Caught the Murder after 31 years!

[LakeTahoe]

31 years and finally they caught him!! Thanks to the DNA test!! And now her family finally can rest and feel peace knowing that their daughter is now rest in peace! Poor her half brother never knew her half sister At least I know she is in his heart.

Florida Resident Arrested in 31-year-old Murder - 13WHAM.com

Patrice Walsh, Sean Carroll (Rochester, N.Y./Key West, Fla.) -- DNA testing has helped solve the murder of a young girl in Rochester that occurred more than 30 years ago.

Michelle McMurray was a beautiful red-headed little girl whose murder, police say, was one of the most brutal they’d ever seen.

James Pressler, 64, has been charged with raping and murdering McMurray in 1976.

Pressler was a suspect from the start. Police questioned him after finding him in the apartment building the morning of the murder; but there wasn't enough evidence to arrest him.

Monroe County District Attorney Mike Green said, "The evidence didn't exist...they didn't have the technology to do that."

But police preserved evidence from the scene. It was retested using new DNA technology at the county crime lab.

Police tracked down Pressler to his current home outside of Key West, Fla. hoping to get a DNA sample to make a match.

Florida detectives said they followed Pressler and picked up a cigarette he threw on the ground. That gave them the DNA they needed to make an arrest.

Police said this is the oldest cold case ever solved in Rochester using DNA evidence.

Homicide investigators said it was a relief after 31 years to tell her family that a suspect has been caught.

Andrew Wilkinson, the victim's half-brother, wasn’t even born when Michelle was killed, but he remembers that their father never gave up on the case.

Wilkinson said, "I remember being at Ontario Beach on the pier and him saying, 'One day this will come to an end.' At least it has."

This case dates back to roughly the same time of the Double Initial Murders.

While this victim had the same initials in her first and last names; police say there is no evidence to connect Pressler to those three unsolved murders. They will however, share their evidence and information with the appropriate investigators.

According to the Monroe County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office in Key West, Pressler is fighting extradition and is being held without bond on a fugitive warrant.

The U.S. Marshal's office said Eliot Spitzer must now issue a Governor’s warrant and send it to the Governor of Florida before Pressler can be extradited, since he waived it. This is a lengthy process and could take at least a month.

 

[morbid-mongoose]

I'm glad they caught the sick bastard.

 

[Angel]

Wow, 31 years is a long time...Amazing, Thanks to DNA testing!

 

[morbid-mongoose]

It's amazing that they saved the evidence hoping to eventually solve the murder. Who could have thought back then we'd have the technology we do today?

 

[LakeTahoe]

Yea I know..I am sure now more and more unsolved cases are gonna be solved if possible. Yes thanks to the DNA test!! WHOO! Don't the technology are wonderful?!

I am sure that the murder now GULPED big time that he got caught! And locked up what he did to the girl!!! TSK!

 

[Angel]

Yea I know..I am sure now more and more unsolved cases are gonna be solved if possible. Yes thanks to the DNA test!! WHOO! Don't the technology are wonderful?!

:hiding the murder weapon: LOL jk.

 

[SxyPorkie]

I always watch "Cold Cases" on the A & E channels... most of the cold cases did not have any better technologies back then.... Now there are several kinds of DNA tests.. and detectives who works on the cold cases mostly are successful since there are better technology.. DNA... still have more cold cases to be solved... there are millions cases went cold..
I like to watch that program... It is so interesting....

 

[Andrew_W]

31 years and finally they caught him!! Thanks to the DNA test!! And now her family finally can rest and feel peace knowing that their daughter is now rest in peace! Poor her half brother never knew her half sister At least I know she is in his heart.

Florida Resident Arrested in 31-year-old Murder - 13WHAM.com

Patrice Walsh, Sean Carroll (Rochester, N.Y./Key West, Fla.) -- DNA testing has helped solve the murder of a young girl in Rochester that occurred more than 30 years ago.

Michelle McMurray was a beautiful red-headed little girl whose murder, police say, was one of the most brutal they’d ever seen.

James Pressler, 64, has been charged with raping and murdering McMurray in 1976.

Pressler was a suspect from the start. Police questioned him after finding him in the apartment building the morning of the murder; but there wasn't enough evidence to arrest him.

Monroe County District Attorney Mike Green said, "The evidence didn't exist...they didn't have the technology to do that."

But police preserved evidence from the scene. It was retested using new DNA technology at the county crime lab.

Police tracked down Pressler to his current home outside of Key West, Fla. hoping to get a DNA sample to make a match.

Florida detectives said they followed Pressler and picked up a cigarette he threw on the ground. That gave them the DNA they needed to make an arrest.

Police said this is the oldest cold case ever solved in Rochester using DNA evidence.

Homicide investigators said it was a relief after 31 years to tell her family that a suspect has been caught.

Andrew Wilkinson, the victim's half-brother, wasn’t even born when Michelle was killed, but he remembers that their father never gave up on the case.

Wilkinson said, "I remember being at Ontario Beach on the pier and him saying, 'One day this will come to an end.' At least it has."

This case dates back to roughly the same time of the Double Initial Murders.

While this victim had the same initials in her first and last names; police say there is no evidence to connect Pressler to those three unsolved murders. They will however, share their evidence and information with the appropriate investigators.

According to the Monroe County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office in Key West, Pressler is fighting extradition and is being held without bond on a fugitive warrant.

The U.S. Marshal's office said Eliot Spitzer must now issue a Governor’s warrant and send it to the Governor of Florida before Pressler can be extradited, since he waived it. This is a lengthy process and could take at least a month.

Thank you. Seeing somthing like this from a complete stranger is awesome.
Unfortunatley my Dad died before he could see this ending.
And Pressler also passed while awaiting extradition.

 

[posts from hell]

Thank you. Seeing somthing like this from a complete stranger is awesome.
Unfortunatley my Dad died before he could see this ending.
And Pressler also passed while awaiting extradition.

Wow. Sorry to hear.

Hope all is well with you, Andrew.

 

[Phillips]

Wow!

 

[yizuman]

Wow, Andrew is here. Thank you for visiting us.

Please, if you could, share something with us a little of yourself and family, if you can, without compromising the case. What was it all like, growing up with your family regarding a sister you never knew? How did they cope and such?

Glad the case is coming to a close and hope the bastard gets exactly what he deserves.

Yiz

 

[Steinhauer]

thank you for sharing that with us Andrew. I hope this brings closure. I remember growing up in Florida during the Adam Walsh case. That case scared my parents so bad.

 

[Babyblue]

Thank you. Seeing somthing like this from a complete stranger is awesome.
Unfortunatley my Dad died before he could see this ending.
And Pressler also passed while awaiting extradition.

Thank you for responding.

Hope all is well for you..

Did they ever connect Pressler to the other murders?
Using the DNA?