(ILLINOIS) — Suspected 1970s serial killer Bruce Lindahl, who has been dead for decades, has now been identified as the culprit in a 1979 cold case murder, Illinois authorities announced Wednesday.
On March 29, 1979, Kathy Halle left her apartment to pick up her sister at the Northgate Shopping Center in Aurora, but never arrived, North Aurora Police Detective Ryan Peat said at a news conference. Halle’s body was found in a river several weeks later, Peat said.
The case stayed cold for decades.
In 2019, police in nearby Lisle, Illinois, reopened the 1976 murder case of 16-year-old Pamela Maurer, and used DNA to link Lindahl to the slaying, Peat said.
In 2020, North Aurora detectives working on Halle’s case met with Lisle investigators, and evidence was re-inspected and sent for additional testing, Peat said. While that DNA showed there was a mixture of two individuals, the DNA was too degraded for a working profile, Peat said.
In 2022, the North Aurora police learned there was a box of evidence with Lindahl’s belongings at the police department in nearby Naperville, Illinois, and that evidence showed Lindahl frequented the Northgate Shopping Center, where Halle worked, Peat said.
Peat said he then looked into a new DNA tool: the “M-Vac” DNA wet-vacuum, which can help collect DNA from older cases.
In June 2023, North Aurora police drove the evidence from Halle’s case to DNA Labs International in Florida to be analyzed with the new “M-Vac” tool, Peat said.
This August, police received a report from the lab showing that “DNA approximately 9.4 trillion times more probable to have originated from Bruce Lindahl was present on Kathy’s clothing,” Peat said.
“We are able to conclude Lindahl was responsible for the death of Kathy Halle,” Peat said, adding that police believe Halle was abducted from her apartment complex parking lot.
“Lindhal has been connected to several other cases in this area from that time frame,” Peat added.
Lindahl could be responsible for the murders of up to a dozen young women, according to The Associated Press. Lindahl died in 1981 at the age of 29; he accidentally stabbed a major artery in his own leg and bled to death while he was attacking an 18-year-old man in Naperville, the AP said.
“Had he not killed himself while in a murder, we would have authorized first-degree murder charges against Bruce Lindahl and we would have proceeded to trial” for Halle’s case, Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser said.
Halle’s family said in a statement read on their behalf, “While revisiting this case has been incredibly difficult for our family, we’re deeply grateful to finally have closure after 45 long years. Thanks to advancements in DNA technology and groundbreaking investigative tools, we’re hopeful that other families won’t have to endure the same pain and uncertainty that we faced for so many years.”
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