40 Years Later: Police Solve Baltimore County Teen’s Cold Case Murder

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TOWSON, Md. (WJZ) — Forty years aft the execution of a Halethorpe teen, Baltimore County constabulary person identified her killer.

The constabulary section said Wednesday that acold lawsuit detectives person determined John Anthony Petrecca, Jr., who died successful 2000, was liable for the 1981 execution of 13-year-old Heather Porter.

“As a effect of advances successful forensic technology, Heather Porter’s household members present cognize the individuality of the idiosyncratic who took their loved ones life,” the bureau said. “The Baltimore County Police Department would similar to convey Bode Technology, the Hackerman Foundation and the FBI for their adept analysis, assistance and enactment successful solving this cold case.”

Porter vanished from her Halethorpe vicinity Sept. 23, 1981. Her assemblage was recovered a time aboriginal successful the woods adjacent Ridgewood Road and Goucher Boulevard successful Towson. An autopsy recovered Porter had been sexually assaulted and strangled.

Though investigators had immoderate of the suspect’s DNA, the homicide lawsuit turned acold and went unsolved for 4 decades. It wasn’t until past twelvemonth that detectives gave Porter’s sidesplitting a 2nd look.

The suspect’s DNA was sent disconnected laboratory investigating and the results were provided to the FBI.

In February, Petrecca was identified arsenic a imaginable suspect. A hunt of his transgression inheritance recovered helium had aggregate rape arrests successful the 1960s and 1970s, and constabulary determined that helium lived adjacent the country wherever Porter was past seen alive.

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After getting support to exhume Petrecca’s remains from a section cemetery, constabulary sent his DNA disconnected for laboratory testing. The results showed it was a lucifer for Porter’s killer.