A man who died in 2019 has been identified as the killer in three cold case homicides, and investigators believe there could be more victims, Toronto police announced Thursday.
Police said recent forensic testing conclusively identified Kenneth Smith, who died at 72 in Windsor, Ont., as the person who killed two women in the 1980s and a third woman in the 1990s.
Smith was identified as the person responsible for the deaths after years of advancements in DNA technology, police said.
"His death means he will never be held to account in a court of law, and we recognize the impact that has on families who have waited so long for justice," Toronto police Deputy Chief Robert Johnson said at a press conference Thursday afternoon.
Police said the first woman, Christine Prince, 25, was from Wales and was working as a nanny in Toronto when she was last seen on June 21, 1982. She was found dead in the Rouge River the next day after she was sexually assaulted and struck on the head, police said, and she had died by drowning.
The second woman, Claire Samson, 23, was found dead with gunshot wounds in a remote wooded area in Oro-Medonte Township, about 120 kilometres north of Toronto, on Sept. 1, 1983, police said. At the time of her death, Samson was living in Toronto and had recently moved back in with her parents, police said.
In 2016, a DNA profile from Samson's case matched an unknown offender from Prince's case, police said.
"Surprisingly, investigators found no personal connection between Christine and Claire. No one in their lives linked them together, and even the manner of their death was different," said Ontario Provincial Police Chief Superintendent Karen Gonneau. "The only thing that linked them was the offender's DNA."
In 2017, further DNA testing determined the same offender behind the deaths of Prince and Samson was also responsible for the homicide of 41-year-old Gracelyn Greenidge, police said.
Greenidge, a nursing assistant from Barbados, was found dead in her Toronto apartment by a coworker on July 29, 1997, police said. She had died of blunt force trauma, they said.
In 2022, police began working with forensic genealogy company Othram, and this year, Toronto police identified the family of Smith. Earlier this month, the Centre of Forensic Sciences conclusively identified Smith as the man responsible for all three homicides, police said.
"For Christine's family and for the families of Claire and Gracelyn, the wait for answers has been extraordinarily long. It is only through sustained collaboration and advances in forensic science that we have arrived at this moment," said Johnson.
Police said Smith was born in South Porcupine, Ont., and moved to Windsor in 2013. He had been incarcerated at least once for sexual offences before the first two homicides, and twice before the third, police said.
Toronto police Det. Sgt. Steve Smith said Kenneth Smith was never initially investigated in any of the cases, and there's no evidence of a link between the three victims.
"No pattern, nothing to connect the women together," Smith said at the press conference. "It seems to be crimes of opportunity more than anything."
Smith lived and worked in Toronto at the time of the homicides and had a history of sexual assault, police said.
"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, adding that anyone with information is urged to contact investigators.
Smith added that this case highlights the advancement of genetic testing. Cases like these "would never have been solved without this technology," he said.
"It makes all the cases that have previously been unsolvable now solvable."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2025.
