AYER, Mass. — A break in a case that’s gone unsolved for decades.
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan says her office has solved a 45-year-old cold case out of Ayer.
Katherina Reitz Brow was stabbed 30 times in her Ayer home in May of 1980.
They say she was also repeatedly hit with an object and her purse was missing along with money.
At the time of the murder, police identified the suspect as Kenneth William Waters.
He was convicted in 1983, but the conviction was vacated in 2001 because of new DNA analysis of a blood stain found at the scene.
Utilizing new technology, investigators say they have now identified their new suspect as Joseph Leo Boudreau.
Boudreau has since died, but officials say his DNA matched the blood stain found at the scene.
Investigators were able to test Boudreau’s family members to confirm it.
Ryan says she hopes this brings closure to Brow’s family.
“We had the opportunity to speak to her family today to provide some answers to them after a very long and painful journey for them,” she said. “Today what is important is that we want to keep the focus on Katerina Reitz Brow. She was a hard working wife, mother and sister, who died violently in her own home.”
Investigators say when the conviction was vacated in 2001, they worked tirelessly to solve the case.
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