OH DNA links 1978 murder of 19-year old Cheryl Thomson to deceased suspected serial killer Ralph Howell - 11/22/22

[Bishop Black]

DNA links possible serial killer to 1978 rape and murder of a University of Cincinnati student, prosecutor says

"There is no doubt in my mind that Ralph Howell was a serial killer," Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters said.

www.cbsnews.com

DNA technology has been used to link the rape and murder of a University of Cincinnati student more than four decades ago to a now-deceased man who authorities suspect may also have been responsible for three other murders in Ohio, prosecutors said.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters announced a posthumous indictment of Ralph Howell, who died in a 1985 auto accident, on aggravated murder and rape charges in the murder of 19-year-old Cheryl Thompson.

"I have prosecuted multiple serial killers in my time as prosecutor," Deters said in a statement. "My office firmly believes he is another."

 

[cenazoic]

Some clippings from her case.

 

[samsmom]

Gray Hughes covers this. You’ll want to fast forward about 30 minutes for the story.

 

[Richard]

How many other victims, and who were they?

It would be nice to learn more about Cheryl Thompson.

 

[Richard]

Bumping this thread up.

 

[Richard]

45 Years ago...

Cheryl Thompson, 19, Murdered 24 March 1978

Cheryl Thompson age 19, disappeared March 24, 1978. She had left her home around 10:30 p.m., saying goodbye to her little brother, and set off to meet her boyfriend at a disco in Oakley, Ohio. She never arrived.

Her boyfriend started searching for her immediately – and even spotted a man driving away in her car around 2 a.m. The boyfriend gave chase but couldn’t keep up and lost the car near Hyde Park Plaza.

About two weeks later, a state natural resources officer found her body along the bank of the Little Miami River. Authorities said she had been raped and she died of asphyxia caused by strangulation.

In 2022, a DNA sample taken from Thompson's body at the time of the crime was sent to a third-party genealogy company that narrowed the search to a specific family tree that included Ralph Howell, who died in a 1985 auto accident..

... Prosecutors said Howell is suspected in the deaths of three other women killed in Hamilton and Butler counties between 1976 and 1978 that display similar circumstances:

- Charmaine Stolla, 17, was last seen in February 1978 in Cincinnati. Her body was found the following month off Old Colerain Pike.

-- Nancy Ann Theobald, 18, was last seen in November 1977 leaving the Clifton restaurant where she worked. Her body was found the day after Christmas in Butler County.

- Victoria Hincher, 24, was last seen leaving her home in October 1976. Her body was found in Butler County a week and a half later.

All three women were strangled and raped, but investigators do not have DNA from any of those killings...

LINK:

DNA links possible serial killer to 1978 rape and murder of a University of Cincinnati student, prosecutor says

"There is no doubt in my mind that Ralph Howell was a serial killer," Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters said.

www.cbsnews.com

Backstory: 42 years after Cheryl Thompson's murder, hope remains in coed's case

Loveland police have held onto reams of evidence gathered in the 1978 slaying of UC coed Cheryl Thompson. Genealogy databases could crack the case.

www.cincinnati.com

 

[Oakie]

The DNA: ID podcast has a very detailed roundup of this case, for those of you who like very detailed roundups:

Cheryl Thompson on DNA: ID