In Toronto alone there are more than 500 Cold Cases on file. We can investigate and review cold case files, often turning up new leads and assist in finding witnesses using advanced techniques like Spatial Statistics and Geo Profiling.
The Doe Network:
Case File 1470DFON
Elizabeth Marie Bain
Missing since June 19, 1990 from Scarborough, Ontario, Canada.
Classification: Endangered Missing
Vital Statistics
- Date Of Birth: July 11, 1967
- Age at Time of Disappearance: 22 years old
- Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5’2″; 108 lbs.
- Distinguishing Characteristics: Asian/White/Hispanic female. Brown shoulder-length hair with bangs; brown eyes.
Circumstances of Disappearance
Bain disappeared in June 1990 and hasn’t been seen since.
Her car was found three days later, with blood on the floor.
Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Toronto Police
416-808-2222
In the three days from Elizabeth Bain’s disappearance until the discovery of her bloodstained car near the wooded campus of the University of Toronto at
Scarborough, her boyfriend Robert Baltovich became the prime suspect. Only after his conviction for murder did suspicion begin to shift toward Paul Bernardo, the serial killer whose last known attack as the Scarborough Rapist had happened just three weeks earlier.
THE DISAPPEARANCE
Sunday, June 17, 1990
According to Robert Baltovich, the last time he saw Elizabeth Bain was at 2:15 a.m. on a Monday morning as she pulled her Toyota Tercel out of the Scarborough campus of the University of Toronto, turning north toward her nearby home. They had spent the evening watching a movie at the home for the
disabled where Ms. Bain worked, then parked their cars at the campus and walked into the valley of Colonel Danforth Park, finding a remote copse of trees beyond the principal’s residence where they laid out a blanket and had sex. A witness told police, however, that she may have seen them having a screaming fight on a side street.
Monday, June 18, 1990
Ms. Bain’s sister, Cathy, told police she heard the couple fighting in the Bains’ basement and, later that night, she saw Elizabeth in bed, asleep in her clothes, with her makeup streaked and a rose clutched to her chest. Four months later, Cathy Bain told police this actually happened a week before the disappearance. At appeal, Mr. Baltovich’s lawyer, James Lockyer, accused her of making up the entire episode.
Tuesday, June 19, 1990
At 3:45 p.m., Ms. Bain withdraws $80 at a bank, and is seen half an hour later driving alone near her house. Soon after, at home, she tells her mother she is going to check the tennis schedule in the valley. At 5:30, a student sees a blond man on campus who resembled Paul Bernardo, at which time Mr. Baltovich is seen at home by his sister-in-law. At 5:45, a tennis instructor sees Ms. Bain by the tennis courts with two other women and a man. At 6:20, a jogger sees Ms. Bain’s car in the parking lot in the valley.
At 6:45, Mr. Baltovich drives through the valley and sees her car, with its windows open. He looks around for her, does not find her, and goes to the campus gym, where he is seen at 7:15. At about 8, a pedestrian sees what appears to be Ms. Bain’s car parked near an autobody shop. A young woman is in the passenger seat, fighting with a man in the driver’s seat. She tries to leave, but he pulls her back in. The witness cannot identify either person.
Mr. Baltovich finishes in the weight room at 8:45, and goes to intercept Ms. Bain after her class, which ended at 9:00. Peeking from a stairway landing, he sees an olive-skinned man who matched Ms. Bain’s description of a previous boyfriend, and seemed to be waiting for the class to empty. He does not find her, goes back to the gym, and plays volleyball until 10:30, driving home soon after. The Crown’s theory in the first trial was that he killed her in the park between 5:45 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., hid her body that evening, and moved it two days later.
Wednesday, June 20, 1990
Elizabeth’s mother, Julita Bain, calls police. Early in the morning, Mr. Baltovich picks up Ms. Bain’s friend Arlene Coventry, and finds out they did not have specific plans the night before, as Ms. Bain had told him. They go to the tennis courts to speak with the pro. Mr. Baltovich states that Ms. Bain might have hurt herself.
Thursday, June 21, 1990
Now the prime suspect, Mr. Baltovich is interviewed by police until almost midnight. The Crown’s original theory was that he returned to the valley after this interview and took the body to the Lake Scugog area, northeast of the city. At the campus, searchers begin to organize and scour the valley.
Friday, June 22, 1990
At 2:00 p.m., Paul Bain and his brother’s girlfriend, Nancy Sicchia, discover Elizabeth’s car parked near the autobody shop. It is backed up against a snow fence, still in reverse gear, with the passenger seat fully reclined. There is a pool of her blood in the back seat. Her body has not been found.
THE AFTERMATH
Nov. 19, 1990
Mr. Baltovich is arrested and charged with first-degree murder. The Crown later compiles a list of 40 “lies and evasions” he made to police.
March 31, 1992
Mr. Baltovich is convicted by a jury of second-degree murder and later sentenced to life in prison.
Feb. 17, 1993
Serial killer Paul Bernardo is arrested and later determined to be responsible for a series of rapes in Scarborough, the last of which was on May 26, 1990. Receipts indicate he was in Scarborough on the three days following Ms. Bain’s disappearance.
April 1, 2000
Mr. Baltovich is released after eight years in jail to await his appeal.
Dec. 2, 2004
The Ontario Court of Appeal rules that the first trial was unfair, marred by legal errors and biased instructions from the judge to the jury. The conviction is overturned.
July 15, 2005
The Crown decides to retry Mr. Baltovich for second-degree murder.
April 22, 2008
After the Crown presents no evidence, a jury acquits Mr. Baltovich……..
Nicoll Investigations 