Cops bust suspected female serial killer in Burlington

Article content

The cold-blooded murders stretch from Toronto to Niagara Falls and have all the earmarks of a serial killer.

Article content

Cops made the shocking announcement Friday afternoon that they had arrested a woman suspected in the deaths of three people — and possibly a fourth — between Tuesday and Thursday. The homicides occurred in Toronto, Niagara Falls and Hamilton.

Niagara Regional Police officers arrested 30-year-old Sabrina Kauldhar of Toronto on Thursday at a Burlington hotel. Kauldhar has been charged with first-degree murder in the Hamilton homicide and second-degree murder in the Toronto and Niagara investigations.

Chillingly, two of the slayings were random. None of the charges have been tested in court.

Niagara police chief Bill Fordy said detectives are now conferring with colleagues across the province to determine if there may be other victims.

Article content

Article content

“It was a tight timeframe and there was a risk she would commit further offences,” Fordy told reporters, adding that 100 investigators were hunting the alleged killer.

“I think by definition, she is a serial killer.”

A serial killer is a murderer who commits two or more unrelated homicides. These slayings fit the bill.

According to cops:

— On Tuesday around 2:08 p.m., Toronto officers responded to a call in the Keele St. and Dundas St. W. area. A woman in her 60s was located deceased inside a residence with visible trauma to her body. It’s believed Kauldhar and the victim were acquainted. The victim’s name has not been released.

— On Wednesday at 2:49 p.m., emergency personnel responded to a disturbance report in John Allan Park in the Falls. Officers found an adult male suffering from critical injuries. Despite heroic efforts by firefighters and paramedics, Fallsview Casino cook Lance Cunningham, 47, was pronounced dead at the scene. He had been walking his dogs.

Article content

— On Thursday around 12:26 p.m., Hamilton Police received a 911 call asking for an ambulance in a MacNab St. N. parking lot. An unresponsive male identified as retired 77-year-old former high school teacher Mario Bilich was found with significant injuries consistent with a stabbing. He later died in hospital.

Cops say that homicide detectives linked the murders in Hamilton and Niagara Falls, adding that the descriptions of both killers matched. An additional link was made to the active homicide investigation on Tuesday in Toronto.

Investigators say Bilich and Cunningham were randomly targeted. The accused was known to the Toronto victim.

“He [Bilich] was very well-known and had many family and friends in the area,” Hamilton Police Det. Sgt. Sara Beck said.

Article content

Beck added that Bilich was found by his car after meeting friends at his social club. Footage from a security camera allegedly shows the suspected killer before and after the murder.

“She followed him to his vehicle,” Beck said.

Now, investigators are trying to piece together a timeline of Kauldhar’s movements and the horrific events. Cops say she travelled by public transportation. They are asking anyone with information, or who may have seen Kauldhar between Tuesday and her arrest on Thursday at 5:45 pm in Burlington, to come forward.

In addition, detectives are also attempting to identify a female who was observed on security footage on Tuesday at the Giant Tiger at 2025 Guelph Line in Burlington buying clothing that Kauldhar had in her possession at the time of her arrest.

Article content

“We’re trying to identify the other female to ensure her safety and confirm what role — if any — she may have played,” Fordy said, adding that when Kauldhar was arrested she was wearing the clothes the mystery woman purchased at a Burlington Giant Tiger.

Kauldhar appeared in St. Catharines Provincial Court on Friday morning.

Toronto Sun files showed that Kauldhar was charged with assault and breach of probation in 2019 when she was living in Sault Ste. Marie. The outcome of those charges is not known but Fordy said she was known to police without offering further details.

Anyone with information is asked to contact detectives via the dedicated hotline at (289) 248-1058.

To provide information anonymously call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or submit your anonymous tips online at crimestoppershamilton.com.

Female serial killers are rare. The last time a woman was charged with multiple homicides in Canada was killer nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer.

The former registered nurse confessed to murdering eight senior citizens and attempting to murder six others in southwestern Ontario between 2007 and 2016. Wettlaufer was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.

[email protected]

@HunterTOSun

Article content