DNA points to suspect in rape and murder of California mother by 51-year-old – Crime Online

Last week, California investigators solved a 51-year-old rape and murder case after DNA evidence led them to a suspect in Idaho.

Michael Eugene Mullen, 75, was arrested Wednesday in Lemhi County and charged with the murder of Nina “Nadine” Fischer in November 1973.

Fischer, 31, lived with her husband and young daughter in the unincorporated community of San Rafael, according to the Marin County Sheriff's Office. Her husband found her body when he returned home from work.

According to ABC News, the Fischers were both Swedish citizens and were preparing to return to Sweden at the time of the murder. Nina Fischer was shot three times. Her two-year-old daughter was physically unharmed and was found in another room.

Investigators were working on the case, but it had fizzled out due to a lack of leads, the sheriff's office said.

The sheriff's office turned the case over to the state Department of Justice's family tracing program in 2021 with a request to help find a DNA lead, and after several months the program came back with one.

“Over the next three years, a thorough investigation was conducted to confirm the investigative lead and the suspect was identified as Michael Eugene Mullen, a resident of Idaho,” the sheriff's office said.

Mullen was arrested and taken to the Lemhi County Jail to await extradition to California.

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[Featured image: Michael Eugene Mullen/Lemhi County Jail]