A nearly 50-year-old murder case has finally been solved, thanks to a decades-old cassette tape and a photograph of the victim. The case involved the 1975 killing of Roseann Sturtz, who was strangled after meeting her attacker at a bar on August 24 of that year. The mystery surrounding her death endured for decades until the Howard County police reopened the investigation in late 2023.
According to reports from the New York Post, detectives uncovered crucial evidence linking the crime to Charles William Davis Jr., a convicted killer already serving a life sentence for unrelated murders. A pivotal piece of evidence in the case was an audio tape recorded in 1981, in which Davis, then an inmate at Jessup Correctional Institute, spoke about the murder while seeking immunity from prosecution.
Initially, Davis was unable to recognize Sturtz from an older photograph taken years before her murder. However, 44 years later, Howard County police Cpl. Wade Zufall re-interviewed Davis and showed him a more recent picture of Sturtz, taken just a month before her death. This time, Davis identified her and admitted to the crime, revealing that she had been one of his victims.
A video recording of the interview captures the moment when Davis is presented with the updated photo of Sturtz. As he studies the image, he nods in recognition before confessing to her murder.
“In November 2024, we were grateful to have all the case details, learned Roseann’s actual date of death, and received the closure we have been praying for all these years—finally putting to rest the answers we never had,” Sturtz’s family said in a statement released by the police department.
According to Cpl. Zufall, Davis disclosed that he and Sturtz got into an argument after meeting at the bar, which ultimately led to her tragic death. Investigators had first suspected Davis in 1981 after analyzing his previous victims and noticing striking similarities to Sturtz’s case.
“His main reason why he wanted to talk to me … was he wanted to give closure to the family,” Zufall said.
Despite Davis’s confession, he cannot be charged with Sturtz’s murder due to an existing immunity agreement. However, he remains incarcerated, serving a life sentence for other murders.
This breakthrough marks another success in solving cold cases, demonstrating the value of persistence and advancements in investigative techniques. Sturtz’s family, though unable to see justice served in court, now has the long-awaited answers about her fate.
Sources By Agencies
