The Elmira Police Department (EPD) named Alfred Raymond Murray Jr. as the lone suspect in a nearly 62-year-old homicide case during a press conference on Feb. 10.
Murray was 32 years old when he allegedly killed 12-year-old Mary Theresa Simpson.
Simpson’s body was found on Combs Hill Road four days after she went missing on March 15, 1964.
Last year, DNA testing and investigative genetic genealogy helped solve the case by identifying a familial match to DNA preserved on Simpson’s clothing in 1964.
Technology for DNA in forensic science was not available until the 1980s. The EPD said it collected evidence including clothing and personal items along with any additional evidence as a standard practice in its investigations.
Simpson’s clothing was kept in a freezer at the EPD since her death, preserving the DNA unbeknownst to detectives and investigators at the time.
Elmira Police Department Sergeant William Goodwin said Murray had a criminal history.
“His record shows repeated criminal involvement over decades, involving offenses involving children,” said Goodwin. “While no single incident proves responsibility, this history is consistent with the forensics findings and the circumstances of this homicide.“
It is unclear what offenses Murray committed. Elmira Police Chief Kristen Thorne declined to provide any further details, citing legal protections.
Thorne and Chemung County District Attorney Weeden Wetmore would not elaborate on which laws prevent further details about Murray being released to the public.
The National Institute of Health’s (NIH) National Human Genome Research Institute defines DNA as “the molecule that carries genetic information for the development and functioning of an organism.” It is what makes a person a person and is 99.9 percent identical in every human with a 0.1 percent differentiation that is unique to each person.
In 2003, EPD submitted pieces of Simpson’s clothing, including her skirt and underwear, to the New York State Police (NYSP) Forensic Investigation Center. These items tested positive for male DNA. In 2014, the DNA profile was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) but there was no match.
Investigative genetic genealogy was introduced to the case in 2022 through a grant provided by Season of Justice. The extracted DNA profile was then completed by the NYSP Forensic Investigation Center and uploaded to public databases by Othram, Inc., a forensic laboratory that works with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to solve cold cases.
Goodwin began working with the Russell Sage College Criminal Investigation Resource Center in 2023 to organize and digitize case files and provide in-depth reviews of case files, forensics and suspect leads.
Murray was not on the EPD’s radar nor a suspect during the initial investigation. His name does not appear in any of the thousands of pages of files related to the case, according to the EPD.
It is also believed that Murray did not know Simpson. Elmira PD stated it was likely a “crime of opportunity.”
Murray died in 2004.
The EPD said he was identified through DNA samples taken after his body was exhumed last year with a less than one in 320 billion probability of “selecting an unrelated individual that matches this evidence.”
Simpson’s uncle Dwayne Bowman, cousin Ronny Bowman and older sister Linda Galpin attended the press conference.
Galpin, who is 78 years old, thanked everyone involved in solving the case.
“I am very happy it's [finally ended],” said Galpin. “[I] just wish my mom was here. But thank you very much, and I'm glad it's all finally settled after almost 62 years.”
Galpin said their mother was pregnant with their younger sister at the time of Simpson’s murder.
The Elmira PD said this was its only cold case and that the case is now closed.
“If Mr. Murray [were] still alive, the district attorney's office would seek criminal charges against him for murder,” said Thorne. “Obviously, if he were still alive, investigators would question him in an attempt to gather more evidence. ‘What happened? Why her?’ That we will never know. What we do know now is [that for] almost 62 years this case has been open. We have taken it as far as humanly possible.”
No additional information about Murray will be provided to the public without a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request.