A decades-old mystery in Pennsylvania has been solved after investigators linked now-deceased serial killer James Richard Clark to the murders of two young women nearly 50 years ago.
Authorities said the breakthrough confirmed that a serial killer operated in Washington County during the 1970s. This testing confirmed there was a serial killer in Washington County during this time frame,” Cpl. “Testing identified that the same offender murdered both Susan Rush and Brenda Ritter. Her abandoned car was discovered near Washington, Pennsylvania. A police helicopter later located her body on a nearby hill.
Pennsylvania State Police identified Clark as the person responsible for the deaths of Susan Rush, 21, and Brenda Ritter, 18, after advanced DNA testing connected evidence from both crime scenes.
James Petrosky of the Pennsylvania State Police Criminal Investigation Assessment Unit said at a news conference. Investigators determined she had been sexually assaulted and died from strangulation, police said. Investigators said she had also been sexually assaulted and strangled.
She planned to meet her family for a Thanksgiving Eve dinner at church but never arrived. Rush was last seen leaving the shopping centre where she worked in November 1976.
DNA breakthrough reveals hidden serial killer case
He was 19 years old when Rush was killed and 20 when Ritter was murdered. The investigation received a major boost after forensic technology advanced decades after the killings. Investigators are now examining whether Clark may have been connected to other unsolved crimes.
Police said Clark lived in the Washington area when the murders occurred.
