BARRIE, ONT. -- Barrie police have a man in custody more than 26 years after Katherine Janeiro was found dead in her basement apartment.

Detectives said new information from the Homicide Unit one year ago led them to charge 58-year-old Robert Bruce MacQueen on Wednesday with Janeiro's murder.

"He was arrested yesterday morning without incident operating a motor vehicle in the south end of the City of Barrie," Peter Leon, Barrie Police Services spokesperson, told CTV News.

"I think he was surprised. As you can appreciate, 26 years had passed. That's a lot of looking over your shoulder, wondering if today is the day. Well, yesterday was the day," Leon said of the arrest.

On Oct. 10, 1994, friends found Janeiro's body in her Dunlop Street West basement apartment. She had multiple stab wounds.

Barrie police began the investigation into the homicide but turned the case over to the OPP in 1999.

After an extensive investigation that didn't lead to any arrests, the OPP then turned the case back over to Barrie police in 2012.

Police said they collected hundreds of pieces of evidence and took hundreds of witness statements as part of the investigation over the years.

"It's important that every piece of information received is always closely examined," said case manager Det. Kevin Scales. "You just never know which one holds the key detail you are searching for and will lead your team ultimately to arrest the person responsible."

Leon said MacQueen and Janeiro knew each other, but police didn't elaborate further.

Janeiro's daughter, Dawn, who was two at the time of her mother's murder, said the arrest would bring her closure. "I wish my grandparents, Dinora and Fernando Janeiro, were alive to see this day."

The allegations against McQueen have yet to be proven in court.

Barrie Police Chief Kimberley Greenwood commended detectives for their work on the investigation.

"The fact that today we can hold someone accountable for the violent death of Katherine Janeiro should serve as proof that no homicide case is ever closed until an arrest is made."

MacQueen has been remanded into police custody with a court appearance scheduled for Jan. 18.