‘LONG SHOT’

Family DNA Cracks Another Ice-Cold Murder Mystery

Wendy Jerome, 14, was killed on Thanksgiving Day in 1984. Police say genetic sleuthing identified her murderer.

Fourteen-year-old Wendy Jerome left a friend’s house on Thanksgiving Day in 1984 and never made it to her own home in Rochester, New York. But 35 years after her body was found in an alcove between two schools, police say they now know who raped and murdered the teenager. The Democrat and Chronicle reports that investigators used DNA and genetic sleuthing to arrest Timothy Williams, who left Rochester for Florida soon after the slaying. In January, Rochester Police Investigator John Brennan said the chances of finding a genetic link to DNA from the crime scene was “a long shot.” But Wendy’s family says it clearly was a shot worth taking. “I just wish my husband was alive to see this,” Marlene Jerome said after news of the arrest.