Suspected serial killer Bruce Lindahl was identified as the culprit in a murder case that was unsolved for over four decades, according to North Aurora authorities who held a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
Police say DNA evidence tied Lindahl, who died in 1981, to the 1979 murder of 19-year-old Kathy Halle. She was among the killer’s several believed victims, who include an 18-year-old Naperville man.
Advances in DNA technology lead to new investigations
In March 1979, Halle was abducted while heading to the Northgate Shopping Center in Aurora to pick up her sister, according to North Aurora Police Detective Ryan Peat. Weeks later, Halle’s body was found in the Fox River.
For decades, police say the case remained cold.
In 2019, Peat said a breakthrough in DNA technology linked Lindahl with the 1976 murder of 16-year-old Pamela Maurer from Woodridge. Lisle police sent evidence to the DuPage Crime Lab, and test results confirmed Lindahl’s role in the murder.
With Lindahl’s DNA now in hand, other authorities were encouraged to see if there were any links to other unsolved murders.
In 2020, Peat said North Aurora police met with Lisle investigators and chose to send repackaged evidence from Halle’s killing to the DuPage Crime Lab. The lab found a mixture of two individuals but according to Peat, the evidence was, “too degraded to create a working profile.”
Two years later, Peat said North Aurora investigators learned there was a box of evidence at the Naperville Police Department with Lindahl’s belongings.
“Some of that evidence showed Lindahl would have frequented the Northgate Shopping Center, which is where Kathy was employed at the time of her death,” Peat said.
With the additional evidence, Peat said he began looking into new DNA extraction technology: a tool called the “M-Vac.” It sprays a sterile solution onto the evidence while simultaneously vacuuming DNA.
One of these devices was available at DNA Labs International in Florida.
In June 2023, North Aurora police drove the evidence from Halle’s case down to Florida to be sampled by the M-Vac, Peat said. 14 months later, North Aurora officials received a report from the Florida-based facility linking Lindahl to Halle’s murder.
“DNA approximately 9.4 trillion times more probably to have originated from Bruce Lindahl was present on Kathy’s clothing,” said Peat.
Lindahl dies during murder in Naperville
Two years after the murder of Halle, Lindahl died in April 1981 while killing 18-year-old Charles Huber at a Naperville apartment on Ogden Avenue.
In the midst of stabbing Huber 28 times, Lindahl accidentally stabbed himself in the femoral artery and bled to death, police said. Naperville police found Lindahl’s body atop the victim’s.
Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser announced her department will not posthumously charge Lindahl, but said, “Had he not killed himself while in a murder, we would have authorized first-degree murder charges against Bruce Lindahl and we would have proceeded to trial.”
Halle family “grateful to finally have closure”
North Aurora Deputy Police Chief Joe Gorski read a message from the Halle family and asked reporters not to contact them.
“While revisiting this case has been incredibly difficult for our family, we are deeply grateful to finally have closure after 45 long years,” Gorski read from the family’s letter.
Photo courtesy: Village of North Aurora
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