After practically 50 years, investigators closed the notorious “Woman of the Dunes” homicide case on Monday, figuring out that the sufferer’s husband was her killer.
Ruth Marie Terry, 37, was discovered useless on July 26, 1974, by a household within the dunes of Cape Cod in Provincetown, Massachusetts. On the time, authorities couldn’t even establish her physique however investigated the case as a murder.
Now, investigators say Terry was killed by her husband, Man Muldavin.
“Based mostly on the investigation into the demise of Ms. Terry, it has been decided that Mr. Muldavin was chargeable for Ms. Terry’s demise in 1974. Mr. Muldavin handed away in 2002,” the Cape and Islands District Lawyer’s Workplace introduced in a information launch on Monday, in line with Boston 25 News.
In keeping with Provincetown’s government website, Terry’s deceased physique was discovered nude on a seashore towel, along with her head resting on folded denims. The left aspect of her cranium had been crushed and her fingers severed from her physique, however no weapons had been discovered on the scene. Her demise, which probably occurred as much as three weeks earlier than she was discovered, was decided to have been attributable to a blow to the pinnacle.
The case gained widespread consideration over time, with a number of theories arising about what had occurred. For 5 many years, investigators labored to establish Terry utilizing blood and DNA samples, clay mannequin facial reconstruction and age-regression drawings. She finally grew to become Massachusetts’ oldest unidentified murder sufferer.
Lastly, the FBI recognized Terry final October by means of investigative family tree, which mixes DNA evaluation with conventional historic analysis. A particular agent from Boston’s FBI described the event as a “major break” that might lead investigators nearer to figuring out her killer.
The investigation also revealed that Terry and Muldavin had been touring collectively in 1974 shortly after their marriage. Investigators discovered that Muldavin had returned from the journey that summer time in Terry’s automobile and had instructed people who his spouse had died.
Muldavin was additionally a suspect within the disappearance of his earlier spouse and his stepdaughter within the Sixties, according to NBC News.
The Provincetown Police Division and Cape and Islands District Lawyer’s Workplace didn’t instantly reply to JS’s request for remark.
