How genetic genealogy helped police find witnesses — but not the suspect — in the Byron Carr murder case

WARNING: This story contains disturbing details.

When Charlottetown police first announced a break in a high-profile cold case, they credited investigative genetic genealogy with helping identify a suspect. Newly released court documents shed more light on how police set their sights on the man who was charged with first-degree murder before all charges in the case were dropped earlier this month.

Byron Carr was found dead in his home on Nov. 12, 1988. The 36-year-old teacher had been strangled with a towel and stabbed with a kitchen knife. Carr’s wallet was missing, an extinguished cigarette butt had been placed in his navel, and the words “I will kill again” were written on the bedroom wall. 

How did a P.E.I. cold case fall apart just before it was set to go to trial?

It wasn’t until 2024 that Todd Joseph Irving was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and interfering with human remains. He pleaded not guilty before both charges were withdrawn by the Crown. 

Court documents made public after the charges were dropped detail how investigative genetic genealogy led police not to their suspect, but to witnesses who more than 30 years later would provide the evidence that led them to make an arrest.

Carr was last seen in downtown Charlottetown in the early morning hours of Nov. 11, 1988. Earlier that night, he’d been out with friends at Pat’s Rose and Grey Room, a Charlottetown bar at the time.

A neighbour told police she saw two men fleeing from Carr’s backyard at about 9 p.m. on Nov. 11. His body was found the following morning.

According to an autopsy report, the cause of death was mechanical asphyxia and the knife found in Carr’s abdomen was inserted after he was already dead.

Byron Carr was found dead in his home on Nov. 12, 1988. The 36-year-old teacher had been strangled with a towel and stabbed with a kitchen knife. (Family photo)

Police have long said they believed Carr was killed during what began as a consensual sexual encounter and that the killer initially fled but returned hours later with an accomplice to stage the scene: taking Carr’s wallet, scrawling the message on the wall and stabbing him.

Three DNA profiles were eventually found at the scene:

It wasn’t until May of 2023 that — according to multiple documents submitted in 2026 as part of Irving’s application to be released on bail, including an agreed statement of facts — police say the contributor of Male 2’s profile was identified thanks to investigative genetic genealogy. 

At the time of Irving’s arrest, police said they’d also arrested a second suspect who had been interviewed and released without being charged. According to that same agreed statement of facts, that was the man whose DNA was found on the socks. CBC News is not naming him because he hasn’t been charged with a crime.

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Genetic genealogy was key to the Byron Carr homicide investigation. Here’s how it works

There’s no mention of a suspected accomplice in any of the many court documents reviewed by CBC News, and there’s no indication police believe Male 2 was involved. According to a 2013 interview with CBC News, police said at that time they believed they had identified the person who returned to help stage the scene roughly 12 hours after the murder, but that person died years before he was identified. Police did not release his name.

But Male 2 did work at Pat’s Rose and Grey Room at the time, and according to multiple documents including a pre-trial submission outlining the Crown’s theory, police believed that Male 1 would be found in the group of people who either worked at or were connected to Pat’s Rose and Grey Room.

That hunch led them to a witness who worked at the bar in the 1980s and said he remembered working with Todd Joseph Irving, who used to use the last name Gallant. That witness said he saw a news broadcast that showed the handwriting left on the wall of Carr’s bedroom and noted that it was similar to Irving’s.

“[That witness] described the accused as a ‘strongly built and violent young man who bragged’ about engaging in ‘gay bashing’ by picking up gay men and beating them up,” reads the Crown’s theory.

“Todd Gallant told [the witness] that he would meet gay men at night, go with them to a secluded area and then beat them up,” reads a separate agreed statement of facts submitted as part of a 2025 court hearing.

The words ‘I will kill again’ were written on the wall of Byron Carr’s bedroom. (Charlottetown Police Services)

According to the Crown’s theory, that interview led police to obtain documents they say contained Irving’s handwriting, and investigators concluded there were “striking similarities” between that document and the message left on the wall at the crime scene, “including the circle over the letter ‘i,’ and the letters ‘a’ and ‘g.'” 

Police learned that Irving had left P.E.I. in the years after Carr was killed, living in Texas and Arkansas before returning to the Island in 2022, according to the 2025 agreed statement of facts.

Weeks after comparing the handwriting samples, the document goes on to say, investigators seized two bags of trash from the black bin placed at the end of Irving’s driveway and sent several items — four cigarette butts and two coffee cups — for DNA analysis. 

In October of 2023, according to the agreed statement of facts and DNA analysis documents reviewed by CBC News, those samples came back as a likely match for the DNA found on Carr’s body, as well as the cigarette butt and underwear left at the scene. 

“Through further investigation, police determined the accused’s DNA had a high probability of being a match to the Male 1 profile,” reads the Crown’s theory. “In particular, the chances of an unrelated member of the Caucasian population sharing the same profile was determined to be 1 in 45 trillion.” 

According to several documents filed in 2026 as part of Irving’s bail application, the man identified as Male 2 denied any involvement in Carr’s death but when interviewed by police said he knew Irving and described him as “a strong ‘goofy’ kid at the time of the murder.” According to a transcript of a police interview filed as part of the bail application, Irving’s sister described the two men as friends. 

Police have long said they believed Carr was killed in his Lapthorne Avenue home during what began as a consensual sexual encounter and that the killer initially fled but returned hours later with an accomplice to stage the scene. (CBC)

According to the Crown’s theory, it’s believed Male 2’s socks were taken and used to avoid leaving fingerprints when the scene was staged, after Carr was already dead.

“It is anticipated that [Male 2] will testify that he took the Applicant [Irving] under his wing around the time of the victim’s death,” reads a submission from the Crown filed during the bail hearings. “The Applicant was, at that time, a man of very limited means who would borrow clothes and would regularly visit [Male 2]’s home.”

According to an affidavit filed in May of 2026 as part of his bail application, Irving’s defense argues the case against him was based on circumstantial evidence and no direct witnesses connected him with Carr’s death.

The affidavit goes on to say that Irving’s defence didn’t dispute the DNA evidence in the case. 

“I have been informed by my legal counsel and believe it to be true that DNA matching my genetic profile is located on the victim’s body,” the affidavit reads. “That does not mean I killed Mr. Carr or that I interfered with his body.”

The man police accused of murdering Byron Carr in 1988 is now free. Here’s what happened

The affidavit goes on to question the Crown’s theory that Carr was killed during a consensual sexual encounter.

“My understanding is that the Crown’s theory in relation is that Mr. Carr was killed during the sexual encounter. I do not believe this can necessarily be established,” the affidavit reads.

“I would point out issues with the Crown’s theory to show that my involvement in this matter is not certain or predetermined,” the affidavit goes on to say.

The affidavit goes on to argue that over the years, four separate tips to police identified the handwriting as belonging to four other suspects.

“It is a triable issue as to who is the author of the handwriting on the wall as clearly members of the public view the handwriting as [possibly] written by other people.”

Independent review ordered into Byron Carr murder investigation after charges dropped

How did a P.E.I. cold case fall apart just before it was set to go to trial?

Ultimately, none of the evidence will be tested at trial. Weeks before the case was set to go to trial, the Crown announced that all charges against Irving had been dropped because Charlottetown police lost substantial physical evidence connected to the case. 

At a bail hearing in July, it was revealed that both the knife found at the scene and the towel used to strangle Carr were missing.

Police have said they knew as far back as 2007 that physical evidence was missing, but believed the DNA evidence would be enough.

The Crown said it didn’t know about any missing evidence until that July bail hearing, and was no longer confident it could secure a conviction.