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Files ➲ Canada
Famous child murders in Canada
Several cases became infamous due to the brutality of the crimes, the age of the victims, and in some cases, controversial legal proceedings.
High-profile child murders
The following is not a comprehensive list, but includes some famous child murders in recent history.
The body of 12-year old Lynne Harper was discovered in a woodlot northeast of Clinton, Ontario. On August 28, 2007, Truscott conviction was overturned, declared a wrongful conviction and miscarriage of justice. Steven Truscott was acquitted of the murder charges.
Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French
Leslie, 14; Kristen, 15
Niagara Region, Ontario
1991
Leslie and Kristen were both abducted, tortured and murdered. In 1993, the court struck a deal with Karla Homolka. She was given a 12-year sentence on two counts of manslaughter in exchange for testimony about her ex-husband, Paul Bernardo. In 1995, Bernardo was convicted of raping and murdering Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French.
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Name
Age
Location
Killed
Holly Jones
10
Toronto, Ontario
May 12, 2003
Jones was abducted in broad daylight within blocks of her west-end Toronto home. The next day, her remains were found in two locations on the city's waterfront. On June 20, 2003, Toronto police arrested Michael Briere, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder. He pleaded guilty on June 17, 2004.
Emmanuel Jacques
12
Toronto, Ontario
August 1977
Emmanuel was working as a shoeshine boy on Yonge Street in downtown Toronto. He was lured into an apartment above a body rub parlour, strangled and drowned in the kitchen sink. In 1978, Josef Woods, Saul David Betesh and Robert Wayne Kribs were convicted of second-degree murder. Werner Gruener was acquitted.
Andrea Atkinson
6
Toronto, Ontario
October 1990
Atkinson Andrea was abducted from her building, sexually assaulted and murdered. She was later found stuffed in the storage tank on the sixth floor. In February 1993, John Terceira, the janitor of the building, was convicted of first-degree murder.
Sharin' Morningstar Keenan
9
Toronto, Ontario
January 1983
Keenan was abducted in downtown Toronto and found dead 10 days later. A murder suspect, Dennis Melvyn Howe, is believed to be still at large. He is on the RCMP's Most Wanted List.
Jessica Koopmans
5
Lethbridge, Alberta
May 4, 2001
Koopmans' body was found near a farmer's field outside Fort Macleod. A family friend, 31-year-old Anthony Gallup, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Domenic and Gemini Brown
Domenic, 15 months; Gemini, 3 months
Calgary, Alberta
In the summer of 2000
The infants' mother, Rie Fujii, left them alone for 10 days when she visited a boyfriend in Cochrane, AB. She told the boyfriend that a babysitter was looking after the children. When she returned home, she found the two babies dead. Rie Fujii, who is from Japan and was living illegally in Canada after her student visa expired, pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges in 2002. She was sentenced to eight years in prison, and was denied parole in June 2004.
Heather Thomas
10
Surrey, British Columbia
October 1, 2000
Thomas was sexually assaulted and dumped into Alouette Lake. Shane Ertmoed, 23, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Cecilia Zhang
9
Toronto, Ontario
October 20, 2003
Zhang went missing October 20, 2003. She was apparently abducted from her bedroom overnight. Her remains were found in March 2004 in a ravine in Mississauga, ON. Peel Regional Police arrested Min Chen, 21, a visa student from Shanghai, China, on July 21, 2004. He was charged with first-degree murder in connection to Cecilia's death.
Jessop was abducted from her home, sexually assaulted and murdered. Three months later her remains were found about 50 kilometres from her home. On October 15, 2020, Toronto police identified the killer as Calvin Hoover, a Toronto man who was 28 years old at the time of Jessop's death. He died by suicide in 2015.
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The 1980 murder of Kirk Knight; the 1982 murder of 31-year-old Marlene Sweet and her 7-year-old son Jason; the 2003 killings of 30-year-old Debilleanne "Dee Dee" Williamson and her son 5-year-old Brandon "Xavier" Rucker. Windsor, Ontario
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