Chewed-gum DNA links elusive Washington state murder suspect to two cold-case killings

A killing that haunted investigators

Judy Weaver was found tied up and motionless in the smoldering bedroom of her apartment in 1984. She had been celebrating the sale of the Bel-Nes with friends before returning home.

Detective Susan Logothetti later concluded Weaver may have left her back door unlocked. She believed an attacker entered and took time to kill her.

Richards became the prime suspect

Weaver’s daughters, Colleen and Cathy, disliked her fiancé, Bill Richards. Colleen Kayser said Richards yelled at her mother and had hit her. Investigators questioned other men, but Richards emerged as the main suspect. Authorities lacked enough evidence to charge him or clear him, and he died in 1994 still suspected.

DNA testing revisits the case

In January 2023, Logothetti’s department took another look at the killing. Her former boss believed advances in DNA testing could help identify Weaver’s killer and submitted evidence to confirm a suspicion about Richards.

The account connects chewed-gum DNA to two cold-case killings, but provides no details about the testing or the second killing. It therefore leaves unclear how the DNA evidence relates to the investigation of Weaver’s death.