The Change Mariner

S.F. Cops Match DNA with that of Predator in Prison

San Francisco Chronicle:

It was a speck of evidence, barely detectable to the human eye, but carefully preserved for 35 years.

That stroke of foresight was enough to help San Francisco police solve a horrible crime in which a 14-year-old San Francisco girl was brutally raped, beaten and stabbed to death in 1968 while she was baby-sitting at a neighbor's house.

Suspects in the slaying of Linda Harmon were questioned at the time, but no one was arrested, and the case was left unsolved. Until last week.
San Francisco Police Chief Alex Fagan announced Tuesday that an arrest warrant had been issued Friday for William Speer, 61, a sexually violent predator who was in a mental hospital in Phoenix after serving prison time for rape.

DNA tests of a swab of semen taken during an autopsy of the girl's body at the time of the killing matched Speer's genetic fingerprint. Speer, who police say has prior convictions in California for sex offenses, is currently in the custody of sheriffs in Maricopa County, Ariz., awaiting extradition to San Francisco. His bail has been set at $10 million. "Advances in technology have allowed us to come to this point where we can give closure to a family,'' Fagan said.

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