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and Property Insurance Company and affiliates Northbrook, Illinois. In

1:00

late 2019, the redecurrent case was

1:03

reexamined with an eye toward making use

1:05

of modern DNA technology to progress the

1:07

investigation. Lt. J.T.

1:09

Treve, at this time the Detective Bureau

1:12

commander, wrote, I

1:14

wanted to take a different approach with the assignment of

1:16

unsolved murder cases than what was the norm. I

1:19

created a plan to select a case and treat it like

1:21

the crime had just been committed. The redecurring

1:24

case was chosen as it was currently

1:26

assigned to a detective in the Detective

1:28

Bureau, Detective Corporal Thomas Channett, and

1:30

the case had a lot of physical evidence with which to

1:32

work. Because of the case's

1:34

age, we decided that our primary focus would

1:37

be on the forensic evidence. There had been

1:39

a lot of evidence collected during the initial

1:41

investigation and over the years minimal testing had

1:43

been conducted. With advancements in DNA

1:45

testing and genealogy research, we felt there was

1:48

a chance at finding the suspect in this

1:50

case. To

1:52

start with, the detectives went back to the case file and

1:54

made a list of the names of men who had never

1:57

been eliminated. As Treve put it, they cast a

1:59

white- Wide net. everyone was

2:01

unless unless they had been eliminated

2:03

by dna. Lieutenant. He felt

2:05

strongly that the attack on Rita had not

2:07

been carried out by random stranger as he

2:09

put it in his report quotes. The suspect

2:12

would have had approximately seventy minutes to

2:14

discover that read it was home alone

2:16

and then commit this crime and escape

2:18

before carrying Paul returned home. It

2:20

would make a highly unlikely that this crime was

2:22

the result of a random chance encounter with the

2:25

victim. It is most probable that the suspect

2:27

lived in close proximity where he would have had

2:29

knowledge of who was at home and when. And.

2:31

Quote. Lieutenant. She

2:34

was onto something but it would take for and the

2:36

genealogy to tell him what. Detectives.

2:39

And that who have been handling the case

2:41

alone on top of his act of caseload

2:43

told The Daily Beast of the Twenty nineteen

2:45

push quote The amount of evidence that has

2:47

been collected over the years is immense as

2:49

as of than one of if not the

2:51

most investigator cases in the history of the

2:53

Burlington Police Department. We believe this

2:55

case is absolutely still solvable, but time is

2:57

of the isn't. The. Reality is that

3:00

evidence and memories degrade over time. So we

3:02

decided to give our maximum effort now as

3:04

many of the witnesses and of all parties

3:06

are still with us and. Can be contacted

3:08

and close. To. That was

3:10

right to feel a sense of urgency. Beverley readers

3:13

roommate had already passed on no longer

3:15

able to testify identify someone said to

3:17

be needed. Paul Robinson

3:19

who said the apartment with reader Carry and

3:21

Beverley Southern courage that the police were taking

3:23

up the case once more. This from The

3:25

Daily Beast quote. the horror of the summer

3:27

of Next and Seventy One will haunt him

3:29

for the rest of his life. I still

3:31

get nightmares about that night. He said i

3:34

hope they catch whoever did this or figure

3:36

out what happened But I'll have to say

3:38

is that whoever was responsible this person was

3:40

evil. Pure evil. Paul.

3:42

Willingly gave a Dna sample and was ruled out.

3:46

And. Twenty Twenty. The investigators knew that the

3:48

cigarette bought was our best evidence. In August

3:50

of that year, they began contacting. First Responders

3:52

who had been at Readers Apartments all those

3:55

years ago. The purpose was to determine if

3:57

those first responders had smoked cigarettes and if

3:59

so, To pain dna samples to

4:01

ensure they weren't chasing an innocent man.

4:04

They. Needed to be sure that cigarette

4:06

butt, eagles, killer dna some of

4:08

these first responders had passed away.

4:10

So they contacted people biologically. Related

4:12

directly to them. These.

4:14

Included Oh Gee, Ambulance Crew members David

4:16

Been and Stephen Oleo and Officers Richard

4:19

Garo And On The Rock. Detectives.

4:22

Who that called Garo who says he wasn't the

4:24

first on the scene and agreed to get a

4:26

dna sample to the police in Florida where he

4:28

lived at the time does had to to that

4:30

collect a dna from the rocks daughter and answer

4:32

that into evidence. Same for the. Others, the

4:34

cigarette butt was none of their. This

4:37

whole cold Case review took a lot of

4:40

resources, energy, and time. Soon, the fiftieth anniversary

4:42

of the murder rolled around and a summer.

4:44

Twenty Twenty one. I now

4:46

the read occur In Case was the

4:48

oldest case still being actively investigated by

4:50

the Burlington Police Department. We.

4:53

Don't know anymore. Today says two years later

4:55

than we knew the day of the murder

4:57

Mary Campbell lamented to my same plane valley.com.

4:59

By this time, both of her a meet

5:01

his parents had passed away, not ever knowing

5:03

who killed their oldest child. The remaining members

5:06

of the current family gave a statement to

5:08

the Burlington Free Press and honor of the

5:10

fiftieth anniversary. It. Reads quote. Fifty.

5:13

Years as a long time to grieve. a

5:15

long time to hope. The fifty year mark

5:17

confirms that a resolution in our lifetime to

5:19

read as murder is no point to happen.

5:22

As. A family and our prayers who will never

5:24

give up our deepest hope. Read a story, has

5:26

a home and our family legacy for ever. We.

5:29

Recognize that over time memories fade, evidence

5:31

ages the perpetrator may be dead. Interest

5:34

in the story means for fifty

5:36

years the Burlington Vt has worked

5:38

every lead to have ever received and

5:40

have been very compassionate to our

5:42

family. We know readers. that's enough.

5:44

Happen in a vacuum. Somebody somewhere knows what

5:46

happened that night on July nineteenth, hat and

5:49

seventy one and they will take that in

5:51

for Mrs It or grieve. May. God

5:53

have mercy on their soul. And. quo.

5:57

Well. As we will see someone did. Have information, but

5:59

that. Than the not heard that information to

6:01

her grave she was still alive. What she

6:04

knew still to be revealed. Once.

6:07

They have compiled the detailed review of the

6:09

case file and compelled an exhaustive list of

6:12

names of men there, and the list was

6:14

divvied up among the investigators to try to

6:16

systematically eliminate them one by one using Dna.

6:19

Detective Senate as the lead investigator was given

6:21

the names that were considered the most promising

6:23

as and they said the investigators theory of

6:26

the crime that read a had been attacked

6:28

by someone who knew that she was home

6:30

alone. In July, Twenty

6:32

Twenty One detected said that interviewed a woman

6:34

who was friends with the for female roommates

6:36

on the second floor. as the Team Brooks

6:39

Avenue see had called, it had said that

6:41

she had been at that second floor apartment

6:43

that very night and at other times she

6:45

recalled meeting the residents of the third floor

6:47

a mixed race couple which was not common

6:50

at the time. The woman she said was

6:52

bubbly and sleet. The. Man was song

6:54

and tall with a strong jaw. The silent

6:56

type. Detectives. On that knew

6:58

that the residence in the third floor apartment

7:01

in July Nineteen Seventy One where William and

7:03

Michel de Ruse, both of whom had been

7:05

canvas three. Times a contemporary

7:07

Investigators. A. Little digging told

7:09

him that William to rule was deceased. But

7:12

he decided to turn of the soon see if she had

7:14

any insights on the crime. After

7:16

he located a relative themselves and contacted

7:18

him mischelle call him back on December.

7:20

Twenty Seven Twenty. Twenty One. And

7:23

they tax by phone. She. Was now

7:25

living in Oregon and she remembered me this case when. They.

7:27

Talked about her and her deceased hasn't life in

7:29

Burlington on their marriage, but she had nothing to

7:32

add. As far as readers murder went, But

7:35

decided to that had to do his job and

7:37

rule William to roost out. After do

7:40

some research on ancestry, he was able to locate

7:42

a half nephew of. The. Ruth was living in

7:44

New Mexico. This man's father had been a

7:46

half brother William to Ruth. And a

7:48

professor at a New Mexico university until

7:50

his recent death. To Net sent

7:52

the nephew a letter on March tenth. Twenty

7:54

Twenty Two It said as discussed you're late

7:56

Uncle had been identified as a person of

7:58

interest in the invest There isn't solely because

8:00

he lived in the same building as the

8:03

victim at the time. Your. Dna

8:05

wise thread can aid in the investigation

8:07

by potentially ruling out your uncle as

8:09

a suspect as a sample will be

8:11

compared to evidence insisting in the case.

8:15

The. Nephew agreed to give Samples were collected

8:17

by detectives from the Dona Ana County

8:19

Sheriff's Office. Unless Crucis New Mexico and

8:21

Detect internet receive them and tag them

8:23

into evidence on April Twenty nine. Twenty

8:26

Twenty Two. But. The samples were

8:28

tested, they set their. The. Bpd

8:30

was inundated with active homicide cases and

8:32

testing the half relative of remote suspect

8:34

in a fifty year old case had

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now it was spring 2022. Lieutenant

10:16

Treve had seen a documentary on the

10:18

work Parabon was doing to identify killers

10:20

in very old cases, just like Rita's,

10:22

and decided to pursue this avenue. The

10:25

next step was examining whether they had sufficient

10:27

DNA in the extract from the cigarette butt

10:30

to create a SNP profile. They

10:32

sent it to Arbor Biosciences, which successfully

10:34

sequenced it. Then in mid-2022,

10:37

they sent the SNP profile to

10:39

Parabon, which entered it into FTDNA

10:41

and Genmatch. Cece explained

10:43

her genealogical analysis at the press conference that

10:45

was held later. She said that

10:47

in Rita's case, she was incredibly lucky. It took

10:50

her just a few hours to identify a

10:52

compelling suspect. In

10:54

the databases, Cece found that DNA relatives

10:56

from one and two shared 588 and

10:58

461 centimorgans, respectively,

11:02

with the suspect. Matches three

11:04

to five were terrific supporting matches with 127,

11:06

70, and 70 centimorgans, respectively. Matches

11:12

one and three descended from

11:14

most recent common ancestors, John Orr

11:16

and Susanna Davies, born in 1828

11:18

and 1832, respectively. So

11:22

Cece knew that the suspect must ascend from this

11:24

couple as well. Matches

11:26

two, four, and five descended from the

11:28

unit of John Wilney, born 1796, and

11:31

Gerberg and Della, born 1801. The

11:34

suspect was also descended from this couple. So

11:37

these most recent common ancestors represented the

11:39

two branches of the suspect's family tree,

11:42

and they triangulated in a union

11:44

marriage between Lois Orr, the

11:46

surname from the ancestral couple from which matches one

11:48

and three were descended, and her

11:51

husband, William DeRuz, a surname from which

11:53

matches two, four, and five were descended.

11:55

Lois and William had one son, a child

11:58

named William R. DeRuz, born 18 in

12:00

1939. William had no

12:02

siblings. His mother died right after his

12:05

birth, so he was the only living

12:07

person descended from this unique set of

12:09

ancestors. He was a first cousin

12:11

once removed of each of DNA relatives 1 and

12:13

2, one on his maternal side and

12:15

2 on his paternal side. As for

12:17

DNA relatives 3, 4, and 5, he

12:20

was second cousin once removed, third cousin,

12:22

and fourth cousin, respectively, to them. So

12:25

Assisi started looking into this William R. DeRue's.

12:28

He was not from Vermont, and none of the relatives she

12:30

could see on his tree were from Vermont either. But

12:33

a quick historical document search revealed that

12:35

William R. DeRue's had gotten married on

12:37

July 5, 1971 in Dromeroll,

12:41

Burlington, Vermont. He

12:43

had married a woman named Michelle DeRue's, and

12:45

the documented address on the marriage record for

12:47

the couple was 15 Brooks

12:50

Avenue, the same building that Rita

12:52

Curran lived in. On

12:55

August 11, 2022, Assisi notified the

12:57

Burlington investigators of her hypothesis that

13:00

the subject was highly likely to

13:02

be William Richard DeRue's. She told

13:04

me it took her two hours to identify him

13:06

as a likely suspect. I

13:08

imagine that the investigators almost fell off

13:10

their chairs. Assisi had given them a name

13:13

in a 50-year-old cold case in just a few days,

13:15

and it was a name they knew. Detective

13:17

Channett had just been investigating him as one of

13:19

a large number of men mentioned in the Rita

13:21

Curran case file. Think back to when

13:23

I discussed the neighborhood canvas the

13:25

BPD conducted after Rita's murder. The

13:28

notes taken by Detective Winterbottom, Officer

13:30

Garo, and Vermont State Trooper LaHoo

13:32

all document interactions they had with

13:34

the residents of the third floor apartment

13:37

at 15 Brooks Avenue, Rita's two floors

13:39

up neighbors. They were William

13:41

and Michelle DeRue's. Both had said

13:43

they were home at bed and saw nothing on the

13:45

night of the murders. Michelle even

13:47

said she had been awake at 1 a.m.

13:49

and heard nothing. William DeRue's had never been

13:51

investigated as a suspect or even a person

13:53

of interest. His wife Michelle had alibied him

13:55

at the time, and that was that.

13:58

But now investigative focus shifted

14:00

to him as the primary suspect.

14:04

Now that they had DeRue's name, the modern investigators

14:06

were eager to tie him to Rita's murder with

14:08

something a little more incriminating than a cigarette butt.

14:11

After all, pretty much everyone in 1971 smoked.

14:14

And with DeRue's living in the same building,

14:16

DNA on a butt was felt to be

14:18

insufficient to conclusively connect him to the crime.

14:20

They wanted something with his touch DNA on

14:23

it that was inseparable from the commission of the murder.

14:25

The original investigators had collected and preserved a lot

14:28

of evidence, considering they had literally no concept of

14:30

what most of it, like the butt and the

14:32

buttons on the housecoat, could ever be used for.

14:35

Everything was well documented and items were

14:37

preserved even though their evidentiary value wasn't

14:40

certain. Here's

14:42

what they still had that was considered ripe for

14:44

DNA testing. Two blue

14:46

cloth drawstrings from Rita's housecoat. A

14:49

piece of linoleum with blood snares on

14:51

it. Rita's underwear. Part of Rita's nycan.

14:53

Rita's housecoat. And a piece of wood.

14:56

These items were hand delivered to DNA Labs

14:58

International by Detective Corporal Tom Tremblay on

15:01

March 24th, 2022. This was the

15:05

same lab that had used the cigarette

15:07

butt DNA extract to conduct direct and

15:09

kinship testing to rule out the 13

15:11

prime suspects. They

15:14

also provided the lab with a DNA sample from

15:16

Rita Curran. I was very surprised

15:18

to hear that a sample from Rita's autopsy

15:20

remained in evidence and was still viable and

15:22

yielded her DNA sample. DNA

15:25

Labs International used the MZAC machine to

15:27

test some of these items which Rita's

15:29

killer was suspected to have touched and

15:31

compare any male DNA found to the

15:33

male DNA on the cigarette butt believed

15:35

to belong to the suspect. On

15:39

August 24th, 2022 DNA Labs

15:41

International's report concluded that the

15:44

blood on the linoleum and the piece of

15:46

wood was Rita's, not the suspect's. But

15:49

they found a DNA mixture on the

15:51

underwear and the suspect could not be

15:53

excluded as a contributor to the foreign

15:55

DNA profile. The analysis concluded

15:57

that it was approximately 61 times more

16:00

probable if the sample originated

16:02

from Rita Curran and the unknown suspect whose

16:04

DNA was on the cigarette, then

16:07

it originated from Rita Curran and an unknown

16:09

person. This was considered what's

16:11

called limited support of the proposition that

16:13

DeRue's cells were on the underwear. Then

16:16

there was a housecoat. A sample was

16:18

collected of blood-free material from the left

16:20

and right lapels where the housecoat opened

16:22

and closed. This was the area

16:24

they knew Rita's killer would have touched when ripping

16:27

it open, which they knew happened during the assault.

16:30

DNA analysis on Rita's polka dot

16:32

housecoat indicated a DNA mixture of

16:34

at least four individuals with just

16:36

one being a male. They

16:38

compared that to the known DNA of Rita and

16:40

the DNA on the cigarette butt. They

16:43

concluded it was 65,000

16:45

times more likely that the mixture contained

16:47

Rita's and the unknown suspect's DNA as

16:49

opposed to Rita's and three strangers. This

16:52

statistic provided strong support that the DNA

16:54

from the man who left the cigarette

16:56

butt was also on her housecoat. They

16:59

also tested an area of the inside of the housecoat

17:01

found under Rita's buttocks. The DNA

17:03

profile obtained from this sample was a mixture

17:05

of at least four individuals, one of whom

17:07

was assumed to be Rita, with at least

17:09

one male contributor. The DNA

17:11

profile obtained from this sample was approximately 780

17:14

times more probable if the

17:16

sample originated from Rita Curran, the unknown

17:19

suspect, and two unknown persons, then

17:21

if it originated from Rita Curran and three

17:24

unknown persons. So this was

17:26

considered moderate support. For the proposition that

17:28

the DNA of the unknown suspect was

17:30

on the housecoat. Well

17:32

that was a lot, but the upshot they

17:34

had DeRuz's DNA on the housecoat in

17:37

two places and the underwear

17:39

as well as the cigarette butt. So

17:44

it was time to test William DeRuz's DNA, but

17:46

of course he was dead. With

17:48

a 50 year old crime it was almost too much to hope

17:50

for that he would still be alive. Worse

17:52

the investigators learned from the medical examiner's

17:54

office in San Francisco that DeRuz had

17:56

been cremated and they had not retained

17:59

any biological evidence. that could be

18:01

subjected to DNA testing. They were

18:03

going to have to turn to the next best thing. Detective

18:05

Jeanette located a living half-brother of William

18:08

de Rooze named Douglas M, named

18:10

in Parabon's report as a potential source

18:12

of DNA for kinship analysis to help

18:14

identify de Rooze, as they would

18:16

share about 25% of their

18:18

DNA as half-siblings. Douglas was

18:21

elderly, was in a long-term care facility,

18:23

and was nonverbal, but luckily,

18:25

Detective Jeanette was able to establish

18:27

contact with Douglas's adult children. As

18:30

their father's legal guardian, they were

18:32

legally empowered to grant permission for

18:34

Chilton County, Alabama law enforcement officers

18:36

working with Detective Jeanette to collect

18:38

buccal swabs from Douglas. The swabs

18:41

were collected and sent to Vermont. Detective

18:43

Jeanette entered them into evidence on September 2nd,

18:45

2022. This

18:49

is from the report. Quote, Douglas's DNA

18:51

was sent to DNA Labs International for

18:53

direct comparison to the DNA profile from

18:55

the LARC cigarette butt to see if

18:58

that DNA reflected that its contributor was,

19:00

in fact, the half-brother of Douglas, which

19:02

is William de Rooze. We

19:04

later received the results from DNA

19:06

Labs International, and additional testing indicated

19:08

that the relative probability that

19:10

Douglas M is related to unknown number

19:13

one as a half-sibling is 97.03% in

19:15

the general population. These

19:18

results support the conclusion that Douglas

19:21

M and unknown number one are

19:23

half-siblings. The

19:26

Burlington team finally had what they needed

19:28

to declare that William de Rooze, who

19:30

had definitively left his DNA on Rita's

19:32

house coat, underwear, and a cigarette butt,

19:34

was the killer they had been seeking

19:36

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it was time to dig up all the

21:16

intel they could on William deRue's, definitively named

21:18

as the man who attacked, brutalized, and killed

21:20

his downstairs neighbor, Rita Kern, in her bedroom

21:22

in a 70-minute window of time. Remember,

21:25

Detective Channette had interviewed Michelle deRue's

21:27

by phone way back in December

21:30

While now, Detective Tremblay and Detective

21:32

Channette contacted Michelle again and updated

21:34

her on the situation. On

21:37

September 27, they flew out to

21:39

Eugene, Oregon and interviewed Michelle for three hours

21:41

at the police station. Michelle

21:43

was now using a different name, but I'm going

21:45

to call her Michelle for simplicity sake. Michelle

21:49

said she grew up in Woodstock, New York, but her family

21:51

had moved to Burlington in 1965 or 1966 when her dad

21:53

took a job with IBM. After

21:57

high school there, She graduated from Hunter

21:59

College. The New York with a Nursing degree.

22:02

In nineteen seventy, she working in San

22:04

Francisco as a nurse when she met

22:06

William Richard the Roost at a Zen

22:08

center. He was seven years her senior:

22:10

tall, charismatic, and missing part of his

22:12

left pinkie. They. Began dating as

22:15

both were into what she called the buddha

22:17

scene and then I moved into. The.

22:19

Ruse did not drink or do drugs. He

22:21

was committed to the ascetic Buddhist. Based. Missiles

22:25

as he never met during his family but he

22:27

told are some things he said he had six

22:29

brothers and he talked about his mother. But.

22:31

He never mentioned his father. He

22:33

also sort or he'd been to prison in California. Twice

22:35

seven, two to three years and Folsom

22:37

for armed robbery. He been

22:39

married before to a woman from South America muscle

22:41

never met. It's unclear. What the

22:44

roof did from money. The cell could not really

22:46

recall him working when they were in California. Then.

22:49

Sell broke up with the rules and moved

22:51

cross country back to Burlington. There wasn't a

22:53

precipitating incident and she couldn't or how was

22:55

it ended the relationship. But.

22:57

She was living at her parents' house on

22:59

South Willard Street during the spring of Nineteen.

23:01

Seventy One Wonders. Showed up on announced

23:03

she introduced him to her parents and they

23:06

were quote not thrilled but her parents were

23:08

in the process of moving to British Columbia

23:10

south sometime that spring see and a ruse

23:12

moved into the a permit at saved him

23:15

Brooks Avenue. In. The same large. House

23:17

rita would move into in early July.

23:20

The. It was a small unit, essentially a studio.

23:22

The to Married and it's allies s in Bloomington.

23:25

Michelle. Said that a ruse wanted to be

23:27

the breadwinner. He was working nights as a dishwasher,

23:29

but he said he was planning on opening a

23:31

barbershop. He. Wanted her to focus on

23:33

getting pregnant and having his kids. To.

23:35

Drive home. This point. He took her diaphragm and nailed it

23:38

to the wall so she. Couldn't use it. Detected.

23:41

Specifically asked Michelle, a C endeavors interacted at

23:43

all with the neighbors in the building. She

23:45

said they didn't They had their own entrance

23:47

to the third for unit that was really

23:49

no common areas share but the other apartments

23:51

other than the driveway but they didn't have

23:53

a car. she reiterated that she

23:55

couldn't recall ever having a conversation with anyone

23:57

else and the apartment house on books avenue

24:00

let alone go into any of the other apartments.

24:02

Michelle mused aloud, we had

24:04

no relations with these people. Why would he do

24:06

that? Never asked for a cup of sugar, nothing.

24:09

When shown, she did not recognize Rita

24:11

Kern from her photo, but remarked that she

24:13

was beautiful. Then

24:16

they asked her about the night of the murder. In

24:18

her first interview, almost a year earlier, before

24:20

they knew her husband had killed Rita, Michelle

24:23

had confirmed to Detective Channette her

24:26

original statements from the day after the homicide,

24:28

saying her husband was home all night and

24:30

she didn't hear or see anything suspicious. She

24:33

said she and DeRuth had been married for a short

24:35

time, neither of them worked, and they spent all their

24:37

time together. Now, she said,

24:40

she remembered the murder vividly because the police were all

24:42

over the place the next day. She

24:44

said that on the night of Monday, July 19th, 1971, she

24:48

and DeRuth were home alone and they got

24:50

into an argument. She could not remember

24:53

what this argument was about at all, but she

24:55

did remember that her husband said he was going

24:57

for a cool down walk and he left the apartment.

25:01

She didn't remember how long he was gone and she went to bed. She

25:03

did remember that he came home and slept in the same

25:06

bed as her that night. No, she

25:08

didn't recall whether they had sex. Michelle

25:10

had no recollection of any injuries to his person

25:12

or anything like that. She didn't see

25:14

any blood at all. And of course, all these years

25:16

later, she couldn't remember what he was wearing that night.

25:19

She said she wouldn't know if he'd disposed of

25:21

any clothing. She didn't think they had a washer

25:23

dryer, but she couldn't remember where they did

25:25

their laundry. In

25:28

the morning, the police banged on their door very

25:30

early. Remember, they started the building canvas at 7

25:32

a.m. DeRuth stayed in bed and

25:34

she answered the door. The officers

25:36

told Michelle that someone had quote, been hurt pretty

25:38

bad and asked if she'd seen or hurt anything.

25:41

She said she hadn't. Specifically,

25:43

this is what happened to remind you of the

25:45

statements in Officer Garro's 1971 report. I

25:48

checked 17 Brooks Avenue, the second floor

25:50

and could not raise anyone there. On the

25:52

third floor, I talked to William de Ross,

25:54

age 31 and Michelle de Ross, age 24.

25:58

They both stated they had heard nothing. and

26:00

Mrs. de Ross stated she had been up around 1

26:02

a.m. but had heard no unusual noises or anything else.

26:06

Michelle now said that at the time her

26:08

husband, having gone for a walk in the night,

26:10

was so inconsequential that it hadn't even occurred to

26:12

her to mention it to the police. But

26:15

she admitted that after the police left in

26:17

that first Canvas contact and she closed the

26:19

door, her husband told her not

26:22

to mention that he'd gone out for a walk

26:24

the night before. He said he was concerned because

26:26

he had a criminal record that they would jump

26:28

to conclusions and try to pin the crime on

26:30

him. Some more from

26:32

the original Police Canvas reports. Detective Winterbottom

26:35

proceeded to the third floor apartment and made contact

26:38

with Mrs. Mitchell de Rufe, who stated she did

26:40

not hear a thing. She told

26:42

Detective Winterbottom that she did not know anything was

26:44

going on until she saw the police cars and

26:46

the ambulance. State

26:48

Police Corporal Bruce LaHue at the third

26:50

floor apartment, Trooper LaHue identified two tenants,

26:52

Mr. and Mrs. William de Rufe. His

26:55

reports stated the following. Talked with Michelle

26:57

de Rufe, wife of William. Mrs. de

26:59

Rufe stated she heard and saw nothing and as far

27:02

as she knew, neither did her husband on the night

27:04

of Monday, July 19th, 1971. So

27:08

Michelle told three different investigating officers that her husband

27:10

was home with her that night. She

27:12

did not mention the argument or the walk or the

27:14

fact that he was gone for a while. Every

27:17

time the police asked her if her husband was home

27:19

with her that night, and as you heard, there were

27:21

several occasions she said yes. She

27:24

told a different story five decades later to

27:26

cold case detectives. Five decades

27:28

later, she gave our detectives a different

27:30

story. The truth police chief John Murad

27:32

later said. In

27:34

her 2022 interview, Michelle admitted to the

27:36

investigators that the thought briefly crossed her mind that

27:39

de Rufe could have committed the murder, but she

27:41

said it was inconceivable because he would have had

27:43

no reason to do it. Michelle

27:45

admitted that she'd never directly asked her if he'd

27:48

done it. She also admitted that

27:50

while she couldn't recall the details of what

27:52

she had told the police back then, she

27:54

probably would have covered for de Rufe based

27:56

on their previous conversation about his criminal record

27:58

being a motive for police. to accuse him.

28:02

Michelle said that if she really thought DeRuth was involved

28:04

in what happened to Rita, she would have quietly gone

28:06

to the police. I think

28:08

that's doubtful, but the detectives came away

28:10

from the interview believing that Michelle had

28:12

not deliberately misled the 1971 investigators. She'd

28:16

been young and naive and genuinely did not believe

28:18

her brand new husband had killed Rita Curran. After

28:21

all, as she said, what was the motive? And

28:24

how realistic was it that he went out

28:26

for a walk, violently sexually assaulted and murdered

28:28

someone and came home and slipped back into

28:30

bed, his wife, none the wiser. How

28:32

could he act totally normal in the morning and

28:34

had no signs of blood or scratches or remorse?

28:37

It was all very implausible and it's easy to see

28:39

how Michelle didn't entertain the idea for more than a

28:42

moment. It's easy to see how

28:44

she believed him when he explained that his record

28:46

might attract undue attention from law enforcement.

28:49

She also pointed out that as a black female

28:51

in 1971, she had an inherent

28:53

distrust of the police. When she

28:55

totally accepted as normal, her husband asking her

28:57

to omit the details of his absence for

29:00

fear of provoking undue scrutiny of him because

29:02

of his record as a felon. Michelle

29:06

did answer one important question the detectives posed to

29:08

her, whether her husband smoked. The

29:10

answer was yes, although she couldn't recall any specific

29:12

brand and the name Lark did not seem to

29:14

ring a bell. Michelle

29:17

and DeRuth's life in Burlington did not last long

29:20

after Rita's murder. She wasn't sure

29:22

of the exact date that this happened, but

29:24

DeRuth suddenly moved to Thailand that fall. They

29:26

remained married and Michelle couldn't remember why she

29:29

didn't go to Thailand too, but suspected it

29:31

was because they couldn't both afford plane tickets.

29:34

She stayed in Burlington and worked as a nurse and

29:36

when she saved enough money, she went to Thailand and

29:38

met him there in March of 1972. When

29:41

she got there, DeRuth had achieved monkhood. The

29:44

two traveled around Thailand for a short time

29:46

and then returned to the Tanburi Monastery in

29:49

a Bangkok suburb. Where DeRuth

29:51

was a monk and she became a nun. She

29:53

said they never had much of a relationship after that

29:55

because it was against their religious principles. She

29:58

ended up staying in Thailand for about a year. year and a half.

30:01

The ruse left the country before she did. She

30:04

couldn't remember where he went, but he had asked her

30:06

for money to help him pay for a trip that

30:08

did not include her and she refused. She

30:10

said that was the last time she saw him

30:12

or had any communication with him whatsoever. Much

30:15

later, back in the US, she went ahead and

30:17

got a legal divorce through an attorney. Michelle

30:20

was clearly emotionally impacted by the realization that

30:22

her new husband had gone downstairs and brutally

30:24

murdered a woman in a time when she

30:27

naively thought he was out getting some fresh

30:29

air. Michelle's father knew Rita's

30:31

family from living in Burlington. This crime was

30:33

close to home, but it was way

30:35

closer to home than she had ever suspected. Very

30:39

oddly, there was another mention of William de ruse

30:41

in the case file. Lieutenant Treeb found

30:43

his name in a report of a

30:45

tip written down by detectives Davis and

30:47

Goudin. It reads, quote, Wednesday, July

30:49

28, 1971, oh, 900 hours. William de

30:54

ruse, age 31, 15 Brooks Avenue, Burlington,

30:56

D.O.B. 121439. Above, subject's name was brought to

31:02

our attention by an informer who stated that

31:04

the subject was capable of committing a violent

31:06

crime. Subject informed us that he was

31:08

home at the time of the crime with his wife,

31:10

but that they did not see or hear anything. Informed

31:13

us that he is a farm laborer on

31:15

the Palmer farm in Heinsburg. Okay,

31:19

what? A tip was called in

31:21

one week after the murder, claiming de ruse

31:23

as someone who could have killed Rita. The

31:25

tipster knew that de ruse and Michelle had

31:27

been home on the night of the murder,

31:29

but had witnessed nothing or so they said.

31:33

That was it. There was nothing else in

31:35

the case file explaining whether this tip was

31:37

ever investigated. Detectives Davis and Goudin had both

31:39

passed away by this time, and it's unlikely

31:41

that they would ever remember this anyway. Hundreds

31:43

of tips were called in after

31:45

police pleaded for information of Rita's case. This

31:48

one may have gotten buried under the mountain of them. Detective

31:51

Jeanette asked Michelle about this and she had no

31:54

idea who could have tipped about de ruse, but

31:56

she said he had never worked on a farm

31:58

and they didn't have a car, so he would

32:00

have had no way of getting there. To

32:02

this day, that's all we know about this tip. But

32:05

someone knew what William de Roodes was

32:07

capable of, knew his date of birth,

32:09

and knew his alibi. Seeking

32:15

the truth never gets old. Introducing June's

32:17

Journey, the free-to-play mobile game that will

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immerse you in a thrilling murder mystery.

32:22

Join June Parker as she uncovers hidden

32:24

objects and clues to solve her sister's

32:26

death in a beautifully illustrated world set

32:29

in the roaring twenties. With

32:31

new chapters added every week, the excitement

32:33

never ends. Download

32:37

June's Journey now on your Android or

32:39

iOS device or play on PC through

32:41

Facebook games. The

32:44

future is a hefty responsibility and not one

32:46

that we take lightly, but then taking things

32:48

lightly has never been what hefty is about.

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that turns hard to recycle plastics

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Fire and Casualty Insurance Company in Affiliate Northbrook, Illinois. Detectives

33:47

moved on to interview another woman who had been

33:49

married to William DeRuth. On September

33:51

29, 2022, detectives Channette and Tremblay interviewed Sarah

33:55

H. in Colorado. Sarah

33:57

met DeRuth in San Francisco in July of 1970. 1974.

34:01

She said she was living a hippie lifestyle and

34:03

had hitchhiked to San Francisco from Boulder. Scobus.

34:07

She and DeRuth met at a Zen flat, which

34:09

I think is some sort of communal living center.

34:11

She knew him as a guru named Dutch. From

34:14

the report, quote, Sarah further described DeRuth

34:16

as a guru in that he was

34:18

a very influential speaker. She advised that

34:20

he had a power over people, mental

34:22

hypnosis almost. She described herself

34:24

as a lost hippie who was under his

34:27

influence, end quote. DeRuth expressed

34:29

interest in her and they had lots of interest

34:31

in common such as meditating and bicycling. He

34:34

didn't tell her a lot about his time in Thailand and

34:36

he never mentioned Vermont. She knew

34:38

he had been married and lived in Thailand, but he did

34:40

not talk much about these periods in his life. Sarah

34:43

and DeRuth tied the knot on November

34:45

19th, 1974 after meeting just four months

34:47

earlier. Sarah

34:51

described DeRuth as six feet tall, slender

34:53

with dark hair. She said he was

34:55

mild mannered, but there were two jarring

34:57

incidents that stood out because they seemed

34:59

it's so at odds with everything DeRuth

35:01

purported to stand for. In

35:04

one incident, they were having drinks with a female

35:06

friend named Ophelia. They were

35:08

chatting away one moment and the next DeRuth

35:10

pulled out a pocket knife and stabbed Ophelia

35:12

in the abdomen. This was

35:14

completely unprovoked and out of the blue. There was

35:17

no argument or disagreement going on in any way.

35:19

Ophelia went to the hospital and reported the

35:22

incident and DeRuth was arrested. This

35:24

from Detective Tamblay's report, quote, Sarah

35:26

advised that DeRuth return to their apartment the next

35:29

day and acted as if nothing had happened. She

35:31

stated that DeRuth inquired if he had stabbed

35:34

her, Sarah, and she informed him that he

35:36

had stabbed Ophelia. She said that

35:38

DeRuth then went about his business, they

35:40

never discussed the incident any further and that he

35:42

didn't seem to show any remorse for what happened.

35:46

In the next incident, Sarah related, DeRuth actually

35:48

did try to harm her. The two of

35:50

them were drinking, but again, there was no

35:52

precipitating argument. In fact, Sarah said DeRuth would

35:54

often go off on angry, tangential rants and

35:56

she never engaged with him. She

35:59

told the detectives that. she felt very insecure in

36:01

the relationship and didn't really stand up for herself.

36:04

So anyway, suddenly, de Roos just started strangling her,

36:06

using his hands on her throat to choke her

36:08

nearly to the point where she lost consciousness. I

36:11

imagine that with this statement, the detectives side-eyed

36:14

each other. William de Roos had strangled Rita.

36:16

Sarah was lucky to be alive. So

36:20

it sounds like at this point in the mid-70s, de

36:22

Roos was starting to unravel. Sarah said

36:24

that he purchased a hunting rifle during a camping

36:27

trip that might have happened in about 1976 in

36:29

the Sacramento area. For

36:32

the record, aspirational Buddhists don't usually carry

36:34

rifles or hunt. Sarah

36:36

stated that she believed de Roos was arrested

36:38

by the feds for this purchase, and he

36:40

disappeared for five to seven days, during which

36:42

she assumed he was in jail. Once

36:46

again, de Roos did not discuss this incident after returning

36:48

home, and she didn't press it. Finally,

36:51

Sarah reported that de Roos also used cocaine occasionally,

36:53

and she didn't know what else he was doing,

36:55

but she knew for a fact that he drank

36:57

heavily and took Thorazine, used to

36:59

treat bipolar disorder. Sarah

37:02

and de Roos took their marriage on the road, traveling

37:04

California in a Plymouth Duster and bouncing from place to

37:06

place. They lived off welfare money. In

37:09

1978, they settled at the Triangle Motel

37:12

in Eureka, California for six months. And

37:14

that summer, Sarah caught de Roos in

37:16

bed with another woman. At that point, she left

37:18

him. A couple

37:20

of months later, when Sarah had moved on to

37:23

another relationship, de Roos showed up at the house

37:25

she shared with her new man. Sarah

37:27

was uncomfortable with this because she had no idea how

37:29

he had found her, and he was acting weird. He

37:32

left after about 24 hours, and she never saw

37:34

him again. Finally,

37:36

the investigators reached out to Rita's living

37:38

former roommates, Paul Robinson and Carrie Dee.

37:40

As I mentioned earlier, Beverly Lamper had

37:42

passed away by this time. They

37:45

asked both roommates whether they remembered any interactions

37:47

with William de Roos or his wife, Michelle. Shown

37:50

photos of Michelle and de Roos, Carrie, did not

37:52

remember either one of them. She

37:54

said she had lived in the apartment for only

37:56

two months before Rita moved in, and she moved

37:58

out immediately upon Rita's murder. She

38:00

did not have any recollection of William de Rooze

38:03

living in the very same apartment house as her,

38:05

Paul, Beverly, and Rita. As

38:07

for Paul, he thought the photo of de Rooze looked

38:09

like someone he might have seen in passing, but that

38:11

was it. He didn't spend a lot

38:13

of time at the apartment, he didn't live there long, and

38:16

he didn't interact with the neighbors. Neither

38:18

Carey nor Paul had any recollection of

38:20

the couple other than in passing, and they

38:23

confirmed that neither William nor Michelle had been

38:25

in their apartment, says the report. Okay,

38:28

just a few more biographical facts about

38:30

William Richard de Rooze, one of the

38:32

stranger murderers I've covered. He was

38:34

born on December 14, 1939, the

38:37

son of William Henry de Rooze of

38:39

South Dakota and Lois Lyle Orr. The

38:41

father, William Henry, served in the U.S.

38:43

Navy and was stationed in Japan, Texas,

38:45

and Florida. Detective Channett

38:48

told me that his research revealed that de Rooze's

38:50

father had a family in every port. That

38:52

is, he had at least three different sets of kids

38:54

with three wives and some of them at the same

38:56

time, but in different locations. Remember,

38:58

William said that he had six brothers, but

39:01

we know he was the only child from his

39:03

parents' union. His dad got around. We

39:06

know next to nothing about de Rooze's earlier

39:08

life other than what his ex-wife told the

39:10

investigators, which may or may not be true. There

39:12

is mention of him completing military training at

39:15

Fort Knox, Kentucky at age 17, but

39:17

military service has not been confirmed, and neither Michelle

39:19

or Sarah knew about this. Detective

39:23

Channett tried hard to dig up a criminal

39:25

history for de Rooze, having heard from Michelle

39:27

and Sarah about him doing time for armed

39:29

robbery in San Francisco, being arrested for an

39:31

illegal gun purchase in Sinon. But

39:34

he was never able to find any records. The

39:36

authorities in the San Francisco area informed him

39:38

that their records from that era had all

39:40

been destroyed long ago, so that wasn't helpful.

39:43

And various states in which de Rooze was known to spend

39:45

time had nothing on him. In

39:48

early March of 2022, Detective Channett spoke

39:50

on the phone with a sister-in-law of

39:52

de Rooze's, who described the extended family

39:55

as very fragmented and estranged. She

39:57

remembered William de Rooze as someone who was not close with

39:59

him. the family. She recalled meeting him

40:01

only once in the early 80s when he showed

40:04

up in Florida for an unexpected visit to

40:06

his father, William Henry DeRuth. The

40:08

sister-in-law described DeRuth as odd, dressing in

40:10

traditional Taiwanese attire, and having a Thai

40:12

woman and two children with him who

40:15

did not speak English. It

40:17

wasn't clear whether the children were his and the whole

40:19

thing was bizarre and awkward. After

40:22

that last family interaction, DeRuth wasn't around too

40:24

long. On August 7, 1986, he

40:27

was found dead in an apartment building in San Francisco,

40:29

slumped over on the floor with a handkerchief tourniquet on

40:32

his upper left arm and a needle and

40:34

drugs next to him. His cause

40:36

of death was acute morphine poisoning, an

40:38

overdose. He was 46. I would

40:41

guess that he'd possibly overdosed on purpose, except

40:43

a friend was found with him, also dead

40:45

of an overdose. As an

40:47

aside, drugs are another thing that Buddhist monks aren't

40:49

big on, and of course murder

40:51

is contrary to literally everything they stand for.

40:56

The Burlington Police held a press conference on February 21,

40:58

2023, announcing that the BPD's

41:01

Detective Service Bureau is unanimously certain

41:03

that the sole perpetrator responsible for

41:05

the aggravated murder of Rita Patricia

41:07

Curran on July 19 or 20

41:09

in 1971 was William DeRuth.

41:14

Not only did they have DNA evidence, they had

41:16

circumstantial evidence. He lived in the building,

41:18

but Rita did not know him and there was no

41:20

valid reason for him to be in her bedroom. He

41:23

had no alibi and was unaccounted for during the

41:25

time of the murder. He was

41:27

a smoker and smoked indoors, according to Michelle.

41:30

After the murder, he told his wife to lie on

41:32

his behalf. His life plan

41:34

changed drastically after the murder and he moved to

41:36

Thailand. He continued to demonstrate

41:38

a propensity for random violence throughout his life.

41:42

Chief John Murad told the assembled crowd

41:44

that Chittenden County State's Attorney Sarah George

41:46

had reviewed the report with all this

41:48

information and agreed that they would have

41:50

probable cause to arrest William DeRuth were

41:52

he alive. was

42:00

loved," said Chief Murad, and the random violence

42:02

of her murder left a stain on our

42:04

community. It devastated her family, and for 50

42:06

years they have waited for justice. Reed

42:10

O'Kyran's brother Tom came up to the lectern

42:12

and told the media that the previous week the

42:14

family was honored to attend a luncheon with about

42:16

60 members of law enforcement who had worked his

42:19

sister's case over the decades. He

42:21

could not thank them enough for never backing

42:23

down in their relentless pursuit of Reedus Killer.

42:26

The family had engraved Reedus Headstone with a

42:28

short poem by E.B. Browning that Reeda had

42:30

selected to accompany her yearbook photo in school.

42:33

It reads, I seek no copy now of

42:35

life's first half, leave here the

42:37

pages, with long missing curled, and

42:40

write me new my future's epigraph, New Angel

42:42

Mine, unhoped for in the world. Tom

42:46

told those at the press conference of the impact of

42:48

Reedus' murder on the family. He said

42:50

life was different in those days. My mother came

42:52

here from Ireland and my father was from Newfoundland.

42:55

We were an old-fashioned, strong Catholic

42:57

family. I don't think so much

42:59

about the guy who did this as I do about Reeda

43:01

and my parents and what they went through. I

43:03

pray to my parents and I pray to Reeda. Of

43:06

his and Reeda's parents, Tom and Mary Curran, Tom

43:09

said they didn't have counseling or help in

43:11

their time of grief, just rosary beads and

43:13

prayers. Tom also extended

43:15

his thanks to Season of Justice, which paid

43:17

for the testing that led to the resolution

43:20

of Reeda's case. He announced

43:22

that the family was creating a GoFundMe to

43:24

refund Season of Justice for the grant that

43:26

benefited Reeda so that they could

43:28

pay it forward to help other families find

43:30

resolution to their loved ones' cases. Reeda's

43:33

sister Mary Campbell spoke next. She said the

43:35

family has preserved Reeda as part of their

43:37

legacy, making an effort to remember her over

43:39

the decades. She thanked the

43:42

investigators for their kindness, caring, and compassion

43:44

over the years. Burlington Mayor

43:46

Amiro Weinberger spoke, saying that Reeda's murder

43:48

was a terrible night for our community

43:50

that caused pain to the family for

43:52

50 years. He said while

43:54

it was tragic that William DeRoods was dead, so

43:57

there will never be accountability, he hopes that

43:59

at least the family will be there. has

44:01

received some measure of closure. He pointed out,

44:04

quote, we are only here because of generations

44:06

of investigators and the integrity of the investigation

44:08

in the first critical hour. Chief

44:11

Murad took a moment to address the crucial

44:13

role of open source DNA databases. He

44:15

said that the people opting in, the genetic

44:18

witnesses, people like you and me, are the

44:20

real heroes. He said their willingness

44:22

to share their DNA brings evildoers to justice

44:24

and finds justice for families. Several

44:27

of the investigators who worked the case

44:29

also spoke. Detective Lieutenant Jim Trebe, who

44:31

cited a close relationship with the current

44:33

family and thanked his team. Lead

44:35

Detective Tom Chenette and former Lead Detective

44:38

Tom Trebele thanked the parties involved and

44:40

referenced their undying commitment to the family to

44:42

solve Rita's case. The

44:45

website Vermont Digger interviewed Patrick Leahy, the Chittenden

44:47

County state's attorney at the time of Rita's

44:50

death, who went on to become a U.S.

44:52

Senator. He said while he always

44:54

hoped Rita's murder would be solved, quote, I

44:57

must admit after 20 and 30,

44:59

40 years, I figured it never would, end

45:01

quote. But as C.C.

45:03

Moore, who spoke via video at the

45:06

press conference, said, quote, this case is

45:08

a fantastic illustration of the power of

45:10

investigative genetic genealogy to narrow down the

45:12

pool of suspects to just one person.

45:15

This case was over 50 years old and it

45:17

only took me a few hours to narrow it

45:19

down to William DeRue's. Okay,

45:23

so William DeRue's murder to Rita Curran, it's

45:25

a fact, but how did he do it?

45:27

The slaying over the years took on almost

45:29

mythic proportions in Burlington with theories about Bundy,

45:32

a cover-up, conspiracies, and all the

45:34

while it seems it was simple. Very

45:36

late on the night of July 19th, 1971, Rita's upstairs neighbor,

45:41

DeRue's, angry after an argument with his

45:43

new wife, stormed out of their

45:45

third floor apartment and went down the exterior stairs.

45:48

Reaching the ground floor, he perhaps noted that

45:51

the cars belonging to Carrie and Beverly were

45:53

gone, but Rita's was there. The

45:55

ground floor apartment was quiet. DeRue's went

45:57

around to the back of the building, to the small

45:59

backyard, where he was accustomed to stand and smoke. He

46:02

stood there smoking and perhaps even peered into Rita's

46:05

window and saw her there asleep. The

46:07

back door to the porch was unlocked, as was the

46:09

door to the storage area and the door to the

46:12

kitchen. He tiptoed inside and

46:14

found in the closest bedroom a

46:16

peacefully sleeping Rita, in her house

46:18

coat and curler. In a

46:20

rage, DeRuz took out on Rita the urges

46:22

he had after arguing with Michelle. When

46:25

Carrie and Paul came home, DeRuz escaped out

46:27

the kitchen door, his fists leaving Rita's blood

46:29

there. He went back upstairs, stripped

46:31

off his clothes and got in bed with Michelle.

46:35

Speaking to Michelle, at the press conference the

46:37

authorities said they will not charge her. Lying

46:40

to the police is not a crime, but, as

46:42

they pointed out, it's not helpful. Police

46:45

say they have caused to believe DeRuz continued to

46:47

hurt people and was a dangerous person, although they

46:49

have no proof that he killed anyone else. I

46:52

personally think it's likely that he did. His

46:54

DNA is now in CODIS, so as agencies rerun

46:56

their old evidence from the 60s, 70s and early

46:59

80s, perhaps he will be connected

47:01

by DNA to additional crimes. After

47:05

52 years, Rita Curran's case is closed

47:07

thanks to forensic genealogy, and if you're one

47:10

of the bad guys, they're coming for you. Thank

47:13

you so much to CC Moore and Detective Corporal

47:15

Thomas Channett for speaking with me about this case.

47:18

Thank you as well to BPD, PIO, Lieutenant

47:20

Mayne Guyen for his diligence in working with

47:23

me to get this story out there. Recently,

47:25

I let listeners know about a new benefit

47:28

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