A Toronto woman is accused of killing three people over three days – allegedly targeting two of them at random – in three different southern Ontario cities this week, police said Friday as investigators work to determine if she could be linked to any other cases across the province.
Niagara Regional Police Chief Bill Fordy said the three deaths happened over three consecutive days in Toronto, Hamilton and Niagara Falls. The 30-year-old woman was arrested on Thursday and faces multiple murder charges, police said.
"We have in excess of 100 investigators trying to understand why something like this takes place, and to gather as much evidence as possible to bring the accused to court," Fordy said during a Friday afternoon news conference.
Toronto police first responded to a call in the east end of the city on Tuesday and found a woman in her 60s dead in a home with signs of "physical trauma," investigators said. Toronto police have said the woman who died and the suspect knew each other, but did not provide details on their relationship.
On Wednesday, emergency officials responded to a park in Niagara Falls for a reported disturbance and found 47-year-old Lance Cunningham critically injured – he later died at the scene, Fordy said.
On Thursday, Hamilton police found an unresponsive, injured man in a parking lot who later died in hospital, Fordy said. Niagara police have identified him as 77-year-old Mario Bilich, and have said he was found with stab wounds.
"Mario and Lance Cunningham were both going about their business, and we believe that they were random attacks," Fordy said. He added that police are not aware of any connection between the alleged victims.
Fordy said police are not aware of the suspect's motive at this time, and the investigation is in "very early" stages.
"When someone has alleged to have committed these types of offences, obviously you would ask the question, 'Is everything OK? Or is there a criminal element?'" Fordy said. "I think with the passage of time, we'll have greater clarity."
Fordy said the suspect has previously "had an interaction with police," but he did not specify in what capacity.
Niagara police said investigators had linked Bilich's death in Hamilton to Cunningham's death in Niagara Falls, determining the accused woman matched the suspect description in both cases. An additional link was made to the Tuesday death in Toronto, the force said.
Police said they arrested Sabrina Kauldhar on Thursday in Burlington, Ont., and she has been charged with first-degree murder in the Hamilton death and second-degree murder in the Toronto and Niagara investigations.
Fordy said investigators are also looking to identify a female who seems to have been involved in buying some of the clothing Kauldhar was wearing when she was arrested.
Investigators in Niagara are working with multiple other law enforcement agencies to determine if there are further alleged attacks in Ontario that could be linked to Kauldhar, Fordy said.
“I can confirm that our agencies are speaking with our colleagues across the province to confirm if there are other incidents that might be related,” he said.
Speaking at the same news conference, Sgt. Sarah Beck with the Hamilton Police Service said investigators have video footage of the suspect around the time of the alleged attack in Hamilton.
Beck added it's possible there could have been further alleged attacks.
"I believe that such a high number of incidents in such a short time, we could speculate that there very well could have been more," Beck said.
Fordy said the accused appeared in provincial court in St. Catharines, Ont., Friday morning.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2024.
