DNA Cracks 65-Year-Old 'Lovers' Lane' Double Murder

The presumed killer, Montana native Kenneth Gould, is dead
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 10, 2021 10:15 AM CDT
DNA Cracks 65-Year-Old 'Lovers' Lane' Double Murder
Clippings from the "Great Falls Tribune" are displayed Tuesday in Great Falls, Mont., as part of the Cascade County Sheriff's Office investigative file into the 1956 murders of Patricia Kalitzke, 16, and Duane Bogle, 18.   (Traci Rosenbaum/The Great Falls Tribune via AP)

The children of a Montana native who died almost a decade and a half ago have learned the man with no known criminal history was in fact a double murderer. It wasn't a skeleton in the closet, but rather genetic genealogy that supplied the shock. Since 1956, detectives have been looking to solve the Great Falls double murder of 16-year-old Patty Kalitzke and her boyfriend, 18-year-old Duane Bogle. "It was such a big case. Two popular kids who were essentially gunned down in a lovers' lane situation," Sgt. Jon Kadner of the Cascade County Sheriff's Office tells CNN. Bogle's body was found near his car, parked along a river, while Patty's body, showing evidence of rape, was found 5 miles away, per KRTV. Both had been shot in the head. Notorious crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger, who'd been in the area, was among suspects cleared over the years.

By 2019, detectives had a new tool at their disposal. With help from a DNA analysis company, they tested semen taken from Patty's body against a DNA database, which showed three people were genetically compatible. One of those people was linked to Kenneth Gould, who'd lived a mile away from Patty at the time of the murders and corralled horses within blocks of her home. Though Gould died and was cremated in 2007, two children agreed to submit DNA samples to authorities, which identified their father as the presumed killer. Family members noted they were unaware of any criminal behavior during Gould's life. He left Great Falls a month after the killings and settled in Missouri after 1967, per KRTV. Kadner, who believes this could be the oldest US case solved with forensic genetic genealogy, says detectives have yet to find a motive. (More double murder stories.)

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