Hey, it's Nancy. Before we begin today, I just wanted to let you know that you can listen to Crime Beat early and ad-free on Amazon music included with Prime.

A listener's note. The following episode contains coarse language, adult themes, and content of a violent and disturbing nature nature and may not be suitable for everyone.

Listener discretion is advised.

In 1983, two women in Toronto were violently attacked in their own homes.

People had heard screams at about 1.32 in the morning and then somebody running through a laneway.

She said, Aaron's been killed. And I just remember being so filled of confusion and rage.

I leaned over and pushed a hole in the wall.

I came down the stairs and my dad announced Sue was stabbed to death.

I freaked out. Like, oh my God, like, how does this happen?

There were no obvious signs of who did this.

It's a needle in a haystack. It could be anybody in the world.

It was a frustrating case for police, as investigators faced countless dead ends.

At the same time, the families of the victims endured endless heartbreak.

I'm Nancy Hicks, a senior crime reporter for Global News.

Today we continue our special series of Crime Beat,

where in each episode, I'm joined by one of my colleagues from the TV documentary series.

In this episode, Catherine McDonald shares how science helped detectives crack a decades-long

case wide open, enclosure.

November 23, 2022 is a day Toronto Police Cold Case acting Detective Sergeant Stephen Smith will never forget.

He'd traveled 850 kilometers from home to lay eyes on a man he and his fellow detectives had waited 40 years to meet.

We go to his house, we see his truck there. So we walk up to knock on his door.

We knock on his door, he answers it.

...