Police in a small Ontario town have charged a 70-year-old convicted murderer, dubbed the ‘Cottage Killer,’ with first-degree murder in the death of a woman in the early 1990s.
Ontario Provincial Police said that on Oct. 9, 1991, 40-year-old Angelien Josephine Quesnelle was reported missing in Apsley, near Peterborough.
Officers stationed in Belleville were called to investigate the disappearance. Quesnelle had last been seen two days earlier, around noon. An “exhaustive” search took place, but the woman was nowhere to be found.
A month later, Quesnelle’s vehicle was found abandoned in a quarry. Another search was instigated, and some of her possessions were found nearby.
The next week, police said a hunter discovered her body. A post-mortem took place in Toronto and the woman’s death was deemed a homicide.
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OPP said officers “continued to investigate” for the next 34 years.
“Angelien Quesnelle was murdered in 1991 and, for 34 years, her family has lived without answers,” Det. Insp. Shawn Glassford said in a statement.
“This arrest represents an important step toward providing Angelien’s family and the community of Apsley with the long-awaited answers they deserve.”
On June 19, 2025, OPP arrested and charged 70-year-old David Alexander Snow with first-degree murder.
An OPP spokesperson told Global News Snow is currently convicted of more than 20 charges, including the 1992 murders of Ian and Nancy Blackburn, as well as multiple counts of kidnapping and sexual assault.
In 1992, the Blackburns were found murdered and stuffed into the trunk of Nancy’s car outside their Toronto home. In April that year, the couple did not show up for a family get-together near their recreational property in Caledon, Ont.
Police’s No. 1 suspect had allegedly been breaking into properties in the Caledon area throughout the winter. Snow, who was an antiques dealer in nearby Orangeville at the time, was identified as the suspect but eluded police.
He fled to Vancouver where he went on a two-week crime spree of kidnapping, rape, robbery and violence, before being apprehended by North Vancouver RCMP on July 12, 1992.
The OPP spokesperson did not share how they came about identifying Snow, who became known as the “Cottage Killer” after the the Blackburns’ deaths, in Quesnelle’s case.
“To protect the integrity of the investigation and any ensuring court processes, the OPP is not avale to provide details on what investigative techniques were used,” they wrote.
— with files from Aaron D’Andrea
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