The murder of Rita Curran
Burlington, Chittenden County, Vermont · 1971
Overview
Rita Curran, a 24-year-old schoolteacher, was beaten, sexually assaulted, and strangled in her Burlington, Vermont apartment in July 1971. The case went unsolved for more than 51 years until, in 2023, investigative genetic genealogy identified her killer as upstairs neighbor William DeRoos, who had died in 1986 and was never charged.
How it was solved
Burlington police developed a male DNA profile from a cigarette butt left at the 1971 scene, but it matched nothing when first sequenced in 2014. After the case was reopened in 2019, Parabon NanoLabs genetic genealogist CeCe Moore used open-source genealogy databases to link the DNA to relatives of William DeRoos, and a cousin's and half-brother's DNA samples plus a match to DNA on Curran's housecoat confirmed him as the killer. DeRoos had died in San Francisco in 1986, so he was never charged or tried.
Sources
- Burlington police say neighbor killed Rita Curran, solving a more than 50-year-old cold case
“found dead by her roommate at her Brookes Avenue apartment on July 20, 1971”
- After more than 50 years, Burlington police say they've solved the murder of Rita Curran
“we're all confident that William DeRoos is responsible”
- Murder of Rita Curran
“beaten, sexually assaulted, and asphyxiated”
- Vermont cold case murder suspect fled country, became monk after strangling woman
“He died in San Francisco in 1986 ... at age 46”
- Rita Curran 1971 homicide solved with DNA
“sexually assaulted, beaten and strangled at her apartment at 17 Brookes Ave. the night of July 19, 1971”
- How Rita Curran's murder case was finally solved
“a half-brother also provided DNA and those two donations proved valuable”