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Five decades after the murder of a young mother in Concord, New Hampshire, the case will be closed and identified as “solved,” according to a state attorney general’s report.
The 22-year-old woman, Judith “Judy” Lord, was found dead in her apartment on May 20, 1975, according to the report.
An autopsy indicated that the cause of the young woman’s death was “homicidal strangulation.”
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Some of the last known photos of Judith Lord were included in the New Hampshire Department of Justice’s report. (New Hampshire Department of Justice)
The killer was identified as Ernest Theodore Gable, who himself was murdered in 1987 at 36 years old.
“The convergence of irrefutable DNA evidence, fingerprint analysis, compelling witness testimony, and Mr. Gable’s own incriminating behavior and violent history establishes beyond any reasonable doubt that he was the perpetrator,” the report on the case explains. “The initial investigation was professionally conducted but ultimately thwarted by the limitations and flaws of forensic science at the time, specifically the unreliable nature of microscopic hair comparison. Modern DNA technology has rectified that failing and brought clarity to this decades-old tragedy.”
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A photograph of Concord Gardens Apartment Complex, Building 19, Apartment 4 dated May 20, 1975, amid the investigation into Judith Lord’s killing. (New Hampshire Department of Justice)
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The FBI Forensic Laboratory’s conclusion regarding hair hindered plans to pursue prosecution against Gable.
The report explains that, “In a report dated December 16, 1975, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (‘FBI’) Forensic Laboratory, using the technique of microscopic hair comparison, concluded that the hairs from the scene were ‘microscopically different’ from Ernest Gable’s and ‘did not originate from [Gable].'”
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Booking photos of Ernest “Ernie” Gable, also known as Ernie Stanberry, dated Dec. 6, 1979. (New Hampshire Department of Justice)
But DNA analysis conducted years later during the cold case review pointed to Gable.
“As part of a cold case review, the semen-stained towels were subjected to modern DNA analysis with the New Hampshire State Police Forensic Laboratory ultimately confirming that DNA from the semen and sperm on both towels was a statistical match to Ernest Gable. The approximate frequency of the partial DNA profile obtained from the evidence was 1 in 6.5 million in the African American population,” the report noted.