Police collected hundreds of DNA samples, some without consent, in search for Byron Carr’s killer
Collecting items abandoned in trash for comparative DNA is constitutionally sound, court rules
asserted
court → collect → DNA
A year before the charges against Todd Joseph Irving in connection with the 1988 death of Byron Carr were withdrawn, details of the police investigation — including how hundreds of DNA samples were obtained, some without consent — were heard in a Charlottetown courtroom.
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hundreds → withdraw → courtroom
Carr, a 36-year-old high school teacher, was found dead in his home in 1988.
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Carr → find → 1988
He’d been strangled with a towel, then stabbed with a knife after his death.
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He → strangle → death
The words “I will kill again” were scrawled on the wall.
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I → kill → wall
The case went cold until 2024 when police announced that Irving had been arrested and charged with first-degree murder and interfering with human remains.
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Irving → go → remains
Those charges were withdrawn after it was revealed that Charlottetown police lost substantial key evidence in the case, including the towel and knife and — according to court documents — the drywall taken from Carr's bedroom where the words "I will kill again" were written.
uncertain
I → withdraw → bedroom
- IN DEPTH
How genetic genealogy helped police find witnesses — but not the suspect — in the Byron Carr murder case
CBC P.E.I.'s full coverage of the Byron Carr cold case
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police → help → case
Until now, CBC News hasn’t been able to report details about the lengths to which police went in an effort to solve the case, which came out in an October 2025 P.E.I. Supreme Court hearing to determine whether DNA collected from Irving’s trash could be used at trial.
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DNA → report → trial
Defence lawyer Chris Montigny painted a picture of investigators who were so intent on solving the cold case that they obtained DNA samples from at least 279 people, not including Irving, 13 of which were taken without the person’s knowledge or consent.
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13 → paint → knowledge
Some of those, the court heard, were taken after the person had refused to submit a sample when asked.
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person → hear → sample
Only three samples were obtained with a search warrant.
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samples → obtain → warrant
'That’s acting on hunches,' says defence
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defence → act → hunches
CBC News reached out to a number of people named in court whose DNA was taken without their consent.
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DNA → reach → consent
None wanted to do an interview, but many were shocked to learn their DNA had been taken.
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DNA → want → interview
Some were angry, calling it an invasion of privacy.
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Some → call → privacy
The words 'I will kill again' were written on the wall of Byron Carr's bedroom.
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I → kill → bedroom
According to court documents, Charlottetown police lost the piece of drywall they had removed from the crime scene.
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they → accord → scene
Montigny argued police knew they didn’t have grounds to get a warrant for Irving’s DNA — or for most of the other samples collected over the course of the investigation.
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they → argue → investigation
He detailed case after case in which people refused to give their DNA when asked but police took it anyway, from discarded pizza boxes, napkins, pop cans and cigarette butts.
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police → detail → boxes
Montigny said the investigation’s net grew wider, from young men to women who may have been operating escort services to mothers of potential people of interest — people police admitted when questioned by the defence were not suspects but who may have had connections to a possible suspect.
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who → say → suspect
In one case, police asked a woman for her DNA because they thought she may have been the contributor of female DNA found at the crime scene.
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she → ask → scene
She refused.
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She → refuse → ?
A month later, police picked up a cigarette butt off the ground and used that to get her DNA.
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police → pick → DNA
“Choice is illusionary," Montigny told the court, calling it a “no-win situation.”
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Montigny → tell → it
After 35 years, DNA evidence leads to 1st-degree murder charge in P.E.I. cold case
How did a P.E.I. cold case fall apart just before it was set to go to trial?
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it → lead → trial
In another case, police picked up various items to obtain DNA from a man after his ex-girlfriend told police the underwear found at the crime scene, photos of which were shown in local media reports, was similar to underwear her ex wore.
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ex → pick → underwear
Police followed another person who refused to give a sample into a store and obtained their DNA from the shopping basket they’d used.
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they → follow → basket
“This can’t be enough,” Montigny said.
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Montigny → say → ?
“That’s acting on hunches.”
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That → act → hunches
Montigny detailed the samples taken from discarded objects, none of which were obtained with a warrant, telling the court “the ends doesn’t justify the means.”
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ends → detail → means
He argued the investigation was nothing more than a fishing expedition, and “individual rights were just an impediment.”
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rights → argue → expedition
Carr, a teacher, had been strangled with a towel and stabbed with a kitchen knife.
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Carr → strangle → knife
Montigny called these “serious abuses” by police and urged the court not to condone them.
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Montigny → call → them
“Allowing the evidence in is condoning it,” he said.
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he → allow → it
“The only way you can send a message that their rights mean something, is to exclude the evidence.”
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rights → send → evidence
“To protect your DNA, the only way to do that is to not leave your house,” he told the court.
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he → protect → court
“It’s not reasonable to expect in a free, democratic, open society to become reclusive to protect our DNA.”
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It → ’ → DNA
'Perfectly lawful' investigative tool, says Crown
In its written response to Irving’s Charter application, the Crown argued collecting garbage is “a perfectly lawful” investigative tool.
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collecting → say → garbage
“This technique cannot be considered ‘objectively unreasonable’ in that it is an accepted police practice in use for over 30 years which has been endorsed by the Supreme Court of Canada,” the response reads.
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response → consider → Canada
…and 22 more, not listed.
The Aporia
