The murder of Mildred Matheny
Jupiter, Palm Beach County, Florida · 1985
Overview
Mildred Matheny, a 78-year-old widow with dementia, wandered from her sister's Lake Worth, Florida home on the afternoon of April 27, 1985, was lured into a car, driven roughly 30 miles north, sexually assaulted, and beaten so severely she died of her injuries eleven days later. The case went cold for nearly 36 years until the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Cold Case Homicide Unit ran male DNA from the 1985 rape kit through the state CODIS database in 2021 and matched it to Richard Curtis Lange, whose DNA was on file from later weapons convictions. Lange was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and sexual battery in February 2023 and sentenced to life in prison.
How it was solved
The original 1985 investigators preserved a sexual-assault evidence kit, but the DNA technology that could read it did not yet exist. In 2021, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office Cold Case Homicide Unit developed a male DNA profile from that preserved evidence and uploaded it to the Florida state CODIS database. The profile matched Richard Curtis Lange, whose DNA had been collected as a condition of prior felony weapons convictions. When detectives confronted him, Lange denied ever knowing Matheny, writing in a handwritten statement that he had never seen her in his life. Investigators then obtained a fresh confirmatory saliva sample under a search warrant at his Boynton Beach home; the lab confirmed it matched the DNA recovered from the 1985 rape kit, and he was arrested.
Sources
- Richard Lange arrested for 1985 murder and rape of 78-year-old Mildred Matheny, police say
“Matheny was found lying naked on Old Indiantown Road in Jupiter on April 27, 1985, roughly 30 miles from her home.”
- Florida man arrested, charged with murder in 35-year-old cold case
“When shown Matheny's photo, Lange wrote in a handwritten statement that he had never seen the woman in his life.”
- DNA Leads to Arrest of Florida Man in Kidnapping, Sexual Assault, and Murder of 78-Year-Old Woman in 1985
“Sexual assault kit DNA linked to Richard Curtis Lange via the Florida State CODIS database; he had felony convictions requiring DNA submission.”
- DNA Solves 1985 Slaying, Rape of Dementia Victim in Palm Beach: Detectives
“The homicide unit submitted DNA to the state database in March 2021 and matched Richard C. Lange, 61.”
- Florida man arrested in 35-year-old cold case murder
“The 78-year-old victim, who had dementia, wandered from her sister's home and died of her injuries eleven days after the attack.”
- DNA match leads to arrest in fatal 1985 abduction, sex assault of 78-year-old Florida grandmother
“Near a Burger King, witnesses observed Matheny with a young man with long blond hair and a missing front tooth who claimed to be her neighbor and offered her a ride; he drove a brown two-door Oldsmobile.”
- Boynton Beach man convicted of 1985 murder
“The jury returned its verdict on Wednesday, February 1, 2023, convicting Richard Curtis Lange of sexually assaulting and murdering 78-year-old Mildred Lee Matheny.”
- Boynton Beach man sentenced to life in prison for 1985 killing of elderly Palm Beach County woman
“A Boynton Beach man convicted of killing the 78-year-old Lake Worth Beach woman in 1985 was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.”