Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Grand Jury Names William Schrader as Killer in 1962 Murder of 9-Year-Old Carol Ann Dougherty

A hair DNA match paired with a stepson’s confessions persuaded investigators, delivering long-sought closure to the family.

Overview

  • After reviewing new forensic results and corroborating testimony, a Bucks County grand jury concluded the investigation only allows the finding that Schrader raped and murdered Carol Ann inside St. Mark’s Church.
  • A recent analysis tied a hair clutched in the victim’s hand to Schrader, while testing excluded 141 other men, according to the district attorney’s office.
  • Schrader’s stepson, Robert LeBlanc, contacted authorities in fall 2024 to report two confessions in which Schrader said he killed a girl in Bristol to keep her from talking.
  • Prosecutors said Schrader died in prison in 2002, so no charges will be filed, but they detailed his violent history, including a 1970 manslaughter and arson conviction in Louisiana.
  • Carol Ann’s sister, Kay Talanca, thanked investigators, a local reporter, and a podcaster for keeping the case alive, calling the finding the truth her family sought for six decades.