After more than 50 years of mystery, a blessed woman solves Rita’s murder

Genetic tests are needed to identify the young teacher’s killer

In July 1971, 24-year-old American teacher Rita Curran was found dead by her roommate, lying on the floor with signs of strangulation. His death remained a mystery for more than 50 years until this week.

At that time, no other avenues were strong enough to warrant a decision, and the case, unarchived, languished.

This Tuesday, Burlington, Vermont police were able to identify Rita’s killer. the key? DNA from cigarette butts left near young woman’s body A neighbor at the time, William Drews, was formally identified as the author’s killer.

Genetic testing began in 2014 when authorities sent Beta’s DNA to the New York medical examiner’s office, which determined it belonged to a man, but added no other information to the criminal database.

However, in 2019, another team re-investigated the case and sent the DNA to a private genealogy database, finding partial matches with relatives of William Drews. After that discovery, they examined marriage records and found that Drews lived with the victim.

“We strongly believe that William Drews is responsible for Rita Curran’s death,” Inspector Jim Tribe, who is in charge of the investigation, told a news conference. However, the killer had already died, in 1986, of an overdose.

The day after the crime, police approached Drews and his wife, but both said they didn’t see or hear anything.

Shortly after the crime, Drews left his wife and moved to Thailand to become a Buddhist monk. He would return to America and remarry, but died of an overdose.

“She was a teacher, a singer and a very giving person. She was very loved. Her senseless violence left a stain on our community and devastated our family. We’ve been waiting for justice for 50 years. My parents died waiting for this,” Tom Curran, the victim’s brother, told reporters.