Lynne Harper cold case

Lynne Harper was a 12 year old girl who disappeared on June 9, 1959 from RCAF Station Clinton in Clinton, Ontario. Two days after her disappearance Lynne’s body was recovered on a farm. It was discovered that Lynne had been raped and strangled with her blouse.

Lynne Harper was born on August 31, 1946 in New Brunswick and was known by many as a headstrong and socially active child spending much of her time in Girl Guides, Bible Class and Sunday school. At the time of her disappearance, Lynne was attending Air Vice Marshal Hugh Campbell School in Clinton, Ontario. One of Lynne’s classmates, Steven Truscott who was in her shared 7/8th grade class was known to be one of the last to see Lynne on the day of her disappearance. Truscott gave Lynne a ride on his bicycle crossbar. According to Truscott when he was questioned in court about his interaction with Lynne, he left Lynne at the intersection of Highway 8 and County Road. The court Crown however, contended that Truscott had raped and murdered Lynne and left her where her body had later been recovered. Truscott asserted however, that he had turned to see Lynne getting in to a car just after he had left her at the intersection.

Truscott was taken in to custody on June 12 and on June 13 he was charged with the murder of Lynn Harper. His trial began on September 16 and on September 30 he was found guilty. Truscott made an appeal on January 21 which was dismissed. Another appeal was made, this time to the Supreme Court of Canada and was denied on February 24. While Truscott received a death sentence for his conviction, he received a commutation of his sentence and he was paroled on October 21, 1969. Revived interest in the Lynne Harper case came about in 2000 when a television interview renewed interest in the case. Attempts were made to recover damning DNA evidence from Lynne’s exhumed body; however, no such evidence was recovered. While Truscott was never declared to be innocent, the court ruled that there was no way to convict him of the crime without a reasonable doubt. Lynne’s family still believes that Truscott was responsible for their daughter’s death.