For more than 60 years, family members of Mary Theresa Simpson wondered who snatched the 12-year-old Elmira girl off the street and brutally murdered her.
Thanks to new technology and DNA evidence that was carefully preserved, the suspect known for decades simply as John Doe finally has a name — Alfred R. Murray, Jr.
Current and past officials and investigators from the Elmira Police Department and other law enforcement agencies gathered Tuesday, Feb. 10 at the Chemung County District Attorney’s Office to announce closure to a murder mystery that vexed police for years.
“The family finally got an answer. The case was never forgotten,” Elmira police investigator Sgt. William Goodwin said.
“The wheels of justice move slowly,” District Attorney Weeden Wetmore added. “The Elmira Police Department did a tremendous job.”
What happened to Mary Theresa Simpson?
Mary Theresa Simpson was only 12 years old when she vanished from her Elmira home in March 1964. Her body was found four days later, but no suspect was ever identified.
After visiting some relatives on March 15, 1964, Mary was last seen heading home at about 6:30 p.m. at the corner of East Market and Harriet streets. Her father reported her missing at 10:30 p.m.
On March 19, 1964, Mary’s frozen, fully clothed body was discovered in a wooded section of Southport under twigs, branches, leaves, dirt and four heavy stones — the largest weighing more than 100 pounds — by a man who was hiking with his two sons near Combs Hill Road.
Only part of her hand and a sneaker were visible. Her mouth had been stuffed with dirt and twigs, police said at the time. The Chemung County medical examiner said Mary had been strangled, and there was also evidence of sexual molestation.
Despite an intense investigation involving hundreds of interviews over the years, the case went cold — until now.
Who was Alfred Murray Jr.?
Alfred Murray Jr. was an Elmira resident who died at age 73 in March 2004, almost 40 years to the day after Mary Simpson went missing.
Murray was a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War and was married with several children and grandchildren, according to his obituary.
Murray was known to police at the time in relation to other criminal investigations, but his name never came up during the Simpson murder case, Elmira Police Chief Kristen Thorne said.
Investigators don’t believe Murray and Mary knew each other and he didn’t live in her neighborhood, Thorne said. Most likely she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and it was a crime of opportunity, he said.
Many people familiar with the case were surprised Murray turned out to be the killer.
Christina Fanelli, who wrote a book about the crime, “What Happened to Me? Exploring the Mary Theresa Simpson Cold Case,” spent a year researching the murder before her book was published last September.
Fanelli said Murray never showed up on her radar.
“I was expecting it to be someone related to her, not out of the blue,” Fanelli said. “I’m glad it wasn’t the dad.”
Retired Elmira police Sgt. William Maloney joined the force as a patrolman a year after Mary’s death. He was also involved in the investigation over the years but said the name Alfred Murray was news to him as well.
“We all walked a beat in those days and I met a million people,” Maloney recalled. “I never heard that name mentioned.”
How the murder of Mary Theresa Simpson was finally solved
While DNA technology didn’t exist in 1964, police investigators carefully preserved everything from the crime scene, evidence that sat untouched in a freezer at police headquarters for decades, Goodwin said.
In the early 2000s, evidence samples were resubmitted to the New York State Police lab for DNA testing. With the help of another lab that specializes in investigative genetic genealogy, samples were run through the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and eventually a familial match was found.
Further investigation led to Murray, and after his body was exhumed, DNA testing confirmed a match, with a one in 320 billion chance the DNA belonged to someone else, Goodwin said.
“If Murray was alive, he would be charged with murder,” Thorne said. “We now know the truth. For 62 years, this case has been open.”
Several of Mary’s surviving family members attended Tuesday’s news conference, and expressed gratitute to the people who never stopped digging.
“I want to thank the Elmira Police Department and everyone involved,” said Mary’s sister, Linda Galvin. “I’m glad it’s all over. I just want to thank everyone who was involved.”
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This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Six decades later, Elmira man IDed as Mary Theresa Simpson’s killer
Reporting by Jeff Murray, Elmira Star-Gazette / Elmira Star-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
