Ottawa Police Leverage DNA Evidence from 1996 Murder to Uncover Vancouver Stabbing Suspect
Former Ottawa police major crimes investigator Randy Wisker recalls the urgency he felt to reach a pay phone in the early hours of April 12, 1996, following a fatal stabbing on the Portage Bridge.
There was an ambulance call to the bridge between Ottawa and Gatineau, but the caller did not provide a name.
Wisker rushed about 10 blocks from the police station to the phone booth, only to find the caller missing upon arrival.
He described the scene as if it were taken from a movie, with the handset hanging freely as if the caller had just left moments before.
At that time, police suspected the caller to be the culprit behind the stabbing death of Christopher Smith, 22.
Wisker, now engaged in investigative work in Ottawa, mentioned this as the only case he did not close during his tenure with the Ottawa Police.
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“I had high hopes that the DNA would eventually lead to a breakthrough,” he remarked.
Ottawa police have recently announced the identification of a suspect in the long-standing unsolved murder case.
A statement from the police mentioned that Lawrence Diehl, 73, was apprehended by Vancouver police on Dec. 10 and brought back to Ottawa to face a second-degree murder charge in connection with Smith’s death.
The Ottawa homicide team utilized “investigative genetic genealogy” for the first time to trace a suspect by exploring genetic databases for potential family connections.
Cold case investigators, along with the RCMP and Toronto Police Service, have been diligently working on the case since 2020 leading to Diehl’s arrest with significant help from Vancouver police.
Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs revealed that discussions have taken place with the victim’s family, and investigators seek information regarding Diehl’s time in Ottawa.
According to the Ottawa Citizen, shortly after the incident, reports indicated that Smith had engaged in a scuffle on the bridge with an unidentified individual, and the suspect reportedly dialed 911 from a nearby pay phone post the stabbing, leaving behind a considerable amount of blood.
Wisker expressed his pleasant surprise upon learning of the recent arrest, years after the incident.
He emphasized that police persist in pursuing cold cases diligently even when leads are scarce, contrasting the public’s perception of investigative efforts in such cases.
“You never know when a breakthrough might emerge, and that’s the essence of it,” he stated.
Wisker mentioned being informed of the breakthrough in the case only recently and commended the exhaustive efforts put forth to reach this point.
“While a DNA match is a significant win, the process to acquire and provide the sample to the lab is equally crucial,” he emphasized. “It’s an invaluable tool in our arsenal, but a considerable amount of groundwork is required.”
Law enforcement agencies nationwide have turned to genetic databases to crack cold cases by tracing family lineages leading them to their suspects.
