Robert MacQueen, who is charged with second-degree murder in the 1994 stabbing death of a young mother in her Dunlop Street apartment, arrived at the Barrie courthouse this morning aided by a walker.
MacQueen was at the Mulcaster Street courthouse as jury selection began.
Janeiro, 20, was found dead by friends on Oct. 10, 1994. At the time, police said she suffered multiple stab wounds. Her two-year-old daughter had been visiting her grandparents at the time of her death.
MacQueen, who was also known as "Bruce Ellis," was charged with first-degree murder in January 2021, more than 26 years after the young woman's body was discovered in her Dunlop Street West home, near Anne Street. He was 58 years old when he was arrested.
The charge was reduced to second-degree murder following a preliminary hearing in December 2022. MacQueen was granted bail in July 2023.
None of the allegations have been tested in court and MacQueen is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
MacQueen, with grey hair and slightly hunched over, arrived at the courthouse Tuesday morning with his lawyer, Mary Cremer. He offered a quick hello as he passed by members of the media standing outside the doors of the local courthouse.
MacQueen’s trial was one of two cases where jury selection was happening today. The process continues tomorrow at the Barrie courthouse.
Outside of the two courtrooms, approximately 50 prospective jurors waited in the hallway to be vetted.
In the Janeiro homicide case, the initial Barrie police investigation included help from the Ontario Provincial Police's forensic identification bureau. While the OPP took over the case in October 1999 to utilize an unspecified investigative technique, it was turned back to Barrie police in February 2012.
Police say investigators then utilized newer forensic tools through the Centre of Forensic Sciences to re-examine some of the existing evidence.
MacQueen was charged on Jan. 13, 2021. Police at the time said new information had come to light about a year earlier.
Police have said Janeiro and MacQueen knew each other.
According to news reports published by the former Barrie Examiner, Janeiro's body was found lying on the floor, covered in blood with scratches on her face.
She'd been at a pair of downtown bars most of Sunday night and early Monday morning prior to her body being discovered.
Her death may have been the result of a robbery, police said at the time.
Janeiro's telephone had also been stolen from the crime scene.
In March 1995, only a week after police announced they were looking for the phone, it was found in a creek not far from the murder scene. Its memory was intact, but police said it brought investigators no closer to finding her killer.
Janeiro left home at age 16 and moved to Barrie. A year later, she gave birth to a baby girl.
About 10 months prior to her death, Janeiro had moved into the Dunlop Street apartment with her toddler.
Janeiro's parents, Dinora and Fernando, who had spoken to Examiner reporters about their daughter's murder, have both since passed away. Dinora died May 18, 2012, in Toronto, followed by Fernando on Jan. 19, 2014, also in Toronto.
Katherine, who was the Janeiros' only child, grew up on a quiet street in a middle-class neighbourhood.
In a story published in the Examiner on Oct. 14, 1994, Dinora says: "She was so smart, happy and fun. A good heart and soul. All that for nothing."
