A decades-old New Hampshire cold case has been solved with modern DNA testing, authorities said Monday.
Judith Lord, 22, was found dead in her Concord apartment on May 20, 1975 when a staff member entered the unit to collect unpaid rent, according to a news release from the New Hampshire Department of Justice. The staff member also heard a baby crying inside the unit, according to the state attorney general's report.
Investigators determined that there had been a violent struggle, and that Lord had been sexually assaulted and strangled to death. Her 20-month-old son was found unharmed in his crib in another room of the apartment.
Investigators recovered forensic evidence, including hair and seminal fluid, from the crime scene, authorities said. Investigators focused on three suspects: Lord's estranged husband and two neighbors. Her husband had an alibi and no evidence tied him to the crime scene, according to the attorney general's report. One of the neighbors was excluded as a suspect for the same reason.
The investigation began to focus on Lord's next-door neighbor, Ernest Theodore Gable, who was 24 at the time. He lived next door to Lord with his wife, and their apartments shared a wall, according to the attorney general's report. Multiple witnesses told police that Lord was afraid of Gable. His fingerprints were found on the outside of Lord's windows.
Judith Lord's apartment complex.
New Hampshire Department of Justice
Physical evidence was collected from Gable, and hairs were submitted to the FBI's Forensic Laboratory for microscopic comparison. The test "led to an incorrect conclusion that the suspect could not have contributed the hairs found at the scene," the news release said, contradicting other evidence in the case.
The state of New Hampshire had been prepared to indict and prosecute Gable, according to the attorney general's report, but the FBI report "created a significant evidentiary hurdle that prosecutors felt they could not overcome." The investigation was "effectively halted," the report said, and the case stalled for decades.
The case was reopened decades later. DNA testing found that the seminal fluids found on towels were a match for Gable, according to the attorney general's report. The microscopic hair comparison test results remained an issue until 2015, when the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice formally acknowledged that nearly all uses of the test had led to flawed testimony or reports. New forensic testing correctly identified the hairs as belonging to Gable.
Judith Lord.
New Hampshire Department of Justice
Gable was stabbed to death in Los Angeles in February 1987, at 36 years old, according to the news release. Lord's case will be formally closed and classified as solved. If Gable were still alive, "the Cold Case Unit would pursue alternative charges of First Degree Murder, both for knowingly causing Ms. Lord's death during the commission of aggravated felonious sexual assault, and for purposely causing her death by strangulation," the news release said.
"It is my hope that this long-awaited conclusion will finally bring peace and closure to Judy Lord's family and the entire Concord community after nearly five decades of delayed justice," said New Hampshire attorney general John Formella. "This resolution proves that no cold case is ever truly closed until the truth is found. The original Concord Police Department investigators showed extraordinary diligence, only to be thwarted by flawed forensic technology of the era. We commend the Cold Case Unit, the Concord Police Department, and all of our partners for their commitment to resolving this case and correcting a historic injustice."
