'HORRIFIC MURDER': $20Gs reward offered to solve beating of mom of three

Article content

Windsor police have announced a $20,000 reward in the hunt for a barbaric killer who escaped justice for 30 years after beating a woman to death and dumping her body in a secluded ditch.

Diane Dobson, 36, a mother of three, vanished on Valentine’s Day 1995. Her battered body was found the following day.

“There are people out there who know who is responsible for this horrific murder or who have information that can help us solve this crime,” said Insp. Scott Jeffery. “We hope this reward money will encourage these people to come forward and tell us what they know.”

The large cash reward offer for information leading to an arrest and conviction comes just a month after Windsor police renewed their plea for tips from the public to help solve the long unsolved murder.

Dobson was last seen walking down Prince Road around 5:45 p.m. on Feb. 14, 1995.

The next day, an instrument technician working on an air monitoring station at Brighton Beach found Dobson’s body in a ditch.

“A preliminary investigation revealed that she was violently murdered, with a blow to the head as the official cause of death,” police said Wednesday.

Investigators had previously told the Star that Dobson died from a ferocious attack that included multiple blows to the face, possibly from a steel pipe.

Police also previously said there was no evidence Dobson had been restrained, and she had no defensive wounds — signs she might not have seen the attack coming.

Investigators marked the grim 30th anniversary of the slaying in February with a renewed plea for tips.

Windsor police also said in February that their major crimes unit would resubmit evidence to Ontario’s Centre of Forensic Sciences in the hope that newer DNA technology could help zero-in on potential suspects.

“Investigators are hopeful that developments in DNA technology, as well as new information from the community, will help to solve this case,” police said.

Police have had success in recent years closing other unsolved cases following new developments with DNA technology. In December 2019, investigators announced they solved the 1971 murder and sexual assault of six-year-old Ljubica Topic. DNA helped confirm the killer was Frank Arthur Hall, according to police.

Investigators also used DNA to close a decade-old robbery and assault case in 2023 with the arrest of a 40-year-old man. He was the second of two suspects accused of forcing their way into a home in the 1000 block of California Avenue in August 2013.

Police said the men confined and assaulted the resident, threatened him with a gun, then stole cash, marijuana, and a cellphone.

Investigators urge anyone with information about the Dobson case, including those who have previously spoken to police, to call the new Cold Case Review Unit tip line at 519-255-6700 ext. 4305.

You can also provide anonymous tips to Windsor & Essex County Crime Stoppers by calling 519-258-8477 (TIPS) or going online to catchrooks.com.

twilhelm@postmedia.com