DA: Oregon man confesses to ‘brutal, ice-blooded’ 1979 homicide in Boston

Crime

Susan Marcia Rose, 24, was discovered bludgeoned to loss of life in a Again Bay house constructing practically 44 years in the past.

An Oregon man is charged with homicide after he allegedly confessed to bludgeoning a girl to loss of life in Boston’s Again Bay in 1979, the Suffolk County District Lawyer’s Workplace stated Monday. 

John Michael Irmer, 68, was arraigned Monday morning within the “brutal” slaying of 24-year-old Susan Marcia Rose, the DA’s workplace stated.

Prosecutors stated Irmer walked into an FBI subject workplace in Portland, Oregon, final month and advised brokers he had met a red-haired girl at a skating rink in Boston round Halloween in 1979.

An undated photograph of Susan Marcia Rose, who was murdered in Boston in 1979. An Oregon man allegedly confessed to the killing final month. – Suffolk DA/Handout

Irmer allegedly stated the pair walked right into a Again Bay house constructing at 285 Beacon St., which was beneath renovation on the time. Shortly after they entered the constructing, Irmer stated he grabbed a close-by hammer and struck the girl on the top, killing her, in accordance with the DA’s workplace. 

Irmer stated he fled to New York the subsequent day. 

A development employee found Rose’s physique at 285 Beacon St. on Oct. 30, 1979, The Boston Globe reported on the time. Rose, a redheaded Johnstown, Pennsylvania, native, had been dwelling on Dartmouth Avenue. 

In keeping with the DA’s workplace, she died of a number of blunt accidents to the top, with fractures of the cranium and lacerations of the mind. She had additionally been sexually assaulted, the Globe reported in 1979. 

Investigators matched a DNA pattern from Irmer to samples preserved from the homicide scene, the DA’s workplace stated. Boston police detectives transported him from Portland to Boston over the weekend. 

Irmer is charged with first-degree homicide and aggravated rape, courtroom information present. In 1981, one other man was tried and located not responsible of Rose’s homicide.

In a press release, Suffolk District Lawyer Kevin Hayden described Rose’s slaying as “a brutal, ice-blooded homicide made worse by the truth that an individual was charged and tried — and thankfully, discovered not responsible — whereas the true assassin remained silent till now.”

Prosecutors stated in courtroom Monday that whereas admitting to the Again Bay homicide, Irmer additionally allegedly confessed to a different homicide in a distinct state, in accordance with a recording of the listening to offered by the DA’s workplace. 

He has additionally reportedly served time in jail for a homicide in California, prosecutors stated.

Steven J. Sack, an lawyer for Irmer, didn’t contest prosecutors’ bail request, however famous that his shopper allegedly turned himself in to police and returned to Boston to face fees “with no battle.”

Irmer was ordered held with out bail and is due again in courtroom on Oct. 17 for a possible trigger listening to. 

“Practically 44 years after dropping her at such a younger age, the household and associates of Susan Marcia Rose will lastly have some solutions,” Hayden stated. “Regardless of how chilly instances get resolved, it’s at all times the solutions which might be essential for many who have lived with grief and loss and so many agonizing questions.”