DNA pulled from the butt of a cigarette has helped authorities solve the murder of Rita Curran, a Vermont teacher found dead in her apartment back in 1971.
Investigators identified William DeRoos — a man who lived in the same apartment building as 24-year-old Curran — as the killer, thanks to advances in DNA technology and genetic genealogy, Burlington Police said Tuesday.
DeRoos, who was 31 years old when he committed the crime, died of a drug overdose in San Francisco in 1986.
The case is now closed, Burlington Police Detective Lt. James Trieb, said during a Tuesday news conference.
In the early morning hours of July 20, 1971, Burlington police responded to Curran’s Brooks Avenue apartment after one of her roommates returned home and discovered her body in their shared bedroom. A detective at the time wrote Curran put up a “vicious struggle” before she was eventually murdered by the intruder.
Just hours earlier, DeRoos left his apartment for “a cool down walk” after a fight with his new wife. When he returned, he urged his spouse against telling anyone he’d been out and about. She initially obliged, telling investigators she and her husband had been together all evening.
Armed with his alibi, DeRoos — known to some as a guru — then moved to Thailand and became a monk, though he later returned to the United States.
The case remained cold until 2014, when investigators extracted a DNA profile from a cigarette butt found next to Curran’s body. No match for the evidence was found and the case again went cold. But in 2019, DeRoos’ now-former wife told authorities he’d left their apartment for a brief window of time matching when Curran’s roommates were out of their Burlington apartment.
In August, investigators began retesting DNA, including the cigarette butt, using genetic genealogy. The new results indicated the cigarette DNA had strong connections to relatives of DeRoos, both on the paternal and maternal sides.