Toronto police identify man who died in 2019 as serial killer in three cold cases
Written by The Canadian Press on December 11, 2025
TORONTO — Toronto police say 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.
Police say recent forensic testing conclusively identified Kenneth Smith of Windsor, Ont., who died at 72, as the person who killed two women in the 1980s and a third woman in the 1990s.
They say the first woman, Christine Prince, 25, was found dead on June 22, 1982 in the Rouge River in Toronto after she was sexually assaulted and struck on the head.
Police say Claire Samson, 23, was found dead with gunshot wounds in Oro-Medonte Township on Sept. 1, 1983.
They say the third victim, 41-year-old Gracelyn Greenidge, died of blunt force trauma in her Toronto apartment on July 29, 1997.
Police say Smith lived and worked in Toronto at the time of the homicides and had a history of sexual assault, and investigators believe there could be more victims.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2025.
Rianna Lim, The Canadian Press