By Canadian Press

Ottawa police use DNA from 1996 murder to identify Vancouver stabbing suspect

Dec 16, 2024 | 12:08 PM

Police in Ottawa say they’ve identified a suspect in an unsolved 1996 stabbing death on the Portage Bridge using DNA evidence to track down the man who was arrested in Vancouver last week.

Ottawa police say 73-year-old Lawrence Diehl was taken into custody by Vancouver police on Dec. 10 and returned to Ottawa, and he’s accused of second-degree murder in the death of Christopher Smith on April 12, 1996.

Ottawa homicide investigators say it’s the first time they’ve used “investigative genetic genealogy” to identify a suspect using genetic databases to track down “potential family lineages.”

Police say they’ve been working on the case since 2020 with the RCMP and Toronto Police Service, and arrested Diehl with “significant assistance” from Vancouver police.

Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs says they’ve spoken with the victim’s family, and investigators want to speak with people about Diehl’s time in Ottawa.

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A report from The Ottawa Citizen days after the stabbing said Smith was involved in a fight on the bridge with an unknown man, and the suspect was believed to have called 911 from a near by pay phone after the stabbing, where police found a “substantial amount of blood.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2024.

Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press