The Swedish woman was 31 when she was murdered. At that time, November 1973, she was living with her husband and young daughter and was preparing to move back to Sweden, California police write.
The woman’s husband found her body when he got home from work. Investigations determined that she had been sexually assaulted and shot three times. Her 2-year-old was found unharmed in an adjacent room.
“The case was investigated but ultimately, unfortunately, went cold due to a lack of leads,” writes the police in Marin County.
Suspect found through DNA database
Now, over 50 years after the murder, 75-year-old Michael Eugene Mullen from the state of Idaho has been arrested thanks to DNA evidence.
It wasn’t until 2021 when the case was sent to an investigative team in California, which compares DNA from criminal cases to a DNA database to try to find relatives of a potential suspect, that the investigation began to move again.
After several months a lead was picked up, and after another three years Mullen was identified.
He is now being held in custody awaiting trial.
In a press release, California State Police thanked the FBI and other regional law enforcement agencies “for countless hours of investigation and perseverance to close this case.”