A Crime Stoppers training conference in Windsor is highlighting the importance of the partnership between police and the public.
Hundreds of delegates from 29 different Crime Stoppers programs in Ontario, Manitoba and Newfoundland are attending the weekend conference at the Holiday Inn Ambassador Bridge.
The first session Friday focused on the story Augustin Cano, a Windsor man who was brutally murdered in October 1984.
“He’d been beaten, strangled, suffocated and stabbed twice, once through the heart,” remembers daughter Genevieve Cano, who bravely shared her family’s worst nightmare publicly for the first time on Friday. “Instead of a home invasion and robbery, they committed murder, probably because my father could identify one of them.”
Genevieve Cano was the person who found her father murdered in their own home.
She told delegates that it was one anonymous tip from the public that helped solve the case.
Investigators believe that tip came after a photo was published in the Windsor Star. That photo shows a detective looking at a hat found at the scene.
Two young men, ages 16 and 20 at the time, pleaded guilty to the brutal crime. Cano said one of the accused was a neighbour and someone she used to babysit.
The investigation revealed they broke into the home to steal a coin collection.
Cano admits it is hard speaking about such a horrible truth, but she forced herself out of respect for her father, and to motivate the people at the conference.
Another keynote speaker on Friday was Tim Danson , a lawyer who represents the Mahaffy and French families. Their daughters Leslie and Kristen were murdered by Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka.
Danson said solving horrific crimes is only possible with good police work and information sharing.
“You can talk all the things that the general public will say about funding and where we cutback, I'm telling you across the board, overwhelmingly, Canadians will support full funding for police, full funding for law enforcement and all the tools that they need to keep us safe,” said Danson.
The Windsor & Essex County Crime Stoppers is the host for the annual Ontario Association of Crime Stoppers Training Conference that also included delegates from the United States.
Barb Bergin of Crime Stoppers USA was in attendance and said borders do not stop criminals.
“I can't thank you enough for the partnership that we enjoy with Canada,” said Bergin. “These bad guys know no borders, they're crossing back and forth, they're travelling on planes and boats and everything else, and we all need to be doing the same business, in the same manner.”
