Barbara Brown holds a picture of her sister Beverly Lynn Smith. (Sun File Photo)
There is no Statute of Limitation for Crimes, especially for Crime of Murder:
THIRTY THREE YEARS AGO, Douglas Smith, as he did every night, calls home to check with his wife and new baby from his work at GM Plant in Oshawa, Ontario. But that night on December, l974 there was no Answer. Worried he called his neighbor Alan Smith (no relation) and asked him to have his wife run over and check on his wife Beverly and her Baby.
”Doug, she's lying on the floor. You'd better come home," was the call he got back.
She was shot with a .22 cal weapon on the back of the head. Baby Rebecca was safe sleeping on the next Room.
It was the first homicide for the Durham Regional Police force, which was formed that same year. And for more than three decades, there have been few developments and even fewer leads.
That is, until last Monday, when police charged that same neighbour, Alan Smith, with her murder.
Alan Smith was arrested in his home in another town where neighbors said he is living with his daughter and granddaughter. He is charged of second degree murder.
Detectives wouldn't say what led to his arrest. "Just old-fashioned, dogged detective work," said police spokesperson David Selby
In 1992, then-Chief Dave Edwards told the Star they'd had the same suspect from the beginning, but never had the proof to nail him.
"One day he will let his guard down," Edwards said. "What goes around comes around ... and when the times comes we will be there."
There is no indication Alan Smith is that same suspect. And police would not say whether a member of the public came forward with more information or whether DNA advancements led to the arrest.
But whatever the reason, Barbra Brown and the rest of the Smith family view the Durham squad as heroes.
For details of the articles and the video check the pages of Toronto Star: Arrest in l974 Slaying
