Toronto police to announce new lead in 2006 homicide of Patrick Santos
Detective Sergeant Stephen Smith of the Homicide and Missing Persons Unit's Cold Case Section will speak Thursday morning at Toronto Police Headquarters about a 20-year-old unsolved killing.
Sources · local media reports
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Toronto police will announce a development Thursday morning in the 2006 homicide of Patrick Santos, a 21-year-old found dead in his father's Scarborough backyard with his hands and feet bound and tape around his head.
Santos was discovered on September 17, 2006, on Bridlington Street after a 911 call brought officers to the scene. He was pronounced dead from asphyxiation. Police believe he was last heard from around 4:30 a.m., speaking with his girlfriend by phone while returning home from a downtown nightclub.
For years, investigators held a DNA profile believed to belong to the killer but it never matched anyone in the national database. In 2024, Toronto police began uploading the profile into genetic genealogy databases, hoping to identify relatives of the unknown suspect.
Santos's mother, Juliet, spent two decades pleading for justice. "I asked God why would someone hurt my son," she told media in 2024.
Detective Sergeant Stephen Smith of the Homicide and Missing Persons Unit's Cold Case Section is scheduled to speak at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Toronto Police Headquarters.
The facts
When was Patrick Santos found dead?
Patrick Santos was discovered on September 17, 2006, in his father's Scarborough backyard on Bridlington Street.
How did Patrick Santos die?
Patrick Santos was pronounced dead from asphyxiation. He was found with his hands and feet bound and tape around his head.
What new investigative method did Toronto police use in 2024?
In 2024, Toronto police began uploading Patrick Santos's DNA profile into genetic genealogy databases to identify relatives of the unknown suspect, after the profile had yielded no matches in the national database for years.
