We’ve got to hand it to the folks in the Durham Regional Police Service who decided they were going to solve a decades-old murder and then went and made an arrest.
Beverly Smith was found murdered in her north Oshawa home, in Raglan, in 1974. Last May, 10 Durham detectives, backed up by other officers, worked intensively on the cold case, seeking new leads in an attempt to solve the killing that long puzzled observers.
The motivation was two-fold.
First, there was a grieving family that was seeking answers and closure.
Second, the force wanted to send the message to all would-be criminals in the area: We won’t rest until we solve our case.
“We went back to Square 1 -- we started right from scratch and re-interviewed everybody,” said homicide detective Leon Lynch. “We uncovered people we’d never spoken to before and that was helpful.” As in any profession, and perhaps more than many others, technology and techniques have advanced substantially in the last quarter century. The hard work of Lynch and his team paid off Monday, when Durham police went to the Cobourg home of Alan Smith, 56, a former neighbour and acquaintance of Mrs. Smith in Raglan. Mr. Smith, who is no relation to the victim, has been charged with second-degree murder. At the time of the death, the evening of Dec. 9, 1974, the 22-year-old Beverly Smith was found dead in her home for a gunshot wound to the back of her head, her body sprawled near the crib that held her 10-month-old daughter. It was that daughter, along with the deceased’s sister and former husband, who can now rest a little bit easier, knowing there’s someone in custody.
So kudos to the police and everyone who lent a hand to help bring this case one step closer towards its conclusion.
And a note to anyone thinking of committing a crime in Durham: Police here won’t rest until you are brought to justice.
-- Metroland Durham Region Media Group
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