Charles Mustard was found guilty of the second-degree murder of a Toronto woman nearly 30 years later
Charles Mustard has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Toronto native Barbara Brodkin – a case once considered cold for 25 years.
Mustard was arrested in 2018 and charged in connection with Brodkin’s 1993 stabbing. Judge Brian O’Marra delivered his decision in the Ontario Superior Court on Friday.
Mustard, 69, appeared shocked to hear the verdict and kept repeating “I didn’t kill Barbara” as he was taken away in handcuffs.
Brodkin, who was 41 at the time of her murder, was found dead at her home just before 8 a.m. on March 19 this year. Police had received an emergency call from her six-year-old son, who had discovered her body.
Police at the time said a lot of cash and marijuana were missing from the home, and they believed Brodkin may have been the victim of a robbery.
During a 2018 news conference, police said investigators reviewed evidence, called for witnesses and interviewed over 100 people in the months following the murder.
But the killer was never identified and the case went cold – until 24 years after her death, additional forensic tests were carried out on some of the evidence gathered at the crime scene.
Mustard, who was 37 at the time of the murder and a family acquaintance, was previously known to police. He testified in court that his DNA was transferred to Brodkin through saliva from a joint they smoked.
But O’Marra dismissed that evidence, noting that Mustard’s DNA was left under Brodkin’s fingernails as she fought for her life while being beaten, strangled and stabbed in the heart.
Hours before police arrested Mustard in 2018, they had asked him to come to headquarters to sign papers on a matter unrelated to him. Investigators had posted large posters of Brodkin in the lobby and videotaped Mustard’s reaction.
He testified that he didn’t know who she was at the time.
O’Marra said Mustard recognized Brodkin, whom he often visited to buy marijuana, and described his statement as a “blatant lie.”
Mustard’s attorney said his client is considering an appeal. A hearing on the verdict is scheduled for March 13.
