VT VT - Rita Curran, 24, Burlington, 19 July 1971

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dark_shadows

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Victim was getting ready for bed. Left alone in unlocked apartment for 90 minutes. Discovered by roommate upon return home. Victim had been sexually assaulted and manually strangled, and beaten about the head/face after a violent struggle.


Respectfully,
dark_shadows
 
Dear dark_shadows, I am trying to find out any information on Rita for you so please don not give up. I feel the websites that list her as a victim of Ted Bundy should not do so as we are unsure if he indeed killed her. It may take me a little while. I'm not doing so good today but I will continue to rack my brain for ideas and surf the web for anything that may give us an idea as to where to look for clues. Much Love and respect to you d_s, Susie
 
susie31023 said:
Dear dark_shadows, I am trying to find out any information on Rita for you so please don not give up. I feel the websites that list her as a victim of Ted Bundy should not do so as we are unsure if he indeed killed her. It may take me a little while. I'm not doing so good today but I will continue to rack my brain for ideas and surf the web for anything that may give us an idea as to where to look for clues. Much Love and respect to you d_s, Susie
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My dearest Susie,:blowkiss:
I am sorry that you are not doing good. Prayers are with you Susie.
I appreciate your help so much.
So much Love and Respect for you,
dark_shadows
 
dark_shadows said:
My dearest Susie,:blowkiss:
I am sorry that you are not doing good. Prayers are with you Susie.
I appreciate your help so much.
So much Love and Respect for you,
dark_shadows
Click to expand...

My dear d_s,thank you for your kind words. You have done so much for others I feel you deserve as much help as I can give you on this case. Much Love and Respect to you my dear dark_shadows, Susie
 
susie31023 said:
My dear d_s,thank you for your kind words. You have done so much for others I feel you deserve as much help as I can give you on this case. Much Love and Respect to you my dear dark_shadows, Susie
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My dearest Susie,:blowkiss:
The words of your heart mean alot to me and I appreciate you,
So much Love and Respect for you,
dark_shadows
 
My dearest Christine,:blowkiss:
I will call my aunt on thursday and ask her. I will post the info thursday night.

So much Love and Respect for you,
dark_shadows
 
dark_shadows said:
My dearest Christine,:blowkiss:
I will call my aunt on thursday and ask her. I will post the info thursday night.

So much Love and Respect for you,
dark_shadows
Click to expand...

I look forward to seeing what you can find out. I am interested in the roommate. Start from the inside and work your way out.
 
Adding working links

New England Teacher Murdered
July 20, 1971

Many believe Rita was a victim of Ted Bundy.

Rita Curran, a 24-year-old elementary school teacher and part-time motel maid, was murdered in her apartment on July 19, 1971, in Burlington, Vermont; she had been strangled, bludgeoned and raped. The location of the motel where she worked (adjacent to the Elizabeth Lund Home for Unwed Mothers) and similarities to known Bundy crime scenes led retired FBI agent John Bassett to propose him as a suspect. No evidence firmly places Bundy in Burlington on that date, but municipal records note that a person named "Bundy" was bitten by a dog that week and long stretches of Bundy's time—including the summer of 1971—remain unaccounted for. Curran's murder remains unsolved.
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http://www.crimetv.com/page/people/serial-killers/ted-bundy/845

https://www.facebook.com/TheTearsOfLostAngels/posts/570340363009599

http://books.google.com/books?id=sW...=PA508#v=onepage&q=rita curran murder&f=false

http://www.epubbud.com/read.php?g=9JKJLYVK&p=169&two=1
 
I have long thought she could be a Bundy victim. Similar to the sorority house murders he did, plus he did go to Vermont along about that time.
 
dogperson said:
I have long thought she could be a Bundy victim. Similar to the sorority house murders he did, plus he did go to Vermont along about that time.
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I agree, and many who have looked into the case have thought so. Too much of a coincidence, if you ask me.
 
Police: Modern tools help in 1971 unsolved killing

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/local/2016/07/28/modern-tools-1971-unsolved-killing-rita-curran/87682744/

An investigation into the 1971 killing of Burlington second-grade teacher Rita Curran is getting a boost from modern techniques, and police say they are making progress in efforts to find out who killed her.

Burlington Deputy Police Chief Shawn Burke said much of the evidence collected in the case has been re-examined with modern techniques during the past several years, and "uniquely, there are still witnesses and people of interest" who remain alive.

"It is a case where we have been running down some active leads," said Burke, who would not elaborate.
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For a time, investigators thought Curran could have been a victim of the notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, who was born in Burlington and was known to be in the area the summer Curran was killed. But Vermont investigators spoke with him before his 1989 execution in Florida and discarded him as a suspect, Leahy said.
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Rita Curran | Vermont State Police

RITA CURRAN
20 JULY 1971

Curran%2C%20Rita%20%281971%29.jpg


17 Brookes Avenue, Burlington, VT
24 year-old female
Burlington Police Department / Vermont State Police - Major Crime Unit
Case numbers: 362-679 / 362-677

On July 20th, 1971 the body of Rita Curran (24 years of age) was discovered in her Brookes Avenue home. Curran was discovered by her roommate an apparent victim of a homicide.

Curran’s death was ruled a homicide by the Chief Medical Examiner and the case remains open and unsolved.



If you have any information on this, or any other unsolved homicide, please contact Captain Trudeau at our Major Crime Unit.

Tips may also be submitted anonymously at vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit, or by clicking the Tip Submit image, or by texting keyword VTIPS to 274637 (CRIMES).

Vermont State Police
 
Were they ever able to exclude Rodney Alcala as a suspect? He was convicted of murdering a woman while he was in New York in June of 1971, and was a camp counselor in New Hampshire. It's a couple hours drive from NH to Burlington, but not unfathomable for someone to make the journey.
 
rbbm
www.burlingtonfreepress.com

Burlington Police to announce news on Rita Curran cold case

Rita Curran was violently murdered in her Burlington apartment in 1971 when she was 24. The case has remained unsolved ever since.
www.burlingtonfreepress.com
''Acting chief Jon Murad of the Burlington Police Department announced Thursday in an emailed statement that new developments in the oldest unsolved case in city history will be announced at a news conference Tuesday. Police, scientists, Curran's family members and prosecutors will be present to speak, according to the statement.''
 
Feb 21 2023 rbbm
www.mynbc5.com

Burlington police identify suspect in Rita Curran murder case, 51 years after her death

Curran was 24 years old at the time of her death in July 1971. According to state police, Curran's body was found in her Brookes Avenue home by her roommate.
www.mynbc5.com www.mynbc5.com
''BURLINGTON, Vt. —
Burlington Police identified the suspect in the 51-year-old cold case murder of Rita Curran.
Officials identified the suspect as William DeRoos. A cigarette butt left at the scene of the crime led police to DeRoos through third party ancestry DNA.
During a press conference Tuesday, police say DeRoos and his then wife, Michelle, lived in the apartment below Curran's at 15 Brooks Ave.
According to detectives, DeRoos left his apartment after getting into a fight with Michelle to go for a walk. During this time, police say DeRoos strangled and killed Curran.''

vtdigger.org

Burlington police say neighbor killed Rita Curran, solving a more than 50-year-old cold case - VTDigger

At a Tuesday morning press conference, police said advances in DNA testing helped lead them to Curran’s killer, identified as William DeRoos. Curran was found dead in her Burlington apartment on July 20, 1971. The suspect died in California in 1986, according to police.
vtdigger.org vtdigger.org
''Acting Police Chief Jon Murad said DeRoos, who was then 31, lived upstairs from Curran with his wife at the time of Curran’s murder. Married for only two weeks, DeRoos and his wife had a quarrel on the night of the murder and DeRoos “left for a cool-down walk,” Murad said.

Shortly after the killing, DeRoos’ wife gave police an alibi for her husband, according to Murad.

“Five decades later, she gave our detectives a different story: the truth,” Murad said.

DeRoos later traveled to Thailand, where he lived for several decades as a Buddhist monk before his death in San Francisco in 1986, at the age of 46, according to Murad.''
 
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