Over the course of a year in the mid-1970s, four young women were found murdered just outside of Calgary in western Canada. The bodies, which were fully clothed, were found scattered in various places – along a road, in a ditch and under an underpass.
All the women had been strangled and subjected to sexual abuse.
The investigation dragged on for several decades. Only in the 1990s, four separate task forces combed through approximately 800 tips and 500 witness statements from the public.
Sperm was found on all four victims, but at the time DNA identification was limited. It was only in 2003 that an unknown perpetrator could be linked to two of the victims. 19 years later, in 2022, they managed to link all four together.
Died in prison
And although the killer made no effort to cover his tracks, it took almost 50 years and a review of 853 potential killers before Canadian police could announce on Friday that an American serial killer killed the women.
It concerns Gary Allen Srery, who fled to Canada in 1974 after allegations of a rape in Los Angeles. He was later sentenced to a life sentence for another rape in the US state of Idaho.
During his time in the open, Gary Allen Srery used nine aliases. And given his violent history, police believe he may have committed additional murders.
“We do not believe that the suspect is only involved in four murders. It is very possible that he is responsible for many more, likely in Alberta, British Columbia or the western United States,” Canadian police said during a press conference.
In 2011, Gary Allen Srery died of natural causes in prison, aged 68.