Suspect identified in Nadine Gurczenski murder case: police

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There will be no arrests, but Niagara Regional Police believe they may have finally achieved closure for the family of the late Nadine Gurczenski.

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Niagara police have provided an update on the 1999 Toronto woman's murder, saying investigators used genetic genealogy to identify a suspect — Joseph Archie “Raymond” Brousseau, formerly of New Liskeard, Ont., who had 34 years old when Gurczenski was killed.

Police said Brousseau died in 2017 and would have been charged with second-degree murder if he were alive today. He was employed as a truck driver and traveled extensively across Canada and the United States for work, police said, while also having ties to Quebec.

“Thanks to the tireless work of detectives, we are able to provide some measure of closure to Nadine’s grieving family,” Deputy Chief Todd Waselovich said in a news release. “While nothing can ease their pain, the determination of our detectives is evident in identifying the person responsible for his murder.

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“Investigations like these take a toll on our members, as they carry this weight with them in the search for justice. We would like to thank Nadine's family for their patience and cooperation as we continued to search for answers.

More than 25 years ago — on May 8, 1999, around 5 p.m. — Niagara police responded to Victoria Avenue near Eighth Avenue in Lincoln, west of St. Catharines, after receiving reports of the body of a partially clothed woman in a roadside ditch.

Investigators were able to identify Gurczenski, who was 26 at the time, as the victim and ruled his death a homicide. DNA evidence was collected from Gurczenski, police said, but it could not be linked to an individual at the time.

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No suspects have been identified so far.

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“We want to recognize that Nadine was an incredibly important member of our family,” Gurczenski’s family, including her widower Paul, daughter Heather and son Nash, said in a statement. “It meant more than a news headline. She was a beautiful young woman inside and out, mother, wife and now grandmother who had her entire life ripped away from her and everyone who loved her.

“She is much loved and missed every day by her entire family and we will always ensure her memory lives on forever.”

The Gurczenski family thanked Niagara police and “everyone who has helped us over the years.”

“We are grateful for new technologies that were not available years ago,” they said. “You brought peace and closure to our family.”

Anyone with more information is asked to contact 905-688-4111, option 3, Ext. 1009060. Anonymous tips can also be sent to Crime Stoppers of Niagara online or by calling 1-800-222-8477.

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