Toronto police say they have now identified the victims of two separate cold cases, including a woman who was murdered 90 years ago and buried underneath a building in the city’s east end. According to police, the first cold case homicide is related to the skeletal remains of a woman found under a building in the area of Danforth and Coxwell avenues in 1995. On May 18, 1995, police said officers were called to the area after demolition workers discovered the skeletal remains of an unknown woman. “A forensic examination determined the victim had been intentionally buried after suffering at least six blunt force injuries to the head from a hammer-like weapon,” police said in a news release issued Monday. “The investigation was classified as a homicide.” The cold case homicide was later selected in 2022 to be re-examined with the use of Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG) and due to the “degraded condition of the remains,” multiple lab submissions were required before a DNA profile could be obtained in November 2024, police said. The victim has now been identified as Mary McLeod Moffat, police said. Moffat was born in Scotland in 1905 and immigrated to Canada with her family 1913. They believe she was likely murdered 90 years ago. “Historical records, family interviews, and evidence recovered from the burial site established that she was likely murdered in approximately April 1936,” police said. According to police, the victim’s husband, who died 10 years before his wife’s body was discovered, is believed to be responsible for her murder. “Investigators determined that Mary’s husband, Andrew Lloyd Moffat, later abandoned her, entered into multiple additional marriages, and operated a tire business adjacent to the location where her remains were discovered decades later,” the news release continued. “Further investigation revealed that Moffat later assumed the alias Drake Lloyd Cummings and lived in the United States and Vancouver, before his death in 1985.” Hwy. 401 arson victim identified Toronto police say the second person recently identified through the use of IGG is a woman whose badly burned body was found in the passenger seat of a vehicle operated by a driver who investigators believe intentionally collided with a tractor-trailer on Hwy. 401 on April 22, 2004. “The Office of the Fire Marshal determined the fire had been deliberately set using gasoline and that the woman had died before the fire was ignited, confirming it had been used to conceal the cause of death,” police said in the news release issued Monday. “Due to the extent of the injuries from the fire, the cause of death was never determined.” Police said in 2006, the driver of the vehicle, 38-year-old Siumi Kilflu, of Toronto, was convicted of a number of charges, including arson to property, arson endangering life, indignity to a dead body, and dangerous operation of a vehicle. He was handed an eight-year prison sentence and was deported from Canada in 2012. “The victim remained unidentified for more than 20 years despite public appeals issued in 2009,” police said. “The case was selected for IGG investigation in 2022 as part of Project 31.” Police said DNA analysis determined that she possessed Indigenous ancestry connected to Cree communities along James Bay and the Fisher River Cree Nation in Manitoba. She was ultimately identified as Patsy Flora Lagarde, who was born in Ontario in 1962. Her parents, police noted, were from the Berens River First Nation and the Long Lake #58 First Nation. She had two biological children, including one living in Alberta, according to police. “These investigations represent two of the most significant unidentified human remains identifications completed by the Toronto Police Service through IGG,” police said in the news release. “These identifications represent the significant impact that investigative genetic genealogy can have on long-term unidentified human remains investigations,” said Det. Sgt. Stephen Smith of the Homicide and Missing Persons Cold Case unit. “After decades without answers, we have been able to restore the identities of Mary Davidson and Patsy Lagarde, provide information to their families, and uncover important facts about the circumstances surrounding their deaths. This work reflects the dedication of our investigators and the value of Project 31 in advancing cold case investigations.”
