The murder of Linda Bernhardt
Billings, Yellowstone County, Montana · 1973
Overview
Linda Bernhardt, a 24-year-old woman, and her husband Clifford Bernhardt, also 24, were killed in their home in the Billings Heights area of Billings, Montana, on the night of November 6, 1973. Linda was bound and sexually assaulted, and both were strangled and beaten. The double murder went unsolved for 45 years despite an investigation that grew to tens of thousands of pages and roughly 80 DNA comparisons. In 2015 the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office cold case unit engaged Parabon NanoLabs, whose genetic genealogist CeCe Moore built a family tree from the killer's crime-scene DNA and traced it to Cecil Stan Caldwell, a former co-worker of Linda's who had died in 2003. The match was announced at a March 2019 news conference; because Caldwell was long dead, he was never charged.
How it was solved
DNA from the 1973 crime scene was developed into a usable profile around 2004, but uploads to the FBI's national database returned no match because the killer had no criminal record, and over the years investigators compared roughly 80 DNA samples from persons of interest without success. In 2015 the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office cold case unit enlisted Parabon NanoLabs of Reston, Virginia, to apply forensic genetic genealogy, comparing the killer's DNA to profiles in the public GEDmatch database. Parabon's chief genetic genealogist CeCe Moore reverse-engineered the offender's family tree, in some branches reaching back to 1832, and narrowed the source of the DNA to two brothers. Investigators obtained a voluntary DNA sample from the living brother, which the Montana State Crime Lab and Sorensen Forensics used to exclude him, leaving Cecil Stan Caldwell as the only remaining match. Caldwell had worked alongside Linda at a Billings grocery wholesaler and had died in 2003, so no prosecution was possible; Sheriff Mike Linder announced the identification at a news conference on March 25, 2019.
Sources
- Couple's 1973 Yellowstone County murder solved through genetic genealogy: Sheriff
“Approximately 80 suspect samples were collected but none matched. Parabon NanoLabs, led by chief genetic genealogist CeCe Moore, conducted the genealogical analysis.”
- Suspect identified in a Billings double murder cold case
“Caldwell of Billings, a coworker of Linda Bernhardt, died in 2003; the case was solved through genetic genealogy by Parabon NanoLabs, with confirmation by the Montana State Crime Lab and Sorensen Forensics.”
- Bernhardt cold case solved after 45 years
“Both victims had suffered blows to the head and had signs of strangulation; there was evidence of sexual assault against Linda, and both appeared to have been bound. The investigation comprised 36,000 pages of files and 894 individual contacts.”
- DNA test solves 45-year-old double-murder mystery in Montana
“Linda Bernhardt was bound and sexually assaulted before her death; Cecil Stan Caldwell died in 2003 at age 59 and had no criminal record.”
- Suspect Named in 1973 Cold Case Killing of Young Montana Couple After Police Use Genealogy Website
“These are two young people who didn't deserve what happened to them. They didn't do anything. They came home on a Tuesday night and they were murdered.”
- Suspect Named in 1973 Killings After Genealogy Analysis
“In 2015 investigators enlisted Parabon NanoLabs to compare the DNA to genetic samples available through a public genealogy database; after genealogy narrowed the suspects to Caldwell and his brother, DNA was obtained voluntarily from the brother and used to eliminate him, leaving only Caldwell.”
- Couple's 1973 Yellowstone County murder solved through genetic genealogy: Sheriff
“The murders occurred on November 6, 1973; Linda's mother found both bodies after she failed to appear at work the next day. Sheriff Mike Linder held a press conference on March 25, 2019, announcing the identification.”