Overview
- Attorney General John Formella announced Ernest Theodore Gable as responsible for Lord’s murder, and the case is being marked solved.
- DNA testing of seminal fluid from towels collected in 1975 definitively matched Gable, reversing his earlier exclusion.
- Gable died in 1987 in Los Angeles, so no prosecution will follow, though officials said he would face first-degree murder charges if alive.
- Investigators documented a violent struggle, sexual assault, and strangulation; Lord’s 20‑month‑old son was found unharmed, and Gable’s fingerprints were on her window.
- The Cold Case Unit’s re-examination with modern forensics allowed removal of the flawed FBI report and officials emphasized ongoing work on more than 120 other unsolved cases.