Article content

William Joseph Pennell was a low-rent man in criminal circles.

Article content

His crimes were trivial, unimportant deeds. But it looks like someone wanted the rounder dead.

York Regional Police detectives announced Friday that they have identified human remains dumped in Pennell’s Markham field four decades ago.

Cops say on July 16, 1980, a Markham resident was caught near 14th Street and Steeles Ave. He says he made a chilling discovery on the part of the Eleventh Franchise.

Investigators had little to do. The body was that of a white male, 25 to 40 years old, 6 feet tall, weighing 100 to 120 pounds, with medium-length dark brown hair. It could not be identified due to its decomposition and remained unidentified for 44 years.

In 2007, the remains were exhumed by YRP’s unsolved cases unit for the purpose of facial reconstruction and obtaining DNA. A year later, a DNA profile was developed and uploaded to the national DNA database, but there were no matches.

Article content

Article content

But as with many other unsolved investigations, new technology was beginning to help close old cases.

In 2021, researchers turned to Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG), which resulted in the identification of relatives of the deceased.

The man who died on April 3, 2023, was named William Joseph Pennell, 26, of Toronto.

When detectives began to piece together Pennell’s life, they discovered that he had been in prison for various crimes.

These included an armed robbery committed on June 30, 1979, while he was on parole. Cops also tagged Pennell with attempted murder charges.

For violating his parole, Pennell was later returned to the Collins Bay Institution in Kingston. There, he told investigators there were two other men involved in the armed robbery of a Brampton Becker store.

Article content

Pennell acknowledged his role in the crime but refused to identify his accomplices. He told case officers his life would be in danger if he found it.

He was convicted for Becker’s work in April 1980.

He escaped from prison two months later. Police said records of the escape were lost.

Now a fugitive, Pennell told a friend that he planned to escape to South America. This was reportedly his last contact before unidentified remains were discovered a month later.

While the cause of death has not been determined, detectives believe foul play was involved.

The investigation continues as cold case investigators attempt to identify additional friends and associates to establish a timeline between Pennell’s escape and the discovery of his body.

They hope the public’s help can help solve this decades-old case.

More details about this case will be included in ‘Tracking a Killer: Cold Case Files’ to be published on 15 November.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Cold Case Unit at 1-866-876-5423 ext. Crime Stoppers at 6000 or 1-800-222-TIPS.

[email protected]

@HunterTOSun

Article content