Police in Canada’s capital say they have identified the suspect in a fatal knife attack nearly three decades ago. The suspect, a man from Vancouver, British Columbia, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder after advanced DNA testing helped authorities link him to the crime.
Lawrence Diehl, now 73, is accused of killing 22-year-old Christopher Smith on April 12, 1996. accordingly Ottawa Police. Smith was stabbed to death on the Portage Bridge, which connects Ottawa, the Canadian capital, with Gatineau in the neighboring province of Quebec.
“Advances in forensic science and DNA have allowed police to identify the perpetrator and the matter is now before the courts,” Ottawa police said in a statement.
Diehl was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 10, police said. Investigators returned the suspect to Ottawa within a week and he made his first court appearance over the weekend.
Multiple law enforcement agencies across Canada have been working since 2020 to solve Smith’s unsolved case, including national police. Diel was identified by investigative genetic genealogyScientists and researchers use a combination of genetic testing and genealogy research to create a family tree for the person whose sample is being evaluated.
DNA Solves/Othram Inc.
In Smith’s case, scientists used genome sequencing to create a DNA profile of the murder suspect. accordingly Othram Inc., a laboratory specializing in forensic genetic genealogy to assist law enforcement. Otram’s findings allowed the police to develop new leads as they worked the case and begin a new investigation, culminating in Diehl’s identification.
Diehl’s arrest marked the conclusion of the Ottawa police’s oldest unsolved case and the first time the department used genetic genealogy to solve a crime.
“By bringing these charges, the Ottawa Police Service is proving once again that we will never stop standing up for victims of crime and their families,” Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs said in a statement. “We will continue to use innovative techniques to solve cases, and I commend the members of our Homicide Squad for ensuring that no case is ever forgotten and no effort is spared.”
Stubbs said police have contacted Smith’s family to inform them of new developments in his case. Investigators have asked anyone with information about Diehl and his time in Ottawa to contact the Ottawa Police Service Homicide Unit because investigators learned he was there for work reasons at the time of the murder.
