Lynn Gilbank

Lynn Gilbank was a woman who dedicated her life to helping others, first as a teacher and crisis counsellor, and later as a respected criminal defence lawyer in Hamilton, Ontario. Friends and colleagues remembered the 52-year-old as a nurturing person, someone who saw her clients not as criminals, but as lost souls in need of guidance. She and her husband, Fred Gilbank, also 52, a computer specialist, lived a quiet life in their home in the upscale community of Ancaster. Lynn was known for her work as a fundraiser for the cancer society and for an open-door policy at her law office, where she offered help to anyone who walked in.

The couple's life came to a brutal and sudden end in the early morning hours of November 16, 1998. A visitor to their home discovered a horrific scene. Fred Gilbank was found lying face down on the second-floor landing, having been shot twice. Lynn was in her bed, where she had been shot three times. Investigators with the Hamilton Police Service quickly determined it was a targeted, execution-style slaying. There were no signs of forced entry, and both robbery and sexual assault were ruled out as motives, leading police to believe that Lynn’s work as a lawyer was the reason for the attack.

The investigation, a massive undertaking that one police superintendent later compared to a "big puzzle," stretched on for years. Detectives focused on a prevailing theory: that Lynn Gilbank was the primary target. She had recently helped a client, a drug courier arrested with a shipment of hash oil, cooperate with police and enter a witness protection program. This cooperation was a significant blow to a local drug-smuggling operation, and investigators believed the murders were an act of retaliation for the financial loss and betrayal. On the property, police recovered five spent shells and two white gloves, key pieces of evidence in a case that would grow increasingly complex.

After years of painstaking work by a dedicated team of detectives, a major break appeared to come in 2005. Hamilton police arrested and charged Andre Joseph Gravelle and a former professional wrestler named Ion William Croitoru, also known as "Johnny K-9," with two counts of first-degree murder each. Police alleged that Gravelle had ordered the killings and that Croitoru, a former president of the Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club with a reputation as a violent enforcer, had carried them out. The arrests brought a surge of hope to a community horrified by the cold-blooded crime.

That hope, however, was short-lived. In 2006, the Crown Attorney's office stunned the community by withdrawing all charges against both Gravelle and Croitoru, citing that there was "no reasonable prospect of conviction" based on the evidence. Though the charges were dropped, police did not clear the men as suspects. The case went cold once more, leaving the family and community without answers. Ion Croitoru died in a Toronto halfway house in February 2017, taking any potential knowledge of the Gilbank murders to his grave.

The double homicide of Lynn and Fred Gilbank remains one of Hamilton's most high-profile and frustrating cold cases. The investigation has passed through the hands of numerous detectives over more than two decades, but justice has remained elusive. The case continues to be listed as an active unsolved homicide by the Hamilton Police Service. As of July 2026, no new charges have been laid, and the question of who entered the Gilbank home that November night and why remains unanswered.

The murders sent a chill through the legal community, a stark reminder of the potential dangers faced by those who work within the justice system. For the family of Lynn and Fred Gilbank, the pain of their loss is compounded by the absence of closure. The Hamilton Police Service continues to ask for the public's help and urges anyone with information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to come forward.