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Murder of Teen Found Gagged in Bathtub Solved 40 Years Later with M-Vac DNA Collection
(Photo: Courtesy of the Salt Lake City Police Department)
Sharon Schollmeyers, 16, was found dead in a partially-filled bathtub in her Salt Lake City apartment on Dec. 5, 1977. She had a scarf wrapped around her head as a blindfold and a halter top knotted and stuffed as a gag into her mouth. She was found by her mother, who had come to check on her after the teen had been missing from work that day.
The mother had been let into the apartment by the building manager, who was also the person to call 911 once the body was discovered. The cause of death was strangulation and suffocation, and manner was homicide, investigators determined. But the case went cold, and no one was arrested for her death for four decades.
The employment of a DNA collection method on the 40-year-old evidence at the crime scene has now found, and convicted, the killer.
The killer was the very building manager who let the mother inside the apartment: Patrick McCabe, now 59, authorities said.
The M-Vac System, a wet vacuum DNA collection method, pulled McCabe’s DNA off the halter top gag, decades after police carefully preserved it as evidence, according to authorities. It was the break that finally allowed them to catch up with the long-free killer.
“We are always looking for that piece of the puzzle that will make the difference,” said Greg Wilking, a detective and spokesman of the Salt Lake City Police Department. “In the Sharon Schollmeyers case, the M-Vac came through for us and produced a full DNA profile that we didn’t have before, which led to the CODIS hit.”
McCabe was arrested and charged in Florida earlier this year with the Utah homicide, and has since been convicted of second-degree murder and aggravated burglary. He could face life in prison for the crimes.
Court documents charge McCabe used his building manager’s key to get into the apartment late at night, picked up a butcher knife inside and attacked the sleeping Schollmeyers. He threatened her with the knife as tied her up and raped her, according to the filings.
Schollmeyers’ body was found in six inches of water, complicating some evidence collection. The halter top was submitted for DNA collection in 2013 to the private Sorenson Forensics crime lab right in Salt Lake City. The profile was uploaded to CODIS last year, and a search hit on McCabe in December.
McCabe’s arrest was announced in March by the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office. He originally faced a first-degree murder charge which would have been eligible for the death penalty, but McCabe later admitted to the killing. (Local newspapers reported McCabe had previously served time in prison for a sexual offense against a minor in Florida.)
The M-Vac has been employed in prior high-profile cases featured in Forensic Magazine, several of them in Utah, where the company is headquartered. But they’re not all murder convictions: the tool has also exonerated some suspects after lengthy jail terms. Jared Bradley, the company’s president, said the tool is catching on with many local agencies—especially where traditional DNA collection like swabbing has failed to produce genetic material on important pieces of evidence, like murder weapons.
“Agencies that are using the M-Vac, especially for difficult cases or when the evidence is large, rough or porous like in the Schollmeyers case, are getting really impressive results,” Bradley said in a statement upon the McCabe conviction news.
Originally posted in Forensic Magazine Thu, 06/29/2017 by Seth Augenstein – Senior Science Writer – @SethAugenstein
To see original article click here.
DNA Evidence Collected By M-Vac Helps Solve 40 Year Old Cold Case
Investigators Use Aggressive Wet-Vacuum DNA Collection Method On 1977 Murder
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – 29 June 2017 – On December 4th, 1977 Sharon Schollmeyers was a 16 year old girl living in an apartment in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. Unfortunately, there was a murderous stalker who was dangerously close and it proved to be deadly for her. According to court documents the next day Sharon was found by her mother naked in her bathtub in 6 inches of water with a halter-top as a gag in her mouth and a scarf around her head as a blindfold. She had been strangled, suffocated and her death was ruled a homicide.
In the 1977 police report, the building manager, Patrick McCabe, let the victim’s mother into the apartment and waited in the living room as the mother searched for her daughter. When the victim was discovered McCabe made the 911 call to report the incident. Unfortunately, despite a thorough investigation, the case went cold. However, the investigators were astute enough to properly preserve the evidence which would, as new technology became available, provide the DNA profile that would ultimately lead to the arrest. Amazingly, the building manager that had made the original 911 call was the same man that had raped and murdered the victim.
“As a law enforcement agency, we never give up on a case,” stated Detective Wilking, the Salt Lake City PD PIO. “We are always looking for that piece of the puzzle that will make the difference. In the Sharon Schollmeyers case, the M-Vac came through for us and produced a full DNA profile that we didn’t have before, which led to the CODIS hit. Sharon and her family have been waiting almost 40 years for justice, and thanks to the latest in technology, determination and the hard work of many investigators over decades of effort we were able to bring this case to a close and provide the justice that Sharon deserves.”
According to the court documents, the case evidence was submitted to a private crime lab in Salt Lake City, Sorenson Forensics, for M-Vac DNA testing, including the halter-top that was used to gag the victim. Despite almost 40 years after the heinous crime had been committed, the aggressive collection method produced a full DNA profile that could be loaded into the federal DNA database, and the match to Patrick McCabe was made. McCabe has since been convicted of 2nd degree murder and aggravated burglary and faces up to life in prison.
“We are extremely proud of the way the M-Vac performed in this case,” said Jared Bradley, President of M-Vac Systems. “Agencies that are using the M-Vac, especially for difficult cases or when the evidence is large, rough or porous like in the Shollmeyers case, are getting really impressive results. Salt Lake City PD is one of those agencies that has successfully used the M-Vac on a number of cases and we are excited to hear of these latest results. Most importantly though is Sharon can now rest in peace and her family can move on knowing Sharon’s killer has been caught.”
The M-Vac System is being utilized by an increasing number of police agencies and crime labs both in the United States and internationally. As investigators are assigned difficult cases, having a tool like the M-Vac immediately available helps immensely. It can collect critical DNA evidence from a variety of surfaces at the crime scene, in the evidence processing facility or in the crime lab. As the world’s most advanced wet-vacuum forensic DNA collection system, the M-Vac opens up cases and evidence to potential DNA profiles that were not available in the past.
Case No: 171902460 FS 3rd District Court, Salt Lake County, Utah
About M-Vac Systems
M-Vac Systems is the world’s leader in wet-vacuum forensic DNA collection. Made in the USA and engineered for maximum collection capabilities, M-Vac Systems’ technology is the most innovative and capable forensic DNA material collection tool available for crime scene investigators, forensic scientists, sexual assault nurse examiners and other law enforcement specialists. For a more detailed description of the product and validation data, visit why mvac. Additional information and sales quotes can be obtained by contacting M-Vac Systems by phone or through the website.
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