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DNA search prompts arrest of Idaho murder suspect in 51-year-old cold case, California police say

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DNA search prompts arrest of Idaho murder suspect in 51-year-old cold case, California police say


BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho man has been arrested in connection with the shooting death of a woman in California more than 50 years ago, authorities said.

DNA evidence led investigators to identify Michael Eugene Mullen, 75, as a suspect in the death of Nina “Nadine” Fischer in 1973, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office said. Mullen was arrested near Salmon, Idaho, on Wednesday, and he is being held in jail while awaiting extradition to California.

Mullen’s defense attorney, Dan Brown, did not immediately respond to voice and email messages left for him on Saturday.

Fischer lived in San Rafael, California, with her husband and young daughter when the 31-year-old was killed in November 1973, the Marin County Sheriff’s office said in a news release. Both Fischer and her husband were Swedish nationals, and they were preparing to move back to Sweden at the time.

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Fischer’s husband found her body when he returned home from work. She had been sexually assaulted and shot three times, and her 2-year-old child was found unharmed in another room.

Law enforcement officials questioned some witnesses — including movers and an assessor who had been at the house that day — but the investigation turned up no leads and the case went cold, according to newspaper articles published after her death.

In 2021, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office sent the case to the California Department of Justice’s Familial Search Program. The program compares DNA from crime scenes to a DNA database in an effort to try to find relatives of a potential suspect. After several months, the DNA resulted in a possible lead, and after three more years of investigation Mullen was identified as the suspect, the sheriff’s office said.

The Marin County District Attorney’s office and sheriff’s office worked with the Idaho State Police and the Lemhi County Sheriff’s Office to arrest Mullen on suspicion of murder. He is being held in the Lemhi County jail.



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U of Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger investigated in 2nd home invasion attack

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U of Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger investigated in 2nd home invasion attack


Alleged mass-murderer Bryan Kohberger was reportedly investigated in connection with another home invasion attack that occurred not far from where he’s accused of slaying four University of Idaho students in an off-campus home. The 29-year-old suspect was arrested at his parents’ Pennsylvania home in December 2022 after four students were killed in a house where three of them had lived and a …



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Bryan Kohberger investigated over nearby home invasion year before alleged slayings of 4 University of Idaho students

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Bryan Kohberger investigated over nearby home invasion year before alleged slayings of 4 University of Idaho students


Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger was once investigated in connection to a chilling home invasion that took place mere miles from where he allegedly slaughtered four college students inside their off-campus housing in 2022, according to a new report.

New information about the accused killer comes after ABC News obtained bodycam footage of police responding to a suspected home invasion in nearby Pullman, Wash., in October 2021 — more than a year before the University of Idaho students were stabbed to death.

“I heard my door open and I looked over, and someone was wearing a ski mask and had a knife,” a frightened woman told police.

“I kicked the s–t out of their stomach and screamed super loud, and they like flew back into my closet and then ran out my door and up the stairs.”

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The alleged incident — which took place just 10 miles from the gruesome slayings in Moscow, Idaho — happened at 3:30 a.m., the woman told police, adding that the masked intruder was silent the whole time.

Her roommate immediately called the police, the outlet reported, but the case was left unsolved as police were left without a suspect or evidence at the time.

The terrifying incident shared eerie similarities with the gruesome quadruple University of Idaho murders.

Officials said Bryan Kohberger was investigated in connection with a home invasion that took place prior to killing Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, their housemate Xana Kernodle, 20, and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20, on Nov. 13, 2022. AP

Kohberger, 29, is accused of butchering students Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Madison Mogen, 21, around 4 a.m. inside their off-campus house on Nov. 13, 2022.

A surviving housemate later told police she saw a masked man with “bushy eyebrows” fleeing the house after overhearing cries and sounds of a struggle.

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Kohberger, a criminology Ph.D. student at Washington State University, was arrested at his parents’ Pennsylvania home on Dec. 30 and charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary — charges he has since pleaded not guilty.

Thirteen days later he was named a person of interest in the Pullman case, ABC reported, but is no longer considered a suspect. 

“We have no reason or evidence to believe he was involved in this burglary at this time,” Pullman police told the outlet, citing a height difference between the alleged attackers.

While Kohberger is 6 feet tall, the alleged attacker in the Pullman incident was described as being 5’3′ to 5’5′. The accused stabber was also not yet enrolled at Washington State University at the time of the 2021 incident, the outlet reported.

Kohberger stabbed the four individuals at approximately 4 a.m. in Moscow, Idaho.

The case is now closed but remains unsolved, police said.

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“My family and I have been frustrated that the case was not investigated more in-depth or resolved,” the victim in the break-in told the outlet.

Kohberger’s highly anticipated trial is slated to begin in August and last through November.

Kohberger is currently facing four first-degree murder charges and a felony burglary charge in connection with the early morning massacre. REUTERS
The victim expressed their family’s frustration that the case was not investigated more thouroughly. Pullman Police Department

The lengthy trial, which was moved to Idaho’s capital of Boise, will include two phases — one to determine his guilt or innocence, and the other, if he’s found guilty, to determine whether he should receive the death penalty. 



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Bryan Kohberger probed for home invasion year before Idaho student murders

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Bryan Kohberger probed for home invasion year before Idaho student murders


Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the Idaho quadruple murder case, was once investigated in connection with a home invasion in Pullman, Washington. This opens many doors for a flock of questions.

Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students, is escorted into court for a hearing in Latah County District Court, Sept. 13, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool, File)(AP)

Who is Bryan Kohberger?

Kohberger, a 28-year-old PhD criminology student at Washington State University, was arrested weeks after the Idaho murders at his parents’ home in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. He now faces four first-degree murder charges and a felony burglary charge. Prosecutors allege Kohberger meticulously planned the attack, stalking the victims’ off-campus rental home prior to the killings.

The Pullman home invasion occurred in October 2021, just 10 miles from Moscow, Idaho, where four college students were brutally stabbed to death in November 2022. Newly released body camera footage cited by ABC News provides a bodycam footage of the break-in that left a young woman traumatized and fearing for her life.

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“I heard my door open and I looked over, and someone was wearing a ski mask and had a knife,” the woman told officers in the footage, her voice trembling. “I kicked the s*** out of their stomach and screamed super loud. They flew back into my closet and then ran out my door and up the stairs.”

Kohberger named person of interest in Pullman case after Idaho murders

The alleged attack happened around 3:30 a.m. The masked intruder, who carried a knife, entered her bedroom silently. Despite her quick reaction and her roommate’s immediate call to 911, police found no trace of the suspect or any physical evidence.

Just over a year later, on November 13, 2022, the town of Moscow, Idaho, was shaken by the brutal murders of Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20. Survivors in the home described a masked man with “bushy eyebrows” fleeing after hearing cries and the sounds of a violent struggle.

Thirteen days after the Idaho murders, Kohberger was named a person of interest in the Pullman case. The eerie similarities between the two incidents—both involving a masked intruder, a knife, and nighttime break-ins—drew immediate attention. However, authorities later clarified that Kohberger is no longer considered a suspect in the Pullman case.

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Despite initial suspicions, critical differences between the Pullman and Moscow cases ultimately ruled out Kohberger’s involvement in the earlier incident. The victim of the Pullman break-in described the intruder as 5’3” to 5’5”, while Kohberger stands six feet tall.



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