Law enforcement officials in St. Louis County said on Monday they have reopened the 1980 homicide investigation of Margaret "Marge" Walsh and sent physical evidence, including a glove found near the scene, to a laboratory for modern DNA and forensic testing.
Walsh, 47, was found with a gunshot wound to the head in the back office of a Dairy Queen in Ellisville, Missouri, on the morning of April 24, 1980. Authorities have said $125 in cash was missing from the restaurant and a canister of chemical spray was located near her body.
St. Louis County Police Chief Steve Lewis, County Prosecuting Attorney Melissa Price Smith and retired St. Louis Police Chief Tim Fitch held a joint news conference to announce that evidence gathered at the time — including a glove found on a nearby road, the bullet recovered at the scene and Walsh's clothing — has been submitted for testing using forensic tools that were not available in 1980.
"We want the Walsh family to know that we have not given up," Lewis said. Fitch, who has volunteered to work on the case since April, urged anyone with information to come forward and said investigators have re-interviewed several witnesses, including three teenagers who worked the preceding night and the victim's sister.
Investigators have reconstructed a timeline from the original inquiry and subsequent follow-ups. Walsh worked the night shift at the Dairy Queen and was also a school principal's secretary by day. Records show she clocked out at about 11:50 p.m., though she was known to stay late on occasion. She had closed the store the night before her body was discovered with three teen employees from a nearby high school; the teens clocked out by about 10:45 p.m.
Helen Pahnke, a co-owner of the restaurant, arrived about 7:12 a.m. on April 24 and found Walsh's body in the back office, authorities said. Law enforcement said a co-worker had earlier noticed Walsh's car remained in the parking lot after his shift.
Fitch said at the news conference that investigators believe Walsh may have been confronted when she attempted to leave the premises and that the killer might have been seeking the code to open the restaurant's safe. "She didn't have it," Fitch said, noting the theft of a modest amount of cash and the presence of the chemical spray canister.
The case remained unsolved despite early inquiries that included interviews with Walsh's boyfriend and her ex-husband, both of whom were investigated and later died. Walsh's three children, who were 16, 18 and 21 years old at the time of her death, have also since died, authorities said.
Law enforcement briefly considered a connection to Maurice Oscar Byrd, who in 1980 was linked to other killings in the St. Louis area. Byrd was later ruled out in Walsh's murder after records showed he was working as a security guard at St. Louis University the night Walsh was killed, and he denied involvement when questioned before his execution, officials said.
The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office has launched a new cold-case unit to coordinate the renewed investigation and the forensic testing. Prosecutor Melissa Price Smith said the unit will review both physical evidence and old investigative records as part of its effort to generate new leads.
Fitch appealed directly to members of the public who may have been reluctant to speak in the past: "Maybe you were young, maybe you were scared, maybe you didn’t realize what you saw or heard could matter. But it does." Authorities asked that anyone with information contact St. Louis CrimeStoppers or call 1-866-371-8477.
Walsh's killing remains the only homicide recorded in Ellisville, a small suburb west of St. Louis. Police said the decision to re-examine the evidence comes as DNA and forensic techniques have advanced significantly since the case was first investigated, offering investigators the potential to identify or exclude suspects who could not be linked to the crime three decades ago.
Officials declined to disclose which specific forensic tests will be performed or to speculate on whether the glove or other items will yield usable DNA profiles. Investigators said the laboratory submissions mark the latest phase in an ongoing effort to close a case that has remained unresolved for more than four decades.