CANADA Canada - Donna Stearne & Wendy Tedford, both 17, Toronto, 26 Apr 1973

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Well, I conjectured earlier in this thread that Potter/Kirk from 1971 might be related to Tedford/Stearne, but some folks discount a relationship. Who knows?
Also, somewhere in this thread I brought up the double-murder of two Toronto girls from, I think, 1976, a crime that was solved (it took place on Valentine's Day, or some such holiday). Could that be related?
Does the fact that it's two murdered girls have any relevance at all, in terms of links to other cases?

I have sort of lost interest in this case at this point. It would be nice if someone from the T.P.D. Cold Case Unit joined the conversation and either confirmed or ruled out some of our information. What could it possibly jeopardize after 40 years? But they don't operate that way. We can only sit here, with what little we know, and throw around wild, uninformed speculation. After a while, it gets tiresome, as is evidenced by dxman's long absence (he was fascinated by the case, perhaps even moreso than me).
 
"I have sort of lost interest in this case at this point. It would be nice if someone from the T.P.D. Cold Case Unit joined the conversation and either confirmed or ruled out some of our information. What could it possibly jeopardize after 40 years? But they don't operate that way. We can only sit here, with what little we know, and throw around wild, uninformed speculation. After a while, it gets tiresome, as is evidenced by dxman's long absence (he was fascinated by the case, perhaps even moreso than me).[/QUOTE] (CrimeSolver)

1. Interest in cases does wax and wane, understandable.

2. I do not see that the "new" info by LE about the bill from College and Yonge has been reabsorbed into any possible timeline.

3. We have an extraordinary relatively recent contradiction about drugs by sister of the victim in Hoshowsky and here on this thread if it is them.

4. The picture by SamIAm of the area of the crime scene area that shows the gate to me is mind-blowing. I encourage any new poster or viewer to compare with the Toronto Homicide site on the case.

5. Still useful to correct false info in media like the picture of DV diner in the Star video 2009.
 
Chorley8 said:
2. I do not see that the "new" info by LE about the bill from College and Yonge has been reabsorbed into any possible timeline.
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I don't why that would be particularly interesting. You're not suggesting they met their killer downtown? I mean, anything's possible, sure, but barring some extraordinary new info, the receipt just indicates that they bought something downtown. It does strain the tight timeline. They might thus not have had time to go to Yorkdale (or were they spotted there? I don't remember anymore).
3. We have an extraordinary relatively recent contradiction about drugs by sister of the victim in Hoshowsky and here on this thread if it is them.
Click to expand...
I don't have the book at hand (it's at the cottage), but I don't recall being struck by a contradiction. I'm sure it's there if you say so, but there might be an innocent explanation for the discrepancy.
4. The picture by SamIAm of the area of the crime scene area that shows the gate to me is mind-blowing. I encourage any new poster or viewer to compare with the Toronto Homicide site on the case.
Click to expand...
Again, I'm failing to understand the gate's significance. First, which gate do you mean? The wooden one leading to a backyard, or the wire-mesh one that leads to the cement plant?
Given how deep into the lot, vis a vis Wilson Ave., the girls' bodies were found (200-300 metres), I just think it's much more likely that they were driven to the site of their deaths by their killer, than that their killer escaped into the adjacent neighbourhood through a gate. But perhaps your thought is that they had an assignation with someone who said to meet them at that gate. He came through, killed them, and slipped back onto Winston Park Blvd (and into a nearby house (?)). Again, anything's possible without the benefit of more definitive official information. If I'm missing something, please enlighten me. I just can't remember all the details of this case.
5. Still useful to correct false info in media like the picture of DV diner in the Star video 2009.
Click to expand...
True. Apparently it is now confirmed that the former "Sit 'n' Eat" is indeed the corner unit, not the one in the middle of the plaza, as indicated in the Star article. Sloppy reporting.
 
Parts of Hoshowsy's book is available online at Google books p. 69 Linda adamantly denies they were in pursuit of any drugs saying this story was planted by a trouble-making family friend in his 20s. . When she called another reporter to rectify the story this family friend showed up again somewhat mysteriously. She does not know his motive. Howshowsky claims this set back the investigation for years the pursuit of a likely non-existent drug angle.

ON WS Linda says they were looking for grass. Linda on WS sounds more like the above family friend than Linda (!). (If we trust Hoshowsky).

Maybe the family friend was just making trouble maybe he was trying to lead things in a direction more comfortable to him or someone else he knows.

It could have an innocent explanation as you suggest - it also could not - in Hosh. Linda, years later was still not aware of an innocent explanation!
 
I can't get to pg 69 of "Unsolved..." in Google Books, but I did look back into pp 3 and 4 of this thread when Linda was still here, and as you say, she did mention someone who had access to grass. I also noticed a post in which I mentioned a '73 Globe article that declared unequivocally the murders were related to the drug scene. I don't know anymore. It's all so nebulous.
 
Aarrgh, yes strange I typed out the passage earlier and then "lost" it on my computer then came home to retype and yes those pages are missing now from the online sample. That is interesting in itself although they just cycle different sets of pages to sample I don't know. I don't own the book really should order it.

So to take my word for it for now basically Linda is saying one thing on WS another in Hoshowsky. The detail about the 20s family friend as having promoted the drug story is interesting. Yes there are any number of potential reasons and that is assuming we can trust Linda and Hoshowsky there. But it does go through my mind just to query who it is that came on WS - usually when someone says "I am an insider" they need to get verified by mods. And they departed quite a while ago as well.

It is something that could be significant though obviously even then maybe LE looked at it ages ago.

One thing "Linda" does say on this thread (again assuming it is her) is that friends of the girls split friendships afterwards and she thought it was because it was someone they knew. And she's implying that there are people that know what happened and they are afraid of someone that is her drift. Interesting for sure.
 
Which gate? This one: (Source SamIAm WS)

IMG-20120902-00184 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

IMG-20120902-00186 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Does the gate in the first photo go to the street or to the yard of the house adjacent (which if I am not mistaken belongs to the witness who heard gunshots at 12:00 144 Winston Park Boulevard on google satellite interestingly the number 144 is actually shown). Family still there. Now I am only assuming these gates were there back then though.
 
Chorley8 said:
Aarrgh, yes strange I typed out the passage earlier and then "lost" it on my computer then came home to retype and yes those pages are missing now from the online sample. That is interesting in itself although they just cycle different sets of pages to sample I don't know. I don't own the book really should order it.

So to take my word for it for now basically Linda is saying one thing on WS another in Hoshowsky. The detail about the 20s family friend as having promoted the drug story is interesting. Yes there are any number of potential reasons and that is assuming we can trust Linda and Hoshowsky there. But it does go through my mind just to query who it is that came on WS - usually when someone says "I am an insider" they need to get verified by mods. And they departed quite a while ago as well.

It is something that could be significant though obviously even then maybe LE looked at it ages ago.

One thing "Linda" does say on this thread (again assuming it is her) is that friends of the girls split friendships afterwards and she thought it was because it was someone they knew. And she's implying that there are people that know what happened and they are afraid of someone that is her drift. Interesting for sure.
Click to expand...
I believe it was Linda who contributed to this thread, but maybe I'm too trusting.
Regarding your last paragraph, I just find it hard to fathom that anyone who was a friend of the girls would not, 40 years later, come forward and help solve this case. That is mind-boggling to me.

As to the gate in the picture, it appears to belong to #152 Winston Park, not 144. Look how close the backyard garage is to the fence. There's nothing like that at 144. What I don't know is if that gate area in SamIam's photos is the precise spot where the girls were found. The old photos with the red circles at the TPD website don't help, since the circle is in a different place in each photo.
https://maps.google.ca/?ll=43.727286,-79.471506&spn=0.000482,0.001031&t=h&z=20
 
Your correction thanks that's great had realized that today when I went to the street for the first time. And answering myself the gate in the fence if was there back then which it probably was would lead to private property not the street again, going there makes that obvious. The exact location isn't crucial there is a reason I am impressed by the gate will try to get to it. No worries if it doesn't seem salient to you I understand.

My last paragraph: yes of course it would be mind-blowing but I was just passing on what Linda here had said - I have no info in that regard myself. She said afraid of someone that friendships had ended friends had scattered and that there was fear of someone. No idea of that is true. Also by now maybe someone has spilled lots of details to LE it doesn't mean they have enough for an arrest.

Yes I had kept in mind that his location of the bodies might not be 100%
accurate. Maybe we can pm SamIAm and ask how he deduced that was the crime scene area. ON Google street view there is a space at the fence between 152 and 154 with a tree that then is likely the tree in the photo from the other side by SamIAm. It seems possible the houses at 152 and 154 are more recent but that the garages are old, were there in early 70s (?). In 152 there appears to be a largish window in the garage facing the field and crime scene.
I would like to know what girls hated either Donna or Wendy in high school. I don't mean this in a mean way, somebody always hates you in high school.
 
"Given how deep into the lot, vis a vis Wilson Ave., the girls' bodies were found (200-300 metres), I just think it's much more likely that they were driven to the site of their deaths by their killer, than that their killer escaped into the adjacent neighbourhood through a gate. But perhaps your thought is that they had an assignation with someone who said to meet them at that gate. He came through, killed them, and slipped back onto Winston Park Blvd (and into a nearby house (?)). Again, anything's possible without the benefit of more definitive official information. If I'm missing something, please enlighten me. I just can't remember all the details of this case." (CrimeSolver)

Yes I am thinking along some of the lines you mention here - and of course I have doubted some of the veracity of the witness testimony - not disbelieving exactly just bracketing so to speak, probing it a bit) - one reason for doing this is of course that the case is unsolved so it is worth thinking outside the box while trying to stay this side of wild speculation, hope I am.

On another note I wonder if the person who T.I. went to tell about the remains, G.M. is the same person who owns a company named after the laneway around the Wilson address where he was working then as a truck-driver. I am not sleuthing him - the reason for the initials is just so when people search his company a murder doesn't pop up. I just wonder if LE asked him if he had any ideas about the trucking angle recently brought up here - no doubt LE asked him long ago but he might have an educated opinion. He or someone in that company might know of a dubious driver. Hopefully LE had a look at it I know 1973 must seem like a crazily long time ago to a younger detective - and with new things happening everyday in Toronto.....
 
CrimeSolver, this is an excellent markup of the PD photo. It makes sense as to why "Tony I" would have taken the shortcut through the field since it would be the quickest way to get to school on foot. This shortcut was most likely well used by people living along Winston Park or Deverell Crescent back then and most likely still used even now. Trying to get to Wilson ave (especially if you wanted to go west) from these streets would require you to back track and zigzag to Northgate drive in the opposite direction. There's no easy quick access to Wilson ave unless you go through a backyard gate. If the fence line has remained intact from the 70's, and it appears like it has from my last visit, then most of the homes backing onto the then field had gates. I took a picture of the fence line of the home backing onto the field which I thought depicted the red circle in the PD photo. I was able to see Anthony Rd through the fence so I think I was fairly close to where the girls where found, again assuming we can trust the PD photo as a guide. "Tony I" exited into the field through a backyard gate, started walking north close to the fence line toward Wilson Ave and toward Downsview Secondary School, the most direct and quickest route, a "short cut" that allowed him to stumble upon the girls.
 
SamIam, at the T.P.D. page for this case, there are three aerials, and all three have the red circles marking the crime scene in different places, so I don't know which, if any, is precisely accurate.

Here are a few Star articles:
Interview with Linda, May 3, 1973:
Tedford-Stearne1.jpg
Tedford-Stearne2.jpg

May 4, 1973:
Tedford-Stearne5.jpg

June 11, 1974:
Tedford-Stearne3.jpg

Globe & Mail, May 4, '73:
Tedford-Stearne4.jpg


I can't find the article that mentioned the car seen leaving the scene.
 
Thank you CrimeSolver for the articles, I had not read those before. Regarding the placement of the red circles in the T.P.D aerial photos, you will notice in reviewing them that whom ever drew them kept the circle slightly north of the aggregate tower across the field. If you had to draw those circles onto those aerials I would think you would have trouble placing the circle on two of them because of the perspective and angle. But not this one, this one would be much simpler for you to place the circle on. I'm guessing it's the same reason you choose it for your mark up, because of its clarity. I think it would be the most accurate representation of where the girls where found, roughly behind 144 - 148 Winston Park Blvd. That aggregate tower is still there and if you google map it here and stay slightly north of it and draw a straight line across to the homes that will land you at the same 144 - 148 residential addresses. If you street view 144 - 148 Winston Park Blvd you will notice two street light polls and the aggregate tower in the back ground here. That light poll closest to 144 has a light fixture and a transformer on it, the one near 148 only has the light fixture. This one near 148 can be seen from the backyard of my photo here http://flic.kr/p/d5n5hL, peaking just above the garage roof line. I think I was close.
 
Here is another thought I had about the car that was seen leaving the field. I don't believe there was a car.
 
^Can you expand on that? What's your pet theory? There was a witness who saw a car, according to one of the articles I read. I'll see if I can track it down again.
 
Here's another informative article from a couple of days after the murders:

Tedford-Stearne5-1.jpg


Still looking for the one mentioning the car.
 
Thanks again for the informative articles on this CrimeSolver.
My reasoning on why I'm now doubting the car seen leaving the field is that I have read that it was raining off and on for days before the murders. In fact I read that April 73 was one of the wettest as indicated here in the very first few sentences. From the aerial photos it certainly does not look like the field was paved, doubt it was graveled over, most likely it was just a dirt field. Given the rains, snow melts, this field must have been an absolute muddy, swampy, puddled filled sink to you ankles in spots, mess. Would you drive your car into that, especially if you think you might need to leave in a hurry? Can you image the tire tracks, shoe tracks, etc you would leave behind let alone the fear of getting stuck. Don't recall anything like that in any articles I read but if there was a car in that field they would be there. I too recall reading about the witness seeing the car leaving the field but it's mentioned very sparsely, maybe one or two articles in all of the ones I read and like you hard to track down. Things that make you go hmmmm?????
 
Yes, I agree it is one of those things that makes you go "hmmmm".:)(I remember Arsenio) That the departing car was only mentioned once, as far as I know, is odd. I'm not sure what the conditions were in the lot that morning, nor what material made up the lot's surface, but the photo seen in the Star video doesn't show detectives sloshing around in mud. They might have been, but it doesn't appear so.
Even if no car was involved, I would imagine detectives at least have some shoe impressions; not that they would help the investigation after all this time; nor would tire impressions for tires that were likely shredded decades ago.
 
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