NORTH AURORA, Ill. — DNA found on the clothing of a suburban Chicago woman who was kidnapped and murdered 45 years ago matches that of a suspected serial killer who died two years later, authorities said Wednesday.
The DNA of Bruce Lindahl, who is probably killed As many as a dozen women and girls were confirmed to be on Kathy Halle’s clothing, authorities said.
Authorities believe Halle was kidnapped in March 1979 after leaving her North Aurora apartment complex. Her body was found weeks later in the Fox River, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Chicago, North Aurora Police Detective Ryan Peat said at a news conference.
In 1981, Lindahl was found dead in an apartment in Naperville, another western Chicago suburb. Police said he apparently accidentally severed a major artery in his own leg and bled to death while fatally stabbing an 18-year-old man in his home. Many photos of naked women were later discovered in Lindahl’s apartment. His remains were exhumed in 2019 for DNA testing.
In 2020, authorities announced that Lindahl’s DNA linked him to the 1976 strangulation of 16-year-old Pamela Maurer, whose body was found by a motorist along a road in the village of Lisle.
In Halle’s case, prosecutors determined that the “science was good, that it in fact showed that the DNA found on Kathy’s clothing belonged to Bruce Lindahl,” Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser told reporters on Wednesday .
“So if he had not committed suicide during a homicide, we would have approved the first-degree murder charge against Bruce Lindahl and we would have filed a lawsuit about it,” Mosser continued.
Halle’s family said in a statement that revisiting the case has been difficult, but they are grateful that the case can be closed after 45 years.
“Thanks to advances in DNA technology and groundbreaking research tools, we are hopeful that other families will not have to endure the same pain and uncertainty that we have faced for so many years,” the family said. “We extend our sincere thanks to the North Aurora Police Department and all agencies and organizations involved for their dedication, perseverance and never giving up even when the odds seemed impossible.”
At the time of his death, Lindahl was a suspect in the 1980 rape and kidnapping of Debra Colliander. Authorities believed Lindahl kidnapped the woman from a suburban shopping center and raped her in his Aurora home before managing to escape and call police from a neighbor’s home.
He was charged and then released from jail after posting bail. Days before she was scheduled to testify at his trial, Colliander disappeared, forcing prosecutors to drop charges in 1981.
In 1982, several months after Lindahl’s death, Colliander’s body was discovered by a farmer in a shallow grave. An autopsy could not determine how she died, but her death was ruled a homicide.