The Windsor Slasher: 80 years since fear stalked the riverfront

Historians recount Riverside slashings from 80 years ago. CTV Windsor’s Travis Fortnum has more.

This month marks 80 years since a series of brutal attacks left Windsor gripped by fear — crimes that remain largely forgotten, even as their legacy lingers.

In the summer of 1945, Windsor was alive with post-war celebration.

Victory in Europe and the Pacific brought home soldiers and filled the downtown with energy.

“Mid-1940s Windsor was a pretty interesting town,” said Mary-Lou Gelissen, local historian with the Windsor Public Library. “It was a great place to be. But when the night came up, Windsor was a very different town.”

Soon, the city would find itself in the grip of a terrifying mystery.

“There occurred a series of attacks and then very brutal killings,” said Patrick Brode, author of The Slasher Killings. “Men were being attacked by night and very brutally killed.”

According to Brode’s research, the wave of violence unfolded in a city already marked by wartime anxieties and shifting social values.

The return of soldiers, rapid industrialization, and deeply ingrained social conservatism created a powder keg of tension.

These attacks lit the match.

Each new killing amplified the unease. Rumours spread faster than facts and speculation dominated the headlines.

Attack one: July 24, 1945

The first known attack came the night of July 24.

George Bruner was found near death in a riverfront park, stabbed seven times.

He lived, though the attack left him with severe injuries.

“They said it was an absolute miracle that he survived,” said Gelissen.

Bruner told police he had been napping in the park after drinks with friends.

While he avoided commenting on his sexuality, Gelissen notes the area he was attacked in was known as a meeting spot for gay men.

Homosexuality was a criminal offence in 1945 and revealing what really led him to the riverfront could have seen him arrested.

“George understood the consequences of indicating why he was down there,” Gelissen said.

Attack two: August 7, 1945

Just weeks later, 56-year-old mattress factory worker Frank Sciegliski was found dead in an overgrown lot near Windsor’s downtown.

He had been stabbed six times in the back.

“There were stab wounds in his buttocks, and they were so deep and so violent that he had actually had his pants shredded,” Gelissen said.

There were no signs of robbery. His glasses were still on and his straw hat was found beside his body.

The murder occurred not far from where Bruner was attacked.

Attack three: August 16, 1945

A week later, 67-year-old First World War veteran William Davies was found bludgeoned to death with a machinist’s hammer inside the G. Tate Easton Garage.

His skull was shattered and his face unrecognizable.

Though Windsor police initially dismissed it as a robbery gone wrong, the public quickly connected it to the earlier attacks.

While Davies had not been stabbed, the level of brutality and timing created widespread fear that this was the work of the same perpetrator.

“It was a very odd and dangerous time in the city,” said Brode.

Attack four: August 18, 1945

The most gruesome attack of the summer came just two days later.

Sgt. Hugh Blackwood Price, a 45-year-old soldier recently returned from Europe, was found stabbed more than a dozen times.

His body was discovered less than 150 yards from where Sciegliski had been killed.

Price’s throat had been slit, with many of his wounds inflicted after death.

“Society didn’t know who to trust anymore,” Brode said. “People became hysterical with fear. You couldn’t go out at night. Everybody was at risk.”

Gelissen said copies of newspapers from the time and surviving artifacts paint a picture of a city gripped by panic.

“There was a huge paranoia that happened and fear and what’s really sad is that it distracted from the actual crime,” said Gelissen.

The letter

In spring 1946, a chilling note arrived at Windsor Police headquarters:

“This is a challenge to you. ‘I’ will strike in the near future... I am not a returned soldier. This is no prank. THE SLASHER.”

Written in red and accompanied by a blood-red sketch of a knife, the message revived fears that had just begun to fade.

“It was really a very spooky letter,” Brode said. “The Windsor police still has about.”

As part of the research for his book, Brode was able to examine the letter himself — along with other preserved artifacts still held by police.

Summer 1946: The Slasher returns

That summer, two more men were attacked.

One, John Villeneuve, survived the brutal stabbing. Another, Howard Ainsworth, was not so lucky.

Ainsworth, a known gay man, was found dead near the riverfront.

“All of a sudden people realized that it was no mystery,” said Brode. “The serial killer was not targeting women or children or straight men. He was victimizing one particular group. He was after gay men only.”

A weapon, a tip, an arrest

One of those attacks led to a break; a butcher’s knife with a distinct missing rivet was found at the scene.

“It was a very unusual weapon,” Brode said. “It was a butcher’s knife, but one of the rivets in it was missing.”

A Windsor Star photo of the weapon led to a tip — and the arrest of 18-year-old Ronald Sears on Aug. 21, 1946.

He had been just 17 when the killings began.

“The final piece of information came from his sister-in-law,” said Gelissen. “She recognized the murder weapon.”

Who was Sears?

“Ronald Sears was an unusual young man,” said Brode. “He felt that he was justified in what he did. He was a Robin Hood. These people deserved what he was giving to them.”

Brode said police reports show Sears confessed to the attacks, but that confession was deemed inadmissible.

He was convicted only in the stabbing of Villeneuve, who had cooperated with police.

Villeneuve was charged with gross indecency under Canada’s anti-gay laws of the time.

Despite being the victim, he was sentenced to ten months in jail — longer than Sears, who was soon transferred to a psychiatric hospital and later a sanatorium for tuberculosis.

“He spent less time in prison than Villeneuve, and yet he killed people,” said Gelissen.

Sears died in 1956.

A policing legacy with controversial roots

The public panic triggered by the Slasher attacks led Windsor to implement nighttime park patrols. According to the Windsor Police Service, those patrols were the earliest form of its modern auxiliary force.

But Brode said its roots are troubling.

“They weren’t formed to catch the killer,” he said. “They were formed to catch the gay men he was targeting.”

Gelissen said those patrols were effectively a “morality squad” meant to disrupt meetups between gay men in Windsor’s parks by any means necessary.

“They took advantage of their position,” she said.

Windsor’s Auxiliary Unit still patrols the riverfront parks today, but has mostly evolved into a modern volunteer team that supports public safety through community events and outreach.

The Slasher case fades ... but its impact lingers

As quickly as the attacks began, they ended.

The case faded from headlines.

Brode said few in Windsor today know the story of the Slasher — but the legacy of moral panic and media sensationalism remains.

“It’s hard to see how society — then or anytime — can be led into this kind of moral panic by media saying things that are demonstrably untrue,” said Brode. “But it happened then. It could happen again tomorrow.”

The Windsor Public Library’s Local History Branch holds a wide collection of historical newspapers and materials on Windsor’s past — including more information on the Slasher case.

Brode’s book The Slasher Killings is available on library shelves, too, as well as at local bookstores.