"1980 Cold Case Murder Solved Through DNA Evidence from Discarded Gum"

1 min read
Source: The New York Times
"1980 Cold Case Murder Solved Through DNA Evidence from Discarded Gum"
Photo: The New York Times
TL;DR

Robert Arthur Plympton was found guilty of the 1980 murder of Barbara Mae Tucker after DNA from a discarded piece of chewing gum linked him to the crime. Tucker, a 19-year-old college student, was kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and beaten to death on the Mount Hood Community College campus near Portland, Oregon. The case had remained unsolved for over four decades until the DNA evidence led to Plympton's conviction.

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