cases

Initially unsolved cases which were subsequently solved, mostly as cold cases.
YearYear SolvedVictimAgeLocationProvinceNotes
19942023Marie-Chantale Desjardins10RosemèreQuebecThe body of 10-year-old Marie-Chantale Desjardins was located in the woods behind the Place Rosemère shopping centre. Police have ruled her death as a murder. Desjardins had last been seen alive on July 16 of that same year.
On 12 December 2023, Réal Courtemanche, an inmate at federal medium-security prison La Macaza Institution, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the Desjardins case. The Sûreté du Québec announced the arrest and indicated that advanced forensic biology methods had led to the arrest 29 years after the murder.
19752023Nation River Lady, subsequently identified as Jewell Parchman Langford25–50 ; 48 CasselmanOntarioOn May 3, 1975, the body of an unidentified White woman was found floating along the Nation River. The autopsy report revealed that she had been strangled to death with coaxial cable television wire. Police suspected her body was thrown from the westbound lane of the Highway 417 bridge into the river.
In September 2022, using DNA and genetic genealogy, the victim was identified as Jewell Parchman Langford, aged 48 at the time of her death, from Tennessee. Rodney Nichols, an acquaintance of Langford's in Montreal, now 81 and resident in Florida, was charged with her murder and an extradition request was pending as of July 2023. On 1 December 2023, Nichols was extradited to Canada to face charges in relation to the murder.
19752023Sharron Prior16LongueuilQuebecIn 1975, Sharron Prior left her home on the evening of March 29 to meet some friends and her boyfriend at a nearby pizzeria. However, Sharron never arrived at the restaurant, and could not be located. Four days after her disappearance, her body was discovered in a beekeeper's field.
In May 2023, DNA samples and genetic genealogy identified Prior's killer as Franklin Romine, a West Virginia man who died in 1982. Romine had been living in Montreal in 1975 and had a long list of criminal activity in Montreal and West Virginia.
19832023Susan Tice and Erin Gilmour45 & 22TorontoOntarioSusan Tice was discovered by her brother, after having been sexually assaulted and stabbed to death in her own bed. A few months later, a short walk away from Tice's home, the body of Erin Gilmour was found having suffered the same trauma and injuries as Tice, also in her bed.
Gilmour was the only daughter of David Gilmour, co-founder of Barrick Gold; David's business partner, Peter Munk, was the father of Erin's boyfriend.
DNA tests in 2002 showed that the same person had killed both women. In November 2020, through genetic genealogy, police researchers successfully identified the great-grandparents of the unknown suspect.
On 24 November 2022, police arrested Joseph George Sutherland in Moosonee, Ontario. Sutherland was transferred to Toronto, where he faced two counts of first-degree murder in the Tice and Gilmour deaths. On 5 October 2023, Sutherland pleaded guilty to both murders.
20002022Guylaine Potvin19SaguenayQuebecCégep de Jonquière student Guylaine Potvin was found dead in the basement of her apartment on the morning of April 28, 2000. She shared the apartment with two fellow female students, who were not present on the night of her murder.
On 12 October 2022, the Sûreté du Québec announced the arrest of Marc-André Grenon on the charge of first-degree murder in the Potvin case. Grenon was also charged with attempted murder and assault in connection with two separate cases against female students in 2000.
On 20 February 2024, Grenon was found guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault.
20162023Jennifer Hillier-Penney38[St. Anthony, Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland and Labrador|St. Anthony]NewfoundlandJennifer Hillier-Penney was last seen 30 November 2016 at her estranged husband's house in St. Anthony; she and her husband Dean Penney were separated and she had moved in with her father. She was watching her youngest daughter while her husband was duck hunting at the family cabin in Northwest Arm. The RCMP believe Hillier-Penney was murdered sometime after arriving at the house that night. Her body has never been found.
On 15 December 2023, Dean Penney was arrested in Deer Lake, Newfoundland, and charged with first-degree murder in the disappearance of his wife.
20082023Lucas Shortreed17AlmaOntarioOn Thanksgiving weekend in 2008, Lucas Shortreed left a party in Alma, Ontario, to walk home. He was struck from behind by a 1995–1997 white Dodge Neon, and the unidentified driver fled the scene of the accident. Though they were unable to find the car, police believed that the driver was someone in the community.
In September 2023, acting on a tip from the public, police searched the property of David and Anastasia Haliburton in Mapleton Township, near the scene of the accident; a white Dodge Neon was seized and the Haliburtons were arrested and charged in the death of Shortreed. The car had been hidden behind a false wall in a semi-trailer. In September 2024, David Haliburton pleaded guilty to charges of leaving the scene of an accident causing bodily harm or death, and obstructing justice; Anastasia Haliburton pleaded guilty to obstructing justice.
1976-19772024Eva Dvorak, Patricia McQueen, Barbara Maclean and Melissa Rehorek14, 14, 19 & 20CalgaryAlbertaClassmates Eva Dvorak and Patricia McQueen, both 14, disappeared on or about February 15, 1976, near 9th Avenue and 12th Street S.E. in Calgary; the bodies of the two girls were found the following morning under the Happy Valley underpass, west of Calgary.
On February 26, 1977, the body of Barbara Maclean was found by a man walking along a gravel road near 80th Avenue and 6th Street NE. Barbara and her boyfriend had gotten into an argument on the evening of February 25, and he left her in the parking lot of a bar. Barbara decided to hitchhike to a party but never arrived. It was believed that the individual who gave Barbara a ride was responsible for her death, and that the same individual also killed Melissa Rehorek, who was found September 16, 1976, in a ditch along a gravel road about 20 km west of Calgary.
On May 17, 2024, the Alberta RCMP announced that all four murders had been solved. DNA evidence found on all four bodies connected the murders to Gary Allen Srery, a serial killer and repeat sexual offender who died in prison in Idaho in 2011 while serving a life sentence for rape.
20042007Rhoda Maksagak49Cambridge BayNunavutIn March 2007, Christopher James Allukpik pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in connection with the death of Rhoda Maghagak. He was sentenced to life without eligibility for parole for 10 years. Rhoda had been dragged out of bed in the early morning hours and stabbed 23 times. Allukpik stated that he "hated women", and his motive was to "take his anger out on ".
19962024Christopher Smith22OttawaOntarioSmith was stabbed in an altercation on the Portage Bridge in Ottawa early on 12 April 1996, and subsequently died in a Gatineau hospital. On 16 December 2024, Ottawa Police announced that Lawrence Diehl, currently resident in Vancouver, British Columbia, had been arrested and charged with second-degree murder in Smith's death. Advances in genetic genealogy were credited in the breakthrough in the investigation.
19982025Donna Oglive24TorontoOntarioOglive was found strangled to death in a Toronto parking lot in March 1998. She had one child and was four months pregnant at the time of her death, having arrived from British Columbia five weeks previously. She had apparently worked in the sex trade in both Vancouver and Toronto.
On 7 February 2025, Toronto Police announced the arrest of a 50 year old man from Gander, Newfoundland in connection with the case. The suspect has been charged with first degree murder and had been identified using investigative genetic geneaology. At the time of the murder, the suspect had been living in Scarborough, Ontario and working as a truck driver.
20112025Valérie Leblanc18GatineauQuebecOn 23 August 2011, the body of Valérie Leblanc was discovered in a wooded area near Cégep de l'Outaouais, where she was a student. A group of teenagers came across her body at around 1:00 PM, but initially believed her body was possibly a mannequin being used by the college's police education program as part of a crime scene simulation. It was reported that the teenagers had likely tampered with Leblanc's body before finally alerting law enforcement at 3:30. Gatineau police interviewed hundreds of locals and received nearly 2,200 tips from the public in connection to Leblanc and her murder. They also released a composite sketch of an unidentified "key witness", but no arrests were made in connection to the case for more than 14 years.
On 30 September 2025, Gatineau police announced the arrest of Stéphane Rivard, 51, on a charge of first-degree murder in the Leblanc case. The suspect was identified using "new investigative techniques" but no additional information was released regarding the suspect or the investigation.
20082025Catherine Daviau26MontrealQuebecDaviau's body had been found in her Rosemont apartment on 11 December 2008. Her body showed signs of violence and police suspected she had been sexually assaulted. The apartment was locked and there was no evidence of a break-in, which led police to believe Daviau knew the attacker, who had tried to cover his tracks be setting the apartment on fire. On 17 September 2025, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal identified Daviau's killer as Jacques Bolduc, who had died of natural causes while in custody at the Archambault Institution in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Quebec. Bolduc had been serving a sentence for two armed robberies and two attempted murders at the time of his death. Bolduc had contacted Daviau a few days before her death in response to an online classified ad to sell her car, and had been identified as the murderer using genetic genealogy.
19762025Pauline Brazeau16CalgaryAlbertaBrazeau had recently moved to Calgary with her infant daughter, and had been out with friends on the night of 8-9 January 1976. After eating at a pizza place on 17th Avenue, Brazeau lost her gloves and returned to look for them. Her body was found a few hours later by hunters 20 kilometres west of the city. She had been stabbed multiple times. On 3 March 2025, Ronald James Edwards pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Brazeau's death. In 1976, Edwards was 26, and picked Brazeau up on 17th Avenue, assuming she was a prostitute. The pair had consensual sex and a drunken Edwards then stabbed Brazeau, leaving her for dead. Edwards was identified via investigative genetic genealogy.
1982-19972025Christine Prince, Claire Samson and Gracelyn Greenidge25, 23, 41TorontoOntarioOn 11 December 2025, Toronto Police announced the identification of the killer in three separate cold cases dating back to 1982. Christine Prince from Wales was working as a nanny when she disappeared on 21 June 1982 on St. Clair Avenue West after a night out with friends; her body was found the next day in the Rouge River near the Toronto Zoo. Claire Samson disappeared on 1 September 1983, last seen near Jarvis and Gerrard Streets getting into a car driven by an older white man; her body was found the following day in a remote area 120 km north of Toronto. Gracelyn Greenidge was found murdered in her apartment on 29 July 1997 after missing her shift as a nursing assistant. Toronto Police identified the killer in all three cases as Kenneth Smith. DNA samples linked the Prince and Samson killings in 2016, and subsequently to the Greenidge murder in 2017. Using genetic genealogy, Toronto Police were able to identify Smith as the killer of all three women in 2025. Smith lived in the Toronto area during the time period of each murder and was known to police, with a history of sexual assaults and multiple incarcerations. Smith is believed to be linked to other unsolved murders in the Toronto area.