Steve Hrab – Hamilton Police Museum

Steve Hrab

Served 1975-2017

Steve Hrab joined the Hamilton Police Service in 1975 and went through all the usual training and difficult tasks that are required, when learning a new profession.

In 1985 Steve was assigned to the Drug Squad as a Detective Constable. He was then promoted to the rank of Sergeant and began working in the Criminal Investigation Division.

Then 1992 he was promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant and assigned to the Homicide Unit, later called Major Crimes. It was in this role that he began to excel.
He and his unit comprised of 12 ever-changing people or detectives, investigated hundreds sudden deaths, homicides and “cold cases”.

Steve trained as a Negotiator for Hostage/Barricaded persons and in 1991 he was able to successfully convince a man to surrender as shown in these pictures, without anyone being injured.

Steve stayed in Major Crimes for 23 years. He tells me that he was the longest serving Homicide Investigator in Ontario. When considering the high-intensity nature of these investigations and their subsequent trials, his length of service there is astonishing.

Steve and various members of his team were awarded the Leonard G Lawrence Award on four separate occasions for their work on three especially difficult and sensational cases. This award is given to recognize outstanding police work to the community by a Hamilton police officer, group of officers or a section of the Service in the previous year.

Here are just a few of the many and varied investigations

Steve has managed during his career.

Diane Werendowicz was raped and murdered in 1981. In the late 1990’s a Ravine Task Force was formed with Steve as the leader. Their sole focus was a series of unsolved sexual assaults and homicides in the Lake Avenue area of Stoney Creek. Steve and a team primarily composed of Wayne Bennett and Tom McKitttrick finally arrested Robert Badgerow for that murder in 1998, 17 years after the crime. There were four different jury trials before he finally judged to be convicted in 2019, 21 years after his arrest and 38 years after the crime. This was indeed a Canadian record for one case to require four jury trials. The Leonard G Lawrence Award was given to Steve and all his Detectives as a result of this case.

In 1994 Joan Heimbecker was shot four times in her student residence at McMaster University. Her ex-boyfriend Rory Foreman was identified as the culprit by Steve and his team. A warrant was issued for his arrest and there was a great deal of media attention of course. Foreman turned himself in to police two weeks later in Colorado. Steve and Detective Chris Abbott were able to return him to Canada to face the charges.

The murders of William Staples and Rhonda Borelli occurred in 1998 in Binbrook. Over the years many different investigators worked on the case. In 2012, 14 years later, Steve led a team of detectives that arrested Mark Staples, the victim’s son, for the crime. Steve tells me that Detective Rick Arnold was the primary investigator who brought this case to a successful conclusion. Steve was one of several officers again awarded the Leonard G. Lawrence Award regarding this investigation.

Morris Lax was murdered at his Scrap Metal Recovery business on Burlington Street in Hamilton in 1992. Steve and a team consisting primarily of Frank Harild and Matt Kavanagh were finally able to arrest two men for that crime in 1997.

In 1995 Parvesh Dhillon died in strange circumstances and then Ranjit Khela died the following year. Police did not begin a criminal investigation until an insurance claims adjuster became suspicious because they both had an insurance policy that made Sukvinder Dhillon the beneficiary. Parvesh was his wife and Ranjit was his business partner.

This was a very complex investigation that eventually required Steve to send Detectives Warren Korol and Kevin Dhinsa to India to gather evidence. They were able to prove that the killer murdered these two people with strychnine. The culprit was convicted of two counts of Murder. Steve, Warren and Kevin were all awarded the Leonard G. Lawrence Award.

In 2003 Steve led a task force, Project Advocate, designed to combat crimes against prostitutes and vulnerable women in the community. There had been a murder and some women who disappeared and others who were assaulted.

He was also a member of the Provincial “Campbell Committee” that developed the Major Case Management manual for investigating Major Cases in Ontario, as well as a member of the Provincial Sexual Assault Committee, developing standards for those investigations.

During the 23 years he spent in Major Crimes, he became designated as a Criminal Profiling Coordinator for Southern Ontario, taking courses in Ottawa and Quantico Virginia with the F.B.I.

In 1998 Fred and Lynn Gilbank was shot and killed in their own bedroom. Detectives Barry Millar, Mary Sullivan and Ed Hall worked on this case for eight long years, under the leadership of Steve Hrab. In the end, they were able to arrest three people for the crime.

He was one of 24 officers in the Province designated as Multi-Jurisdictional Major Case Managers. He also received the Linda Shaw plaque and the Ontario Homicide Award twice, once for the Ravine Task Force success and once for the Staples/Borelli homicide.

While managing the Division One Detective Squad, it was realized that a serial killer was active in their Division. Loujack Café was arrested and charged with two homicides and convicted of only one. He was also charged with 5 attempted homicides but only convicted of 4 of them. Steve was one of several officers again awarded the Leonard G. Lawrence Award regarding this investigation.

After 23 years he was transferred to manage Detectives in Division One for two years. Then he was placed in charge of a difficult Internal Investigation. Then he managed the Child Abuse Unit for another three years before retiring in 2017 after 43 years of service.

By Dave Bowen, Retired Inspector, Hamilton Police Service