Cigarette found near woman’s body helps solve her 1971 killing, Vermont police say
Rita Curran, a 24-year-old teacher, was sexually assaulted and strangled to death in her Burlington, Vermont, apartment in the summer of 1971.
After an initial investigation, the case went cold, and closure and justice eluded police and Curran’s family for decades.
“Growing up in Chittenden County, I remember hearing this story,” Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said at a Feb. 21 press conference. “The random violence of her murder left a stain on our community and it devastated her family.”
Now — more than a half-century later — a novel investigative approach and a small piece of overlooked evidence have led police to identify her suspected killer.
Curran’s body was discovered by her roommates on the morning of July 20, 1971, according to a police report. She was found lying naked on the floor of her bedroom.
An autopsy later revealed that she had died of asphyxiation and had been beaten and sexually assaulted, police said.
Curran’s roommates, who had been out drinking the night of her death, were interviewed by police and nearby residents were canvassed, but no leads ever led to prosecution, police said.
In 2019, detectives with the Burlington Police Department decided to take a fresh look at the case, electing to take a “different approach” than the norm.
Instead of assigning a single detective to work the case in their spare time, an entire team pored over old evidence as if the crime had just been committed.
A large amount of material had been collected from the crime scene, but little had been subject to DNA testing, police said.
One piece of evidence was of particular importance: a cigarette butt found near Curran’s elbow.
The cigarette was “unique in the sense that it was not crushed, smooshed or butted out,” police said.
The half-century old butt, which had previously been ignored, was sent to a lab for DNA testing and a profile was created for an individual labeled “UNKNOWN#1.”
While sifting through old evidence, detectives also found paperwork mentioning a man named William DeRoos who had lived in the same three-story building as Curran. His wife had said he was home the night of Curran’s killing, and he was never treated as a suspect or person of interest until the investigation was reopened.
“Because of his proximity to this crime, he was added to our suspect pool, along with many others, as a person to compare DNA to,” police said.
When the lab analysis was completed, it revealed that the DNA profile of UNKNOWN#1 was linked to DeRoos. DNA from his half-brother was then used to verify the finding.
It was also revealed during the reopened investigation that DeRoos had in fact not been home on the night of Curran’s killing, and that he pressured his wife into backing up his alibi, police said.
A few months after Curran’s death, DeRoos had moved to Thailand “to become a Buddhist monk,” police said. His wife never saw him again.
Based on their findings, detectives were “unanimously certain” that DeRoos killed Curran, police said. The case has been closed as it was learned that DeRoos died of a drug overdose in 1986.
“I don’t think so much about the guy who did this as I do about Rita and my parents, what they went through,” Tom Curran, Rita’s brother, said at the Feb. 21 press conference. “My wife Nancy tells me we will get through this. We are Curran strong.”
Grandma shoves her two young grandchildren into freezing river, New York cops say
Armed standoff at famed brothel ends in employee’s arrest, Nevada sheriff says
Man ate bags of chips dropped by thief — and now he’s charged, Tennessee cops say
