1959 cold case murder in Wisconsin solved through DNA testing, 65 years after boy found dead in culvert
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Investigators in Wisconsin have used DNA evidence to solve a 65-year-old cold case involving a 7-year-old boy whose body was found in a culvert.
Ozaukee County Sheriff's officials said a human skeleton was found in a culvert on Oct. 4, 1959, in the city of Mequon, about 20 miles north of Milwaukee.
At the time, it was believed the skeleton belonged to a child between 6 and 8 years old.
Meantime, investigators in Houghton County were working with Chicago police on the investigation into the apparent disappearance of Markku Jutila, after relatives of his adoptive parents, William and Hilja Jutila, became suspicious of the child's whereabouts.
The Jutilas had recently moved from Houghton to Chicago and told police they'd disposed of Markku's body in a ditch on their way to Chicago. Hiljua later admitted to beating the boy to death, according to the Ozaukee County Sheriff's office.
In 1966, the couple was arrested in Chicago and extradited to Wisconsin to face charges in their son's death. But the charges were dismissed eight months later because investigators had not yet linked Markku's death to the skeleton found in Mequon, and there was no body to link to the crime.
The case remained cold until October 2023, when DNA tests identified the skeleton as Chester Alfred Breiney, whose mother had died in 2001, and had no living relatives. Adoption records confirmed Chester had been admitted to the Good Will Farm orphanage, and was adopted by the Jutilas in March 1955, and renamed Markku Jutila.
Further investigation determined Markku most likely died from significant neglect, and had a healed fracture to his ribs.
"Child abuse is real. So many children are affected by the trauma they receive at the hands of people who are supposed to love and nurture them. That is what happened to Chester and because his abuse went undetected, Chester died as a direct result of his torture and abuse by his adoptive parents," the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post.
Because both his adoptive parents died in 1988, no charges will be filed in the case, according to the sheriff's office.