Discarded cigarette butt DNA tests solve a 52-year-old murder.
An unbelievable incident that could provide the perfect subject for a murder mystery movie has recently come to light in the United States. A 24-year-old Vermont school teacher's murder, which had been a 52-year-old cold case, was finally solved thanks to a DNA sample found on a used cigarette butt.
A discarded cigarette found near the body of Rita Curran nearly 52 years ago helped lead investigators to an upstairs neighbour who they say strangled her in her apartment.
According to a report by NBC News, Curran's roommates found her dead in their apartment on July 19, 1971, and the suspect, identified as William DeRoos, lived with his wife two floors above Curran, but he was never considered a suspect at the time.
Jim Trieb, the commander of the police department's detective services bureau, has stated that "DeRoos and his wife, Michelle, provided an alibi, saying they'd been home the night of the killing and didn't hear or see anything." The case went cold, but authorities who investigated the case in 1971 collected a piece of evidence-a cigarette butt - that became key to the resolution.
According to the news report, DeRoos fled to Thailand to become a Buddhist monk after killing Ms. Rita and leaving his wife behind. He had returned to the United States by 1974 and was residing in San Francisco. Later, in 1989, he overdosed on drugs and passed away in a hotel in San Francisco.
However, in 2014, the cigarette was submitted for DNA processing. The DNA testing found a sample strongly associated with DeRoos' DNA on a jacket Curran had been wearing the day of the killing.
According to Metro News, fifty years after the murder, investigators tracked William DeRoos' wife Michelle down to ask her some more questions about the case.
"She gave us an interesting statement that filled in a lot of gaps that we didn't have," Detective-Lieutenant James Trieb said.
Michelle said her husband did leave the apartment on the night of the murder to take a "cool down walk" after their fight.
He also instructed her to lie to the police if they ever asked her about that night again.
"She was to tell him he was home all night, and if they knew he was out, they would come after him for this," Trieb said.
With this testimony, combined with the DNA evidence, Trieb said he was 'confident' that DeRoos was the person responsible for Curran's death.