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WARNING: This story contains details of sexual assaults against children.
A jury learned more details this week about chilling evidence tied to a cold case dating back more than 30 years.
Richard Neil, now 67, has pleaded not guilty to the 17 charges he’s facing, including kidnapping, sexual assault causing bodily harm and administering a stupefying drug.
His trial at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Brampton, Ont., comes decades after an unidentified attacker violently tied up three children as young as eight in southern Ontario parks between 1992 to 1995 and sexually assaulted them. Prosecutors earlier this month said DNA evidence linked each attack to Neil.
The attacks happened in Kitchener, Brampton and Oakville.
This week, the trial focused on items that the Crown claims are tied to Neil, including underwear with holes cut out, worn as the assailant’s mask.
Margaret Henry, a forensic scientist at Centre of Forensic Sciences, who has been involved in DNA testing for the case for the last several years, testified semen was found on it matching genetic material from Neil.
Forensic scientist Margaret Henry testifies while a courtroom monitor shows underwear, a piece of evidence in the trial of Richard Neil, on October 15, 2026. (Pam Davies/CBC)
She also referenced a mathematical formula used in DNA testing to exclude people from being tied to crime scene DNA.
“This number provides very strong support for the proposition that Richard Neil is the source for those DNA profiles rather than an unknown, unrelated person,” Henry testified.
Over the years, forensic scientists looked at roughly 310 persons of interest before tying Neil to the attacks, Henry testified.
Advancements in DNA technology push case forward
Multiple advancements have been made in DNA testing since the three cases were first linked in 1995, said Henry. The Centre of Forensic Sciences, where Henry has been employed since the late 1990s, first tested Neil’s DNA against various crime scene samples in 2024.
Earlier this month, the jury learned that investigators first identified him as a suspect thanks to genetic genealogy analysis conducted in the U.S., a technology that was not available during the initial investigation in the 1990s.
Richard Neil sketched in a Brampton, Ont., courtroom on Oct. 15, 2026 as his trial over sexual assault and kidnapping charges continues. (Pam Davies/CBC)
Other items alleged to be tied to Neil include semen found on various debris, such as twigs and bark from one crime scene, as well as a pop bottle with Neil’s fingerprints from another scene.
The jury heard earlier this month in a video that one of the victims was forced to drink the attacker’s urine from that bottle.
The trial continues on Monday.
