The reopening of the Patrick Santos cold case episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 10, 2026 · 24 MIN

The reopening of the Patrick Santos cold case

from The Big Story · host Maria Kestane, Fil Martino, Steen Hartsen

It's taken Toronto Police more than 20 years to charge a suspect in the murder of Patrick Santos, a 21 year old Scarborough man that was found zip-tied and duck taped in his home in 2006.  Investigative genetic genealogy was able to match the DNA sample taken from the crime scene to that of Pierre O'Connor, a Hamilton man who had no previous criminal record. Host Maria Kestane speaks to Fil Martino, co-host of Tracking a killer, to dig into the details of the 20 year-old cold case. Then she's joined by Steen Hartsen, a faculty member of the British Columbia Institute of Technology to learn more about genetic genealogy - including its ethical risks. Listen to Tracking A Killer here.  We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:Through email at [email protected] Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 10, 2026

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It's taken Toronto Police more than 20 years to charge a suspect in the murder of Patrick Santos, a 21 year old Scarborough man that was found zip-tied and duck taped in his home in 2006. Investigative genetic genealogy was able to match the DNA sample taken from the crime scene to that of Pierre O'Connor, a Hamilton man who had no previous criminal record. Host Maria Kestane speaks to Fil Martino, co-host of Tracking a killer, to dig into the details of the 20 year-old cold case. Then she's joined by Steen Hartsen, a faculty member of the British Columbia Institute of Technology to learn more about genetic genealogy - including its ethical risks.

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The reopening of the Patrick Santos cold case

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