The woman accused of being a serial killer by authorities following three recent deaths in three consecutive days in Toronto, Hamilton and Niagara Falls appears to have had a normal upbringing.
However, a former high school friend said the woman went down a “bad path.”
On Friday afternoon, police in Niagara and Hamilton jointly announced the arrest of Sabrina Kauldhar, 30, of Toronto. She was taken into custody at a Burlington hotel the day before.
She has been charged with first-degree murder in the Hamilton slaying and second-degree murder in the Toronto and Niagara cases.
The high school friend said he hasn’t spoken with Kauldhar in recent years.
“I haven’t been in contact with her really at all since about 2015 and even then it was her trying to ask for money … and I just said no and hadn’t heard anything since,” said the man, who asked not to be named.
“Other than that little interaction, I knew her in high school well, parents were both dentists. She was a straight A student and very active in sports. Played high level hockey and did figure skating when she was young.”
He said both of her parents were great people, but tragedy struck four years ago when her mother died of an illness, according to an online obituary.
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The friend believes the accused got mixed up with the wrong crowd while attending college and also developed some mental health issues which “unfortunately lead to this situation.”
“About all I can really say since it’s been forever but [she] was only ever a happy, fun person with a good head on her shoulders and all the resources she could ask for to have been crazy successful, but clearly went down a bad path.”
Toronto Police said on Tuesday shortly after 2 p.m., officers responded to a call in the Keele St. and Dundas St. W. area. A woman in her 60s was found dead in a home with wounds to her body. Investigators say the accused knew the victim, whose name has not been released.
On Wednesday just before 3 p.m., police officers in Niagara Falls were called to a disturbance report in John Allan Park and located a man suffering from critical injuries. Police said Lance Cunningham, 47, was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Thursday shortly after the noon hour, police officers in Hamilton were called to a MacNab St. N. parking lot and found a unresponsive man. Cops say former high school teacher Mario Bilich,, 77, had been stabbed and later died in hospital.
Police believe the two men stabbed to death were random acts.
Investigators are also looking to identify a woman who was observed Tuesday on security footage at the Giant Tiger located at 2025 Guelph Line in Burlington. Police said the unidentified woman bought clothing that Kauldhar had in her possession at the time of her arrest.
On Friday, Niagara police chief Bill Fordy said the accused definitely fits the definition of serial killer and added detectives are conferring with colleagues across the province to determine if there may be other victims.
Police also said they are continuing the investigation to determine her activities and movement earlier this month.
Anyone with information is asked to contact detectives via the dedicated hotline at 289-248-1058.
To provide information anonymously, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or submit anonymous tips online at crimestoppershamilton.com.
— with files from Brad Hunter.