Sheriff: Suspect in Righteous Brothers wife slaying is dead
LOS ANGELES — More than four decades after the ex-wife of Righteous Brothers singer Bill Medley was raped and killed, officials announced Monday they used DNA to identify a suspect in the slaying: a man who was killed by police in 1982.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell said investigators believe Kenneth Eugene Troyer was responsible for the January 1976 slaying of Karen Klaas.
The 32-year-old was attacked Jan. 30, 1976, as she returned to her home in the Hermosa Beach neighbourhood, was sexually assaulted and strangled with her pantyhose. She never regained consciousness and died a few days later at the hospital.
Investigators used a controversial DNA testing technique, known as familial DNA, to compare a sample of DNA that was collected at the crime scene and were able to identify a “first-degree relative” of Troyer, Sheriff’s Capt. Steve Katz said.