Almost 36 years after he was shot in the head inside his Oakville apartment, a $100,000 reward is now being offered to help solve the cold case of undercover cop Cpl. William McIntyre.

The 33-year-old's body was found inside his Marlborough Court apartment on April 21, 1984. According to a news release issued by Halton police Tuesday, the Burlington, Ont. man's death was the result of a single gunshot wound to the head.

A Toronto Star report from 1987 outlines how a .22-calibre bullet hole was found in McIntyre's forehead, but the murder weapon — which police said at the time may have been his own unregistered gun — was never found. His service revolver was located, according to a Globe and Mail report, but tests showed it was not the gun that killed him.

At the time of his death, McIntyre had 11 years of "exemplary service" with the OPP, police say. News reports from the time say he worked in an undercover squad known as "the sultans," named after the Dire Straits hit, Sultans of Swing.

McIntyre was killed while he was off duty, and just before he was about to travel to Kingston, Ont. for an assignment.

"Despite an exhaustive investigation into the murder, his case remains unsolved," the news release issued Tuesday reads.

A supposed 'secret life' and something in the coffin

Decades-old newspaper reports outline the many twists and turns of the case.

McIntyre, who was heavyset and sported a thick beard, often posed as a biker while working undercover.

A 1996 story from the Oakville Beaver says investigators hypothesized McIntyre was killed by a fellow police officer or someone linked to organized crime. Investigators also suspected a burglar from Orangeville named Rex Yates — who McIntyre once testified against — was responsible, but Yates was never charged. He later drowned in a boating accident near Kingston.

A 1994 Toronto Star story also points to yet another lead: a man who stood alone by the coffin at McIntyre's funeral, and slipped something shiny — possibly a key — into the slain officer's coffin, before vanishing.

According to the Star, McIntyre had told a friend he had given out six keys to his apartment, but police could only find five people who had them.

One of McIntyre's relatives saw the incident but thought nothing of it during the funeral, the Star reported.

Detectives learned about what happened months after the fact and wanted to exhume the coffin to see what had been put inside, but McIntyre's family objected, the story reads.

Several past news stories also state that investigators speculated McIntyre was gay, and may have been killed by a former lover.

The same Toronto Star story from 1994 outlined that one theory detectives held at the time was McIntyre led a "secret life" as a member of a group of gay men within the OPP, which was "angrily denied" by his family and close friends.

Reward expires in a year

A 1997 report from the Milton Canadian Champion also explains how in 1994, a former RCMP constable named Arturo Nuosci pleaded guilty to "fabricating evidence implicating a former male lover and another man in the homicide."

A CBC Calgary report from 2015 showed Nuosci later changed his name to Emmerson Brando, and was working there as a paralegal.

Calgary paralegal Emmerson Brando was linked to McIntyre's case decades ago. (emmersonbrando.com)

Several news reports from around the time McIntyre died also say police were searching for a man who a neighbour spotted speaking with McIntyre about five hours before his body was found. A composite drawing of the man was released, but he has never come forward.

The reward for information in the case was listed at $50,000 in 1997, according to The Canadian Champion.

Investigators said Tuesday that a joint force homicide team involving members of the Halton Regional Police Service and the OPP was formed in early 2020 to continue the investigation.

Investigators say they are hopeful the $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction will "encourage witnesses to come forward with information that will generate new leads."

But there's a time limit — the reward expires in one year, police say.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 905-825-4776. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Stoppers.

adam.carter@cbc.ca