Quebec police forces are interested in a major advance in genetic genealogy that has made it possible, for the first time in Canada, to solve the murders of two young women that occurred in Ontario almost 40 years ago. The method could eventually be used to close old, unsolved cases in the province, but it raises several ethical issues, experts warn.
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The news caused a stir in the police world earlier this week. Toronto Police have arrested Joseph George Sutherland in northern Ontario. The 61-year-old faces two counts of first-degree murder in the 1983 deaths of Susan Tice and Erin Gilmour.
The two women had been sexually assaulted and stabbed to death in their bed four months apart.
To reach this conclusion, Toronto police revealed almost 40 years after the events that they had used a genetic genealogy technique that had been used several times south of the border but is still unprecedented in Canada.
With the help of Othram Inc., an American company specializing in forensic genealogy, Toronto police were able to locate Joseph George Sutherland by comparing his DNA, collected at crime scenes in 1983, with that in major public databases such as Ancestry or 23andMe.
Browse the family tree
Thanks to these large online banks, to which millions of people have submitted DNA in hopes of finding their family tree, the police can locate someone in the suspect’s family, explains the professor of genetics and forensics at the University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières ( UQTR) Emmanuel Milot.
“There is a very good chance there is a person if you go down to 3rd Cousin level [liée à vous] who put his DNA in such a bank,” explains the man who also works in UQTR’s forensic research lab.
Investigators then go through the family tree of the person whose DNA matches to find a profile that matches that of the suspect they’re looking for, the professor explains.
“Let’s say we’re looking for a man. All the women, we eliminate them, all the dead, we eliminate them, or those who weren’t in the right region. Then, when they have a limited number of potential targets, they conduct a classic investigation from there,” describes Emmanuel Milot, as the evidence so far remains “probabilistic”.
This “classic” investigation can provide residue for DNA collection, such as picking up a goblet that the suspect allegedly drank in before throwing it in the trash to confirm that it matches the one found at the crime scene .
Spectacular results
” [La généalogie génétique] will rarely deliver results, but when they do, it’s spectacular,” emphasizes Emmanuel Milot. There is still no data on the number of cases solved by genetic genealogy.
Several unsolved cases have been solved in the United States using this method, including the famous case of the “Golden State Killer”. Joseph DeAngelo, a former police officer, was found guilty of murdering 13 people between 1975 and 1986 and committing dozens of burglaries and kidnappings.
The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) and the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) did not respond to our request Tuesday to find out if they are interested in the genetic genealogy method to clear up unsettled files.
Emmanuel Milot was questioned about the method by certain Québec police forces, but confirms that some of them are interested given the impressive results. “Given the success it’s had, they definitely have that in mind,” he said.
Ethical issues
However, the use of genetic genealogy for criminal investigation purposes raises several problems.
First, DNA evidence alone is not enough to convict a criminal, stresses criminal lawyer Marie-Hélène Giroux. “With a simple DNA match, is this scientific evidence that, by today’s standards, is infallible? No,” she snaps.
Investigators must therefore collect evidence to support their case, for example by proving that the suspect was in the vicinity at the time of the crime.
Family ties could also be inadvertently revealed, not to mention the consent associated with registering one’s DNA in a public genealogical bank, Emmanuel Milot lists, speaking of the “tip of the iceberg”.
Sooner or later, governments will have to set up ethics committees to set guidelines for this method, especially given its promises, believes criminal lawyer Marie-Hélène Giroux.
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750 Number of unsolved murder files in the Sûreté du Québec as of November 2021. The oldest dates from 1952.
Source: Surete du Quebec