Twenty-two-year-old Beverly Lynn Smith was a free-spirited woman with a love for antiques, sewing, and playful pranks alongside her identical twin sister, Barbra. Beverly married Doug Smith in 1971 after meeting through mutual friends, and the couple eventually settled in a modest brick farmhouse on Simcoe Street in Raglan, Ontario, a small community north of Oshawa. Doug worked the night shift at the General Motors assembly plant in Oshawa, while Beverly was a homemaker, though she occasionally helped out with her husband’s small-scale marijuana dealings. By late 1974, they had welcomed their first child, ten-month-old daughter Rebecca, into the world.
The evening of December 9th, 1974 began ordinarily. Rebecca was reportedly at home writing Christmas cards while the baby slept in the other room. Doug, at work, called home around ten thirty p.m. to check on Beverly but received no answer. Growing concerned, he phoned his neighbors, Alan Dale Smith (no relation) and his wife Linda, who lived across the street. Linda and Alan, along with their young son, went to the house. Peering through a window (despite conflicting reports of closed curtains) they spotted Beverly’s body on the kitchen floor. Rebecca slept undisturbed in an adjacent room.
Emergency services arrived quickly, but Beverly was pronounced dead at the scene from a single gunshot wound to the back of the head from a .22-caliber rifle. The murder weapon was never recovered. This was the first homicide for the newly formed Durham Regional Police Service, established just months earlier in January 1974. Investigators canvassed the area, interviewed neighbors, and explored motives tied to Doug’s drug activities.
Suspects emerged early. First was a local drug dealer named Doug Daigle, who was eventually arrested for the crime much later in 1988, but was subsequently released without charge.
More promising were the Smith neighbors, Alan and Linda, who discovered Rebecca’s body and were found to have provided inconsistent statements to authorities. Polygraph tests were administered, with Alan and Linda failing twice, prompting reinterviews in 1975 and later in 1988. However, evidence was scant, with no fingerprints and no witnesses, and the case went cold by the late 1970s. Tips pointed to various leads, including Doug’s marijuana suppliers, but nothing stuck. The fact that there was marijuana missing from the home fueled theories of a drug-related hit, but without the gun or concrete proof, progress stalled.
Over the decades, the investigation saw fits and starts. In 2007, renewed efforts by Durham police, aided by the Ontario Provincial Police and York Regional Police, refocused on Alan Dale Smith. By then divorced from Linda, Alan was living in Cobourg. In March 2008, he was charged with first-degree murder based on circumstantial evidence and recanted alibis, but charges were dropped due to insufficient proof.
Undeterred, police launched a “Mr. Big” sting operation, a controversial undercover tactic where officers pose as a criminal syndicate to elicit confessions. From 2008 to 2009, Alan was befriended by fake mobsters who gradually drew him into their “organization,” promising protection and wealth while pressuring him to confess to the murder for “membership.” In November 2009, Alan gave a second confession, claiming he killed Beverly alone to silence her about an alleged affair. He was rearrested in December 2009 and spent over four years in jail awaiting trial.
Linda Smith faced scrutiny too. Her changing stories led to an obstruction of justice charge in July 2008, to which she pleaded guilty, citing trauma and mental health issues. Since her release, she has maintained a low profile in Oshawa.
Alan’s 2014 trial became a landmark case for the ethics of Mr. Big operations. Superior Court Justice Bruce Glass ruled the confessions inadmissible, describing them as coerced and riddled with inconsistencies. The Crown withdrew charges, acquitting Alan and freeing him after 1,600 days in custody.
Alan sued the involved police forces for wrongful arrest, arguing the sting caused irreparable harm. The acquittal, just before a 2014 Supreme Court ruling limiting such operations, highlighted systemic issues in cold case investigations. Despite the ruling, Beverly’s twin Barbra and daughter Rebecca remain convinced of Alan’s guilt, urging the public for tips.
Doug Smith, now in his seventies, has largely stayed out of the spotlight but expressed frustration over the lack of closure. Rebecca, raised by family after the tragedy, has publicly pleaded for information. The case inspired the 2022 Amazon Prime documentary The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith, directed by Nathalie Bibeau, which explores the investigation’s twists and interviews key figures, including Alan post-acquittal.
As of September 2025, Durham Regional Police classify it as their oldest cold case. Advances in DNA and forensics offer hope, but without new evidence, the killer of Beverly Smith remains at large.
Crime Immemorial 