A 34-year-old Cold Case Solved by Fingernail Scrapings

            On May 23, 1988, two women walked along Poplar Street in the small community of Galt, California. They approached the home of their friend, Lucille Hultgren (79), who they had not seen in a few days, particularly the day before at her typical church service. They approached her house and noticed her glass sliding door open ajar. They took the opportunity to let themselves in, to find their longtime friend dead in her home.

            Paramedics determined Hultgren’s cause of death to be stabbing and strangulation according to Law and Crime. The stabbing fit with the chest injuries found on the body, and they also found signs of sexual assault. There were no signs of forced entry to the house, and she was determined to have been dead for two to five days before being found.

            Decades later, Hultgren's killer has been found due to advancements in DNA testing. According to ABC News, at the time of her murder, DNA samples had to be of substantial size in order to be useable, around the size of a quarter, and at that time they were unable to find that much. Looking back at the case now, however, using new advanced technology that can pull a DNA profile from something a billionth the size, the samples from under her fingernails and bodily fluids found on the bed have been used to name the perpetrator.

            The only problem now is that the matched perpetrator is dead. Terry Leroy Bramble, 32 years old at the time of the attack, died in October 2011 after living under the Highway 99 bridge in Galt for years. His DNA was on file because of another sexual assault conviction in 1992, and there is no evidence to explain his motive for the attack on Hultgren. Regardless, the knowledge of the identity of the perpetrator, in this case, brings some mild peace to Hultgren’s remaining son and provides some semblance of justice to a good woman who experienced a brutal death.