Toronto, Ontario — On Sunday September 8, 1991 at about 9:55 a.m. police responded to an emergency call at 90 Croatia Street. Pinkus was discovered outside Brockton High School, suffering from medical trauma. Despite life-saving efforts by emergency personnel, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Having grown up in Ottawa, the youngest of 9 children, Lori Pinkus had moved to Toronto from Ottawa only 5 months prior to her murder. In Ottawa, Lori had been the victim of an assault, having been stabbed in the chest in her apartment.
Two men were charged in the attack, but the charges were dropped against one of the men when Lori failed to appear for court dates related to the assault. A warrant was issued for Lori for failing to appear in court and she left Ottawa shortly after.
Trying to escape her troubled past, Lori was looking for a new start in Toronto. Battling a drug addiction, Lori worked in the sex trade to support her habit. Her apartment was located in a rough area and the school parking lot where she was found was in an area notoriously frequented by drug dealers.
Toronto police had collected evidence from Lori and the scene of her murder, but at the time, DNA testing was not available. Now, police have a DNA profile of the man they believe killed Lori and are looking for a name to go along with that DNA profile. Unfortunately, the killer's DNA has not been found in the national DNA database.
"Now, that we have the killer's DNA, we just need a name to go with it." says Det-Sgt. Stacy Gallant. Gallant said police are convinced that someone knows the man who killed Pinkus.
"There is no doubt that there are people that are close with the offender or who were close to him back at the time of this offence. And you know he is responsible for this murder," he said. "This is a killer who left a young woman's body on display in a school yard. It is time he is held to account for his despicable actions."
Did Lori know her attacker? Was she the victim of a drug deal gone wrong?
Was she simply and tragically in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Can advancements in DNA technology finally bring her killer to long-deserved justice?
With big breaks happening in cold cases recently, let's hope that we are starting to see the beginning of a wave of cold cases being solved by DNA, where victims receive justice and perpetrators of violent crimes are finally dragged out from their shadowy hiding spots.
Anyone with information is urged to call police at (416) 808-7400 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
