Donna Stearne was a bright and talented 17-year-old with dreams of becoming a veterinarian. To her younger sister Janine, who was just ten at the time, Donna was an idol she looked up to. A Grade 12 student at Downsview Secondary School in North York, Ontario, Donna was remembered by her family as a beautiful person they never fully got to know. She and her best friend, Wendy Tedford, also 17, had been inseparable since they attended C.W. Jeffreys Secondary School together four years earlier. Their close friendship was a constant in their teenage lives, which were filled with the typical interests of the 1970s.
The evening of Thursday, April 26, 1973, was supposed to be a normal one for the two friends. Donna left her father’s house around 7 p.m. with her school books, planning to meet Wendy for a night of shopping before a sleepover at Wendy’s sister Shirley's apartment.
The girls traveled downtown, buying a black sweater on Yonge Street for Shirley’s upcoming 25th birthday. They spent several hours at the Yorkdale Shopping Centre before boarding a northbound Keele Street bus. Around 11 p.m., they stopped for a Coca-Cola at the Sit 'n Eat diner, a popular teen hangout near Wilson Avenue and Keele Street. It was the last time anyone could recall seeing them alive.
The next morning, a Grade 10 student taking a shortcut to school through a rubble-strewn industrial lot off Wilson Avenue made a horrifying discovery. The lifeless bodies of Donna Stearne and Wendy Tedford were found lying near each other. Donna was on her back, killed by a single, execution-style gunshot wound to the back of her head. Wendy was found face-down, having been shot twice in the neck. Both girls were fully clothed, and their purses, containing small amounts of cash, were found nearby. There was no sign of robbery or sexual assault, though police did recover semen from the scene. Autopsies confirmed they had been shot at close range.
The investigation into the double homicide was launched immediately by the Metro Police. Detectives from the Toronto Police Service Homicide Squad pieced together the girls' final hours but were left with a perplexing mystery. Neighbours reported hearing dull thuds or what might have been four gunshots between 11 p.m. and midnight, but no one saw what happened. The murder weapon, a.38-calibre Colt revolver, was not found at the scene. Months later, the gun was recovered in Windsor in connection with another crime and was found to have been previously reported stolen from that city. This discovery led investigators to suspect a connection to motorcycle gangs from the Windsor area.
Over the decades, the case grew cold, but it was never closed. Police have investigated as many as 70 different men in connection with the murders. For the families, the years have been filled with unanswered questions and unrelenting grief. Donna’s sister, Janine, has spoken of how the tragedy changed the course of her life, leaving her with a sense of pessimism and the constant feeling that something bad is about to happen. Wendy’s sister, Linda Harris, has remained equally determined, stating she will never give up hope for justice.
In recent years, advancements in forensic science have breathed new life into the investigation. Toronto Police Cold Case detectives, including Det.-Sgt. Steve Smith, have confirmed that DNA evidence was secured from the crime scene. Investigators are actively using modern genetic genealogy, the same technology that has helped solve other prominent cold cases, to identify potential suspects. The hope is that this new technology will finally provide the answers the Stearne and Tedford families have been waiting for.
As of April 2023, fifty years after the murders, the case officially remains unsolved. The families' hope was renewed by the recent resolution of other long-unsolved cases in Ontario, and they continue to wait for a breakthrough. Investigators believe that there are people who know who committed the crime and urge them to come forward. Shortly after the murders, the Metro Police Commission offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the capture and conviction of the killer. The file remains open and active with the Toronto Police Service.
