CASE CLOSED

DNA Used to Uncover 70s Serial Killer Who Raped and Strangled Women in Ohio

A rape kit collected from the body of a University of Cincinnati student in 1978 solved a crucial cold case killing, authorities said.

DNA technology helped Ohio authorities solve a 44-year-old cold case killing which also shed light on three other murders, prosecutors said. Ralph Howell, who died in a car crash in 1985, was posthumously indicted Thursday on charges of rape and aggravated murder for the killing of Cheryl Thompson, a University of Cincinnati student who disappeared on March 24, 1978. When her body was found on a riverbank two weeks later, it was found that she had been raped and strangled. Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said a rape kit was taken from Thompson’s body, but limited forensics at the time prevented detectives finding who was responsible. Earlier this year, DNA from the rape kit was used by a genealogy company to find a family tree, and three of Howell’s surviving relatives agreed to undergo testing. Howell’s body was then exhumed and DNA from his jaw bone matched the sample in the rape kit. Prosecutors said Howell is believed to have been involved in the deaths of three other women in Ohio between 1976 and 1978 due to the similar circumstances of the killings. Their names are Charmaine Stolla, 17; Nancy Ann Theobald, 18; and Victoria Hincher, 24. “There is no doubt in our mind that Ralph Howell was a serial killer,” Deters said.