Fingerprints Help LAPD Detectives Solve 33-Year-Old Murder Case
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A 33-year-old murder case has been solved with forensic evidence and some good old fashion detective work.
On May 20,1978, Robert Rathbun, 45, was stabbed to death by two suspects during a burglary in his apartment in the 21800 block of Lanark Street. Rathbun's 18-year-old son was also stabbed and left for dead.
A witness to the crime was able to give enough details of one suspect to create a composite sketch.
The 1978 case went unsolved until 2010 when Los Angeles police detectives decided to run un-identified fingerprints from the crime scene through current data bases. One of the prints came back matching Burbank resident Richard Bower.
Bower had a violent criminal record and was killed in a shootout with Redondo Beach Police in 1981. The witness who helped make the composite sketch identified a photo of Bower as the man she saw 33 years before.
Detectives have not identified the second suspect in the case.
