After more than three decades, the “Woodland Rapist” has been brought to justice.
asserted
Rapist → bring → justice
Richard Neil, a 67-year-old Toronto resident accused of preying on children in Southwestern Ontario and the GTA in the 1990s, was found guilty Friday in a Brampton court of 17 charges, including sexual assault, kidnapping and uttering threats.
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Neil → accuse → threats
Neil was arrested and charged in March 2024 by Peel Regional Police following a multi-jurisdictional investigation.
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Neil → arrest → investigation
The case baffled investigators for decades until advances in forensic technology helped identify a suspect in the horrific attacks.
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advances → baffle → attacks
The former courier driver, who was arrested in British Columbia, went on trial last month and denied being the perpetrator of the assaults, insisting authorities had the wrong man despite DNA and fingerprint evidence presented in court.
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authorities → arrest → court
Police said the victims of the attacks were two young boys and a teenage girl.
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victims → say → attacks
Victims suffered brutal assaults
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Victims → suffer → assaults
The first boy was just eight years old when he was lured into the woods at Idlewood Park in Kitchener and sexually assaulted by a knife-wielding man on Aug. 21, 1992.
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he → lure → Aug.
On Sept. 29, 1994, more than two years later, a 10-year-old boy was similarly sexually assaulted by a man at North Place Park in Brampton.
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boy → assault → Brampton
The following year, on Aug. 31, 1995, a man forced a 15-year-old girl at gunpoint into a wooded area of Oakville’s Wildwood Park and raped her for five hours.
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man → force → hours
During the attacks, police said at the time that Neil wore underwear on his head, tied his victims to trees and forced them to drink urine.
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Neil → say → urine
The three attacks were linked through DNA evidence after police recovered sperm from the crotch of one victim, ejaculate from another and semen-stained underwear at the final crime scene.
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police → link → scene
The Project Woodland task force was launched to identify a suspect in the sexual assaults.
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force → launch → assaults
A composite sketch of the “Woodland Rapist” led to 1,200 tips from the public.
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sketch → lead → public
However, after looking into 875 suspects, police made no arrests and the task force was disbanded in 1996.
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force → look → 1996
Investigative genetic genealogy cracked cold case
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genealogy → crack → case
The Toronto Police cold case unit worked with Peel and Waterloo cops using investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) to unravel the brutal assaults.
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unit → work → assaults
And that trail led back to Neil.
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trail → lead → Neil
“IGG is making these cases and other historic investigations solvable,” TPS cold case unit boss Det. Sgt. Steve Smith told the Toronto Sun.
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Smith → make → Sun
“Science is allowing us to solve more of these cases particularly in investigations where we have particularly vulnerable victims, as in this case which were children.”
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which → allow → case
Police services across North America are now using IGG to solve cases that were previously considered unsolvable.
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that → use → cases
“Neil was never on the police radar,” Smith said.
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Smith → say → radar
“The funny thing is, he looks exactly like the composite done at the time.
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he → look → time
Those kids did a great job.”
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kids → do → job
Smith added: “There really is no longer a safe place for these guys.
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Smith → add → guys
We will get them.”
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We → get → them
Indeed, the TPS unit has solved some of the most vexing investigations in the city’s history, including the 1984 murder of Christine Jessop.
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unit → solve → Jessop
The Aporia
