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How discarded chewing gum helped convict a serial rapist of two cold case murders
DNA from chewed gum helped detectives confirm Gaff’s link to two murders after decades of dead ends, officials said.
- Everett Police used a "gum ruse" to secure DNA from Mitchell Gaff, connecting him to the 1980 murder of Susan Vesey and 1984 murder of Judy Weaver.
- Investigations into the two Washington state murders remained cold for decades until advancements in DNA technology allowed forensic scientists to revisit the cases in 2020.
- Everett Police Detective Susan Logothetti and colleagues visited Gaff in January 2024, collecting saliva from gum samples that confirmed his DNA matched evidence on Weaver's body.
- Gaff pleaded guilty to both murders on April 16 and faces sentencing on Wednesday, with prosecutors seeking up to life in prison.
- After decades of uncertainty, families of Weaver and Vesey found closure as modern DNA profiling proved essential to solving these long-unresolved cases.
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Leaning Left1Leaning Right1Center34Last UpdatedBias Distribution94% Center
Bias Distribution
- 94% of the sources are Center
94% Center
C 94%
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