Sonia Varaschin murder still being actively investigated

Written By BRIAN LOCKHART

It has been nine years since Orangeville nurse Sonia Varaschin was murdered.

Although her killer, or killers, have not yet been caught, the police investigation into this case that shocked Orangeville is far from over.

On August 30, 2010, Sonia's white Toyota Corolla was found behind Orangeville Town hall with a blood-smeared rear bumper.

Police were alerted and they quickly traced the vehicle to Sonia's Spring Street townhome.

There, police found an obvious crime scene. Sonia's body was discovered five days later by a man walking his dog on Beech Grove Sideroad in Caledon.

Nine years later, police are still looking for whoever was responsible for her death.

The case is being investigated by the Criminal Investigations Branch of the Ontario Provincial Police based at OPP headquarters in Orillia. 

“We're still working on this case. We're still plugging away with a team of very dedicated officers to find the answers to this case,” said OPP Detective Inspector and lead investigator Shawn Glassford. 

“I've got a dedicated team – this is what they do – they work on this case full time. There are a number of officers dedicated to this file.”

The person or persons responsible for this crime did leave behind some evidence that is helping police narrow down suspects. At least one person at the crime scene was wearing a size 10 or 11 Dakota or Wind River brand boot that was sold exclusively by Mark's Work Wearhouse. 

The killer or killers also left behind DNA evidence that was recovered by police.

“We've taken advantage of some new DNA examinations,” Inspector Glassford explained. “It's called STRmix. That is science in the DNA world that is able to take a mixture of DNA and isolates each person. They can separate in a way they can determine different DNA profiles. It's somewhat new. The technology has been around for a couple of years but it's something that in the last year or two we've taken advantage of.”

After nine years, the police still get tips “all the time.” 

Calls about the case have a tendency to increase during this time of year after media reports on the anniversary of the case.

“Throughout the year we are still getting tips,” Inspector Glassford said. “It still means a lot to people. Maybe they heard something recently. Maybe they always thought of something but for what ever reason never called it in. Maybe they've been worried about something for a long time but didn't know what to do with that information and finally after nine years, it's like ‘I've got to get this off my chest.' We want people to call in their tips. Picture a big jigsaw puzzle. They have a little piece that's missing and that piece may not be that big of a deal to them. They may not think it's a big deal but it could be that piece that we need. We have a lot of pieces to the puzzle we're just trying to finish it.”

After nine years, he says this is not considered a “cold case.”.

“I'm not considering this a cold case at all. It's not on the back burner at all. It's still being actively investigated.”