Posted on 01/29/2017 8:43:38 PM PST by nickcarraway
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigators on Monday will announce that they have solved the 1976 slaying of Karen Klaas, a Hermosa Beach mother of two and the ex-wife of singer Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers.
The case was solved through the use of “familial DNA,” which identified the killer, the department said in a statement Friday.
Detectives, forensic and law enforcement officers will hold a news conference on Monday, the 41st anniversary of the crime.
Klaas, 32, was found in her Hermosa Beach home on Jan. 30, 1976. She had been sexually assaulted, choked and left unconscious. In a coma, she died Feb. 4, 1976.
For years, detectives tried to identify a thick-haired, bearded man who was seen exiting Klaas’ front door when neighbors went to check on her. In 1976, detectives created a plaster model of the head and published it on a “Wanted for murder” flier.
The man was white, about 28 years old, 5 feet 7 to 5 feet 9 inches tall, with a medium build, brown hair and beard. His hair and beard were “well-cared for,” and his complexion was pale.
Klaas, who had two children, was attacked shortly after returning home from taking her youngest child to the McMartin Pre-School in Manhattan Beach.
Klaas’ assailant ransacked the house, which showed signs of a struggle. Crutches that Klaas had used after breaking her leg were on the floor.
Medley stayed at her side in the hospital until she died.
“Karen was very loved and respected, and it was a horror what happened to her,” Medley told the Orange County Register in 2000. “She has a lot of friends who would like to see this resolved.”
Use of familial DNA is a controversial technique that searches databases for a partial match when a regular DNA search fails to find a match. A familial DNA search turns up a partial match, finding a relative of a suspect.
There’s a lot of righteous anger in this case.
Aaaaand there it is....LOL
You made me do it.
Thanks.
“...a sample of his DNA that was held in the Orange County coroner’s office...”
I’m curious why this DNA wasn’t in a database where it could be accessed by law enforcement more easily.
Good.
DNA testing didn’t arrive until 1985. The bad guy was dead in 1982. It’s a miracle they still had a sample of something with his DNA to check today.
True, but knowing they had it, they should have some kind of policy that it should be checked. It’s bad enough that many jurisdictions have a backlog of unprocessed rape kits.
Beatnik?
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