Longueuil police say that using DNA and an exhumation in the United States, they solved one of the most high-profile murder cases in Quebec history some 50 years ago.
The Longueuil Agglomeration Police Service (SPAL) assured Tuesday that DNA evidence allows us to be “100% certain” that it was Franklin Maywood Romine who kidnapped, raped and murdered 16-year-old Sharron Prior. years, in March 1975.
The body of Romine, who died in 1982 at the age of 36, was exhumed earlier this month from a West Virginia cemetery for DNA testing to confirm its connection to the never-solved crime. for 48 years.
Chief Inspector Pierre Duquette of the SPAL explained on Tuesday that the DNA of Romine, who had a heavy criminal past, corresponded to a sample collected at the scene of the murder at the time. Romine also matched the physical description of the suspect given by a witness at the time, Duquette added.
In addition, Romine’s car was “compatible” with tire tracks found near where the teenager’s body was discovered 48 years ago, the inspector added.
On March 29, 1975, the young Sharron Prior had left her home in the Pointe-Saint-Charles district, in the southwest of Montreal, to join friends in a pizzeria. She never made it to her appointment.
His body was found three days later in a wooded area of Longueuil, on the South Shore of Montreal; the teenager had been raped and murdered. The crimes had never been solved since.
Turn the page
The victim’s sister, Doreen, attended the press conference on Tuesday. She said the family was relieved at the conclusion of the case.
“The resolution won’t bring Sharron back, but knowing that her killer is no longer on earth and can no longer kill gives us some closure. »
Investigators said DNA was taken from the victim’s clothing and a shirt used to restrain her, but the samples collected were never enough for analysis — until recently.
Advances in DNA technology have allowed police to obtain an ‘amplified sample’ of DNA, enough to compare it to samples from a database containing thousands of profiles of people identified by name of family. This database led the police to the surname “Romine”.
Forensic scientists analyzed Y-chromosome DNA, passed down almost unchanged from father to son, to identify a family line, and they compared the sample collected in Quebec to the DNA of Romine’s four brothers in Virginia- Western.
“The resolution of this unsolved murder is based on new investigative techniques, but also on advances in forensic biology, Sergeant Éric Racicot explained on Tuesday. These are new tools that we didn’t have a few years ago — and it’s a powerful tool. »
Romine, whose criminal history dates back to her childhood, was on the run from justice in West Virginia at the time of the murder in Quebec. On parole since 1973, he faced new charges of breaking and entering and rape. He found refuge in Montreal, a city he had visited at least twice before.
About seven months after the teenager’s murder, in 1975, Romine was arrested by Montreal police and extradited to the United States, where he was still wanted. But in 1982, he was back in Montreal, where he died at age 36. His body was later interred in West Virginia.