Police in North Aurora have solved a cold case from 1979, linking the murder of a 19-year-old woman to a serial killer who died in 1981. NBC Chicago’s Charlie Wojciechowski reports.
Through dogged investigative work and the application of new technology, North Aurora Police announced they have solved a cold case that's more than 45 years old.
Kathy Halle was only 19 years old when she disappeared from a North Aurora apartment complex in 1979. Her body was found three weeks later when a 12-year-old boy spotted it while fishing along the Fox River just south of the I-88 bridge.
Now police said DNA samples recovered from her body have led them to accused serial killer Bruce Lindahl, who fatally stabbed himself in 1981 at the age of 29 while committing another murder in Naperville.
At a news conference Wednesday, Detective Ryan Peat said the DNA present from Halle's clothing is approximately 9.4 trillion times more probable to have originated from Lindahl.
In 2020, the DuPage County State's Attorney announced that DNA evidence showed Lindahl raped and murdered 15-year-old Pamela Maurer of Woodridge in 1976. Her body was found in Lisle.
Authorities had exhumed his body to obtain DNA samples that now have been matched to the Maurer and Halle homicides. Kane County State's Attorney said if Lindahl were alive, there would have been enough evidence in this case to charge him with first-degree murder.
That evidence was extracted by Florida company DNA Labs International using a device known as an M-Vac. The M-Vac sprays the sample with a solution; then, like a scientific wet-vac, it sucks it back out, bringing more of the DNA material.
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"It's much better than swabbing that evidence, because that solution will get into the fibers and be pulled back," said Steven DuBois of DNA Labs International.
Halle's murder is now one of a growing number of cases linked to the suspected serial killer. Her family has requested privacy.
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In a statement read by North Aurora's deputy chief, her family said, "While revisiting this case has been painful for our family, we are grateful to have closure after 45 long years."
The other cases linked to Lindahl are still under investigation.
