cold cases

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Neighbor Sentenced 44 Years After Nursing Student's Death

Judge departs from plea agreement in trial over Mary Robin Walter's slaying

(Newser) - More than 44 years after a nursing student was slain in her home in Kansas, her neighbor at the time has been sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison for killing her. After the investigation of the shooting death of Mary Robin Walter, 23, was reopened in 2022, new...

$100K Reward in Cold Case of Murdered Teens

Virginia State Police seek new leads in 2009 shooting deaths of Heidi Childs and David Metzler

(Newser) - Police are seeking new leads in a 15-year-old double murder in Virginia, with the promise of a $100,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest. The case is that of Heidi Childs and David Metzler , who were dating sophomores at Virginia Tech when they were shot to death...

On Death Row, Serial Killer Admits New Murder

William Suff confesses to 1986 murder of Cathy Small and 'other killings' in California

(Newser) - For nearly 40 years, the murder of 19-year-old Cathy Small, last seen leaving her California home in 1986, went unsolved. Only recently, family learned she was killed by a prolific serial killer. William "Bill" Suff, who's on death row in California for killing a dozen people in Riverside...

Nearly 50 Years Later, Man Charged in Deaths of 3 Women

Authorities say Mississippi's Warren Alexander strangled victims in 1977 in Southern California

(Newser) - A 73-year-old man has been charged in the strangulation deaths of three Southern California women in 1977 after cold case detectives obtained a DNA match, authorities said Thursday, adding they believe there could be more victims. Warren Luther Alexander of Diamondhead, Mississippi, made his first court appearance Thursday, but arraignment...

Suspect in 1996 Murder Kills Himself Hours After Interview

Montana man 'slumped in his chair' after investigators showed him photo of murdered girl

(Newser) - Paul Hutchinson, a 55-year-old Montana Fish Parks and Wildlife fisheries biologist who had lived a seemingly blameless life, killed himself last month hours after investigators showed him a photo of a 15-year-old girl who was raped and murdered 28 years ago. The Gatlin County Sheriff's Office said Thursday that...

Cold-Case Murder Suspect Kills Himself as Cops Close In

DNA evidence indicates Hawaii's Albert Lauro Jr. raped Dana Ireland in 1991

(Newser) - A man identified as a new possible suspect in the killing and sexual assault of a Virginia woman who was visiting Hawaii more than three decades ago killed himself recently after police took a DNA swab from him, officials said. The Hawaii Police Department on Monday said they matched DNA...

FBI Links Serial Rapist to Murders in National Park

2 women were found with their throats slashed in Shenandoah National Park in 1996

(Newser) - Nearly three decades after two young women were found with their throats slashed in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park, federal authorities announced Thursday that they have identified a now-deceased serial rapist from Ohio as the person they believe was responsible for the killings. The bodies of Julianne "Julie" Williams,...

In St. Louis, a Long Stretch of Unsolved Murders
In St. Louis, a Long Stretch
of Unsolved Murders
longform
Jun 16, 2024 1:15 PM CDT

In St. Louis, a Long Stretch of Unsolved Murders

Marshall Project examines the problem

(Newser) - St. Louis has long been known for having one of the highest murder rates in the nation. An investigation by the Marshall Project reveals a troubling tangent to that: A surprising number of the city's killings over the last decade remain unsolved. The city had approximately 1,900 homicides...

Woman Says She's Kid Who Vanished in 1985

Pennsylvania State Police investigating Facebook claim related to Cherrie Mahan, who was 8

(Newser) - Surely not every Facebook comment is to be believed. But police in Pennsylvania are eager to determine the truth of one particular comment in which a woman claims to be Cherrie Mahan, who vanished from Pennsylvania as an 8-year-old in 1985. The woman made the claim on the " Memories...

A Texas Dad Still Wants to Know: Who Killed His Boy?

Marshall Stewart has been searching for his son's killers since 1988

(Newser) - "For thirty-five f—ing years, my brain's been turning over all these questions," says Sean Stewart. Questions like why the bodies of his 16-year-old brother, Shane, and Sally McNelly, 18, were left in the brush along a rough dirt path leading to a reservoir outside San Angelo...

Vermont Police Solve Sad 42-Year-Old Mystery

They find parents of dead infant, but no charges will be filed

(Newser) - More than 40 years after some Vermont children waiting for a school bus discovered a dead baby off the side of the road, state police have announced that they found the infant's parents and that no charges will be filed. The deceased infant was found in Northfield on April...

Cops: After 16-Plus Years, We Nabbed the 'Bad Breath Rapist'

Tuen Kit Lee was arrested in San Francisco Bay area, long after 2005 crime in Massachusetts

(Newser) - Since 2007, authorities have sought a man dubbed the "Bad Breath Rapist," who escaped custody and went on the lam. Now, their suspect is in custody once again, on the opposite coast from where he carried out his crime. Per the AP , Tuen Kit Lee's story begins...

20 Years After Missed Court Date, His Skeleton Was Found

Police seek info on Ronnie Joe Kirk, whose remains turned up in Wisconsin store chimney

(Newser) - His name was Ronnie Joe Kirk. How he got to be in the chimney of the Good 'n Loud Music store in Madison, Wisconsin, is anyone's guess. The body of the 5'7" man was discovered at the base of the chimney on Sept. 3, 1989, during the...

Remains Found in Cold Case on Same Day Suspect Dies

Elderly suspect had been arrested in 2000 disappearance of mother, daughter

(Newser) - Remains believed to be that of a woman and her daughter who have not been seen in nearly 24 years were found at a southern West Virginia home—on the same day that the girl's alleged killer died while imprisoned, per the AP . Susan Carter and her daughter, Natasha...

Florida Milkman Murder Solved After 56 Years
Florida Milkman Murder
Solved After 56 Years
in case you missed it
Apr 14, 2024 3:35 PM CDT

Florida Milkman Murder Solved After 56 Years

Killing of WWII veteran Hiram 'Ross' Grayam was county's oldest cold case

(Newser) - The Indian River County Sheriff's Office in southeast Florida says it has solved the oldest cold case in its history—the 1968 murder of WWII veteran Hiram "Ross" Grayam. The Purple Heart recipient "had faced the horrors of the Battle of the Bulge and the liberation of...

He Spit Out His Gum and Was Found Guilty of Murder

Robert Plympton convicted in 1980 killing of Barbara Mae Tucker in Oregon

(Newser) - Barbara Mae Tucker was a 19-year-old student at Oregon's Mt. Hood Community College when she was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and beaten to death a stone's throw from campus, just beyond a school parking lot. It was the evening of Jan. 15, 1980. As it turns out, her killer...

Infamous Lindbergh Baby Case Takes a Dark Turn

Skeptics doubt guilt of the man convicted, while an author suggests Lindbergh himself is a suspect

(Newser) - It was, at the time, the "crime of the century"—the 1932 kidnapping and murder of 20-month-old Charles Lindbergh Jr., son of the famed pilot. Bruno Richard Hauptmann was eventually executed for the 1932 crime, but as the New York Times reports, many continue to believe he was...

A Newborn Was Found Dead at Airport in 2005. Now, an Arrest

Police say the mother of the infant has been identified

(Newser) - On October 10, 2005, a baby girl with her umbilical cord still attached was found dead, wrapped in hotel towels and newspapers and stuffed inside a plastic Marriott bag, in the trash bin of a women's bathroom at Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport. On Tuesday, authorities said they'...

New Wrinkles Emerge in Case of Teen Missing Since 1980

Officer may be reinterviewed in the case of decades-old disappearance of Randy Sellers

(Newser) - It's been an unanswered question since 1980, writes Shaila Dewan in the New York Times : "What happened to Randy?" The reference is to Randy Sellers, a 17-year-old who attended the Kenton County Fair in Kentucky and hasn't been seen since, per the Cincinnati Enquirer . Police were summoned...

Man Who Blamed Identical Twin for Rapes Gets 140 Years

California's Kevin Konther ultimately didn't get away with attacks that happened more than 25 years ago

(Newser) - In 2019, DNA testing led investigators with the Orange County Sheriff's Department to haul in two suspects for a set of cold-case rapes in California—identical twins, each insisting they were innocent. In fact, Kevin Konther blamed his brother for the crimes, which included the rape of a 9-year-old...

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