The man suspected of murder was questioned about two years ago.
Then he denied the 51-year-old murder of the Swedish woman – and blamed his brother.
Now he is linked to the murder with the help of DNA from sperm.
– He claimed that he had no connection to the case, says Adam Schermerhorn, press spokesperson for the police in Marin County in California, to TV4 Nyheterna.
Thanks to new DNA evidence, 75-year-old Michael Eugene Mullen, from the state of Idaho, has been able to be tied to the more than 50-year-old brutal murder of a 31-year-old Swedish woman in California, USA.
According to American police, the man was already questioned about two years ago after an incomplete DNA match was obtained on sperm at the murder scene. He then allegedly denied the crime.
– He claimed that he had no connection to the case with the woman, says Adam Schermerhorn, press spokesperson for the police in Marin County in California, to TV4 Nyheterna.
During the interrogation, the 75-year-old suspect should have pointed out his brother instead.
– If there was a DNA match, it was probably his sibling, he said, continues Adam Schermerhorn.
But in the end, the police managed to get a complete dna profile that led to the 75-year-old.
Investigated the case during the 70s
During the early 1970s, the police worked intensively to solve the case. But due to a lack of evidence, the investigation was dropped in the middle of the decade, and the murder became a cold case.
But developments in DNA technology and genealogy sequencing changed the conditions for police investigators.
– In this specific case, we were lucky that there was still a viable sample that
we could use to get a hit.
Found shot
Michael Eugene Mullen has not yet confessed to the murder, or any other crimes.
The Swedish woman was 31 years old 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, the police in California write.
The man found her lifeless when he got home from work. She had been shot three times and sexually assaulted. The child was found unharmed in another room.