Erin Gilmour - December 20th, 1983 - Age 22 - Murdered - Toronto

[Desespere]

Erin Gilmour
Age: 22
COD: Stabbed
DOB:
Date last seen: December 20th, 1983
Location last seen: Toronto, ON
Date found: December 20th, 1983
Location found: Toronto, ON

Erin Gilmour  - December 20th, 1983 - Age 22 - Murdered - Toronto - Erin was found murdered in her apartment on Hazelton Ave. in Toronto's ritzy Yorkville neighbourhood. She had been bound to her bed and stabbed several times, with one knife thrust piercing her heart, an autopsy later found. On the night of her murder, Gilmour finished work at a clothing store beneath her flat and went upstairs to wait for a male friend, Anthony Munk, to pick her up to go to a cocktail party; police theorized she opened her door absent-mindedly, expecting Munk, but finding her killer instead. Munk found his friend's body when he arrived at 9:30 p.m. Gilmour had received obscene and threatening phone calls in the days prior to her murder, but police were unable to trace them.
http://websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2326675

[Chris]

Thanks Des, I added that other case. That is quite odd to have 2 cases linked, but none since and none before! I hope the DNA gets a match one day.

Glad you are doing great, it was so nice to see you stop in.

[Shwa]

http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/homicide/case/6

"Gilmour had received obscene and threatening phone calls in the days prior to her murder, but police were unable to trace them."

So, if we assume that the caller and the killer are on in the same, then he (assuming it is a he) somehow got her number AND knew where she lived.  I would presume that one way or another, the killer knew Erin one way or another.

The previous August, Susan Tice was killed by the same person (as determined by DNA).  There is a 10 min drive between each residence (or a 40 min walk).

http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Toronto&1s=ON&1a=Hazelton&2c=Toronto&2s=ON&2a=Grace

Other that proximity, there doesn't seem to be any connecting factors with regard to the two women - different ages, different economic or social conditions, different hair colour for what it is worth.

But I do wonder if there is a connection, that it is through 'Robins Knits.'

[Shwa]

Erin Gilmour lived and worked in Yorkville - a very high end neighbourhood in downtown Toronto:

http://www.torontoneighbourhoods.net/regions/toronto_central/15_overview.html

Susan Tice lived in Bickford Park, Little Italy.  Nice family type neighbourhoods:

http://www.torontoneighbourhoods.net/regions/toronto_downtown/18_homes.html

[Shwa]

Just thinking aloud...

Halfway between Erin & Susans homes going along Bloor St you pass Brunswick Avenue.  Two blocks up from Bloor along Brunswick is Wells St & Jan Sibelius Park where Sharin Morningstar Keenan was kidnapped and murdered in late Jan 1983.

The neighbourhood is known as the Annex and has completely changed over from low income rooming houses to something more affluent oriented today.

http://www.torontoneighbourhoods.net/regions/toronto_central/04_overview.html

However, the suspect in the Keenan murder, Melvin Howe has not been seen since late Jan 1983.

[Shwa]

On Monday, July 12th, 1982, on her 21st birthday, Claudia Geburt was viciously stabbed to death in a second-floor sitting room of her rented house on Leslie St., six doors south of Dundas St. Her fianc? found Geburt?s nude, blood-spattered body facedown on the floor when he called on her mid-afternoon.

Peter Arthur Clarke, 23 of Leslie St. was charged with theft and posession of stoeln property in connection to two break-ins at Geburts residence in June 1982 where $7,000 of missing stereo and camera equipment went missing.

Dundas and Leslie is about a 15 minute drive to Erin Gilmour's.

Dundas St is a very long Toronto St that runs roughly south parallel to Bloor on the west side of the DVP.

The interesting notes is that the victim was stabbed to death in her home and there was also someone charged with break-ins similar to the other cases.


 

[Chris]

This is all interesting. I do think the MO part is why I think police probably know who and are just short on proof.

Very very good analysis there, since I do not know Toronto too well, it does help to understand.

The interesting notes is that the victim was stabbed to death in her home and there was also someone charged with break-ins similar to the other cases

If the police mention that, there is a reason.

[Shwa]

I am looking around other sources to sift through similar crimes in the area.  There seems to be a few more that I will post when I get a chance. 

These downtown and centre town parts of Toronto were under-going a sort of urban renewal process in the early 80's.  I am also looking for material that might give us an idea of what those areas were like during that time period, any historical data that points to the Dundas East and Bloor corridors.  For instance, if there was heavy construction going on at the time, the perpetrator could have been employed in the construction industry.  That sort of thing...

[Chris]

instance, if there was heavy construction going on at the time, the perpetrator could have been employed in the construction industry.

That is a good idea.

[Spartacus]

So, if we assume that the caller and the killer are on in the same, then he (assuming it is a he) somehow got her number AND knew where she lived.  I would presume that one way or another, the killer knew Erin one way or another.
Other than proximity, there doesn't seem to be any connecting factors with regard to the two women -

The phone number was unlisted, according to the Toronto Star visual archives online. How did he get the number?
Both women had recently moved into this area. Erin had moved in 2 months before from Orchard Park Blvd. Both had also just returned from a vacation.
I could find no information on Susan Tice when I searched her name in the archive.

[mauvelilac]

The phone number was unlisted, according to the Toronto Star visual archives online. How did he get the number?

It would be easy enough to get an unlisted number if you were a friend of a friend of a friend that works for Bell.

[Shwa]

From today's Toronto Star  (http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/688609

[Chris]

This was posted by someone anonymously:

------------------------
I do not have much to contribute so I am submitting this anonymously in the hope that others who are better sleuths than I might find my thoughts helpful.

If you could post it on the Erin Gilmour and Susan Tice sites I would appreciate it.

I have always had a  heartfelt interest in the unsolved murder of Erin Gilmour. She, her mother and their nanny were neighbours of ours when Erin was a young girl living on Oriole Parkway. I shovelled their snow as a teenager. I just saw the postings that link DNA to the murder of Susan Tice and thank all who are actively pursuing these murders, both the police and independents.

My thought went to what links two single women about a ten minute drive apart? - that Erin liked Chinese food, that someone had Erin's unlisted number and that Erin's killer obviously knew where she lived and perhaps had her telephone number.

My thought goes to food delivery people and the area they may have covered. This would allow a killer to first meet their victim and then later stake out their residence - or call to either harass them or check if they were at home. As I recall in 1983, there was not identi-call, but I think that when you phoned for a delivery you gave them your phone number as well as your address. At the time Chinese food was a popular food for delivery in Toronto. I can't recall if at that time pizza had come to be popular.

Perhaps this avenue has already been explored and perhaps it is overly simplistic. If so, I apologize, but it is all that I have that might help and I do hope someone finds it helpful.
     

[Chris]

That is an interesting theory. A delivery person could be right.

[Sleuth]

thank you anonymously! the theory you put forward is pretty darn logical. Thanks for your thoughts and welcome!