The murder of Susan Marcia Rose
Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts · 1979
Overview
Susan Marcia Rose, a 24-year-old woman from Johnstown, Pennsylvania who had moved to Boston and dreamed of becoming a lawyer, was found dead on October 30, 1979 in a Back Bay building under renovation at 285 Beacon Street. She had been struck in the head with a hammer and sexually assaulted. A Brighton man was tried for the killing and acquitted in 1981, and the case went cold for more than four decades. It was broken not by forensic science but by a confession: in August 2023, John Michael Irmer walked into the FBI field office in Portland, Oregon and told agents he had killed Rose in 1979, saying he had gotten sober and found religion. Investigators only afterward matched his DNA to material preserved from the scene, corroborating the account he had volunteered. Irmer pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in April 2026 and received a mandatory life sentence without parole.
How it was solved
The case was solved primarily by the perpetrator's voluntary confession, not by DNA or genetic genealogy. In August 2023, John Michael Irmer, then about 68 and living in Oregon, walked unprompted into the FBI field office in Portland and told agents that he had killed a young woman in Boston in 1979. He described meeting a red-haired woman at a skating rink just before Halloween, entering a Back Bay building that was under renovation, striking her on the head with a hammer, sexually assaulting her, and fleeing the city the next day. Irmer told investigators his decision to come forward stemmed from getting sober and finding religion after serving roughly 30 years in California prison for a separate murder. His account matched the long-dormant 1979 homicide of Susan Marcia Rose. Only after the confession did authorities compare Irmer's DNA to genetic material that had been preserved from the murder scene; it matched, corroborating what he had already admitted. The confession also vindicated a Brighton man who had been tried for Rose's murder and acquitted in 1981, and who had earlier been excluded as a contributor to scene DNA. Suffolk District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden called it a brutal, ice-blooded murder. Irmer was arraigned in September 2023 and held without bail; he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in April 2026 and was sentenced to mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Sources
- Oregon man walks into FBI office, confesses to killing woman in Back Bay in 1979, prosecutors say
“Nearly 44 years after losing her at such a young age, the family and friends of Susan Marcia Rose will finally have some answers.”
- Man walks into FBI office in Oregon and confesses to 'ice-blooded murder' of Boston woman in 1979, prosecutors say
“He told investigators he met a woman with red hair at a skating rink just before Halloween in 1979, then grabbed a hammer and struck Rose on the head, killing her, then raped her and fled to New York the next day.”
- Oregon man pleads guilty to 1979 Boston murder of young woman
“John Irmer, 71, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder of Susan Rose and received a mandatory sentence of life without parole; he had confessed in August 2023 at an FBI office in Portland, Oregon.”
- Oregon man confesses to killing woman in Boston's Back Bay in 1979, prosecutors say
“Susan Marcia Rose, 24, who lived on Dartmouth Street in Boston, died October 30, 1979 of multiple blunt head injuries with skull fractures and brain lacerations; she had been struck with a hammer and raped.”
- Boston, MA murder guilty plea for woman's brutal 1979 killing
“John Michael Irmer, 71, was due in Suffolk Superior Court for a change of plea hearing over the 1979 killing of Susan Marcia Rose; another man was found not guilty in 1981.”
- Susan Rose case: Oregon man convicted years after confessing to 1979 Boston murder
“An Oregon man was convicted years after confessing to the 1979 Boston murder of 24-year-old Susan Rose.”
- Boston cold case: A man walked into an FBI office and admitted to killing Susan Marcia Rose more than 4 decades ago
“In August 2023, John Irmer walked into the FBI's Portland field office to confess to killing 24-year-old Susan Marcia Rose; his decision followed getting sober and finding religion after serving prison time for a separate murder.”
- Boston Police 2005 re-examination and DNA exclusion of previously charged man
“In 2005 the Boston Police unsolved homicide unit re-examined evidence and developed a DNA profile; the man previously charged with Rose's murder was excluded as the contributor.”