Joseph Sutherland biography: 13 things about Moosonee, Ontario, Canada man 

Joseph George Sutherland is a Canadian man from Moosonee, Ontario, Canada. He is part of a very large family unit, according to Toronto Police Department detective sergeant Stephen Smith.

In 2019, the Toronto Police Department teamed up with Othram Inc., which is based in The Woodlands, Texas, United States to produce a viable deoxyribonucleic acid profile from genetic material that had been left at the scenes of the murders of Susan Tice and Erin Gilmour. The two women did not know each other.

Semen found on the Tice and Gilmour’s bodies were identified as being from the same male. In 2008, advances in DNA technology enabled police to conclude that the two women had been assaulted and murdered by the same man.

In 2021, Sutherland and four of this brothers were identified as persons of interest. Through police investigation, he was left as the only suspect after his four brothers were eliminated.

In November 2022, Sutherland provided his DNA sample and called a friend, a retired police officer, and admitted to murdering Tice and Gilmour before the results had even come back. Here are 10 more things about him:

1. He previously lived in Fort Albany, Ontario.
2. He went to Northern Lights Secondary School in Moosonee and Humber College in Etobicoke, Ontario.
3. On August 17, 1983, he sexually assaulted and fatally stabbed Tice in Toronto, Ontario.
4. On December 20, 1983, he sexually assaulted and fatally stabbed Gilmour in Toronto.
5. In 2009, he started working as an information technology manager at Payukotayno, a child care agency in Moosonee.
6. On December 19, 2019, he wrote on Facebook, “I’m sick. I have been last few days. Started on my birthday. My chest was full. Next day, my stomach ached. No runs or any thing like that. Just an aching stomach. Must’ve got a bug. I was feeling lethargic all day – no energy at all. I pretty slept all day. The stomach ache is gone now, but my throat is raw. Hacking cough is painful and I’m feeling warm. Can’t eat anything solid. The food hurts went it goes down. I’m drinking my food. LOL.”
7. On December 26, 2021, he wrote on Facebook, “Anyone interested in making a skating area on the river? msne side? I cleared a large area of snow on the river near docks. I wished I had a water pump. It’s roughed, but needs watering. Weather is favorable. No snow til Friday.”
8. In February 2022, two undercover officers with the Ontario Provincial Police went to Moosonee to try to surreptitiously obtain his DNA but were not successful.
9. On May 5, 2022, he wrote on Facebook, “Had sad news this evening. My uncle John has passed away. His family was with him when he passed away peacefully. He’ll be missed. My heart and love goes out to my auntie and cousins.”
10. On August 21, 2022, he wrote on Facebook, “anyone have a catch&release animal cage that not using? Got vermin in my backyard I want to relocate. Thanks.”
11. On November 24, 2022, he surrendered to the OPP.
12. On November 30, 2022, the Centre for Forensic Sciences confirmed that he was the source of the DNA found at Tice and Gilmour’s residences.
13. He was 61 years old when he pleaded guilty on October 5, 2023 to two counts of second-degree murder.