Murder victim's sister and daughter want closure
Feb 05, 2008 - 12:57 PM
Kim Downey
RAGLAN -- After 33 years, Barbra Brown is still looking for peace, hoping her twin sister's murderer will someday be found.
Beverly Smith was gunned down in her Old Simcoe Road house Dec. 9, 1974, shot once in the back of the head metres away from her 10-month-old daughter, Rebecca, who was found asleep in a crib.
The case remains unsolved more than 33 years later.
Driving past the red brick farmhouse Mrs. Smith once shared with her husband Douglas and infant daughter would trigger painful memories for Mrs. Brown.
The house, set on a quiet street, is punctuated by a large tree in the front yard. Except for the absence of the white picket fence that old police photographs show, the house has had few changes in 34 years. But the current owners plan to renovate or demolish the house this spring. They have allowed police to do further investigative work aimed at studying the home's layout to electronically recreate the path of the killer.
Mrs. Brown, who spoke at a second news conference at Durham Regional Police headquarters in Whitby announcing a re-examination of the case, hasn't given up hope the killer will be found. She expressed her willingness to forgive the murderer as a means to inner peace.
"I would like to stop looking over my shoulder and start trusting people again," said Mrs. Brown, now a registered practical nurse at Lakeridge Health Oshawa.
"If he asks me, I would forgive him," said the soft-spoken woman, whose long blonde hair and delicate features resemble images of her sister.
Mrs. Smith's daughter, Rebecca, now 34, also spoke at the news conference, going public for the first time.
"I want it to be over with," she said. "I'm sick and tired of it being brought up."
Rebecca, who withheld her last name to protect her family, said the early focus on her father was a stumbling point in the investigation.
"They were inexperienced. They didn't have what they have now," she said, contrasting investigators then with today's technological advanced policing.
Her mother's death is a subject family members have tended to avoid over the years, Rebecca said.
Her father has since remarried, settled in Port Perry and has other children.
An elderly neighbour, Edna, who still lives a few houses down from the murder scene, spoke on condition her last name not be used. She said she and her husband were out at a show in Uxbridge the night of the murder.
When they returned they were shocked to see the area swarming with police officers combing the outside of the home for clues.
She is hopeful the police attention will lead to the killer's capture.
"I would love to see this solved," she said.
Mrs. Smith was quiet, pretty and extremely private, Edna said. She noted that across the street from the Smiths was a house notorious for regular parties where drugs and alcohol were served.
Police reports show the Smiths socialized regularly and had friends over earlier on the day of Beverly Smith's murder. Durham Police Inspector David Kimmerly stopped short of calling the neighbouring house a "drug house."
"These were young couples, drugs existed and it was the '70s," he said.
Recommend :
Latest News
Mud bowl win for Gators in LOSSA senior championshipOSHAWA -- Not even pouring rain and dreadful field conditions could get in the way of the Wilson Gators winning another LOSSA championship.The Gators, behind a solid defence ...
Students caught on cameraDURHAM -- Students in Durham's Catholic high schools are now under surveillance when they walk through the halls. The school board hasinstalled video cameras in all its ...
Growth plan a problem for Ajax: mayorAJAX -- More urban sprawl could be the result under the Growing Durham Study. "Growing Durham is seriously off the rails. All it is is the same old urban boundary ...
Rival incursion led to biker murder plot: witnessWHITBY -- Fears of an incursion into Hells Angels' territory led to a plot to kill an underworld rival, a witness has testified at the trial of two high-ranking Hells Angels....
CPR Holiday Train coming to townBOWMANVILLE -- The CPR Holiday Train will make its stop in Bowmanville Dec. 1. The train, which runs from Montreal to Port Moody, BC, will stop at the crossing on Scugog ...
Total Hockey collection valued at $51,000BOWMANVILLE -- Not only has the Total Hockey collection been appraised at a fraction of what the Municipality of Clarington paid for it, but an attempt to sell the artifacts ...
College and university disentangling servicesDURHAM -- Durham College's board of governors has axed a vice-president position created just last year as part of a process to disentangle the two institutions. The ...
Union and finance minister butt heads on auto policyDURHAM -- Finance minister Jim Flaherty said some of his constituents don't want him to bail the auto industry out but the Canadian Auto Workers are asking people to tell him ...
Police informant infiltrated Hells AngelsWHITBY -- A key Crown witness in the trial of two bikers has testified he was working as a police informant all the while as he rose through the ranks to become an officer of ...
Two more tainted candy boxes found in PickeringPICKERING -- Two more cases of cold medicine inside Smarties boxes have been confirmed by the Durham Regional Police. Investigators from the Ajax-Pickering office confirmed ...