Grand jury identifies killer in 1962 Bristol church murder cold case

More than six decades after a 9-year-old girl was raped and murdered at a church in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, investigators say they finally know who did it.

Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said the grand jury investigation found William Schrader on Oct. 22, 1962, in St. Petersburg, Bristol. He announced at St. Mark’s Church that he had identified himself as the man who killed Carol Ann Dougherty.

The 53-page grand jury report concluded that Schrader was solely responsible for the murder, based on eyewitness testimony, forensic evidence and a newly confirmed confession from one of Schrader’s family members.

“For more than six decades, this tragic case has haunted the community and caused unimaginable pain to Carol Ann’s family,” Schorn said in a statement. he said. “Despite the passage of time, the case was never forgotten and was under constant review by law enforcement.”

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At a press conference held at the Bucks County Justice Center on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, Dougherty’s sister, Kay Dougherty Talanca, broke down in tears and shared what the findings mean to her family.

“Our family has lived without answers, and the uncertainty surrounding Carol’s death has become a part of who we are,” Talanca said. he said. According to 6ABC News.

“After decades of obscurity, this finding finally reveals the truth and closure to a wound that never heals.”

Kay Talanca wipes her tears while speaking to reporters at the prosecutor’s office press conference, where her sister’s killer was revealed, on Wednesday, October 29, 2025. (Michele C. Haddon / Bucks County Courier Times/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

According to the grand jury’s findings, Dougherty was last seen riding his bike to the Bristol Borough Free Library after stopping to buy candy and soda. When he failed to return home, his father buried his body in St. He found it in Mark’s Roman Catholic Church. Investigators determined she had been raped and strangled with a ligature.

Schrader, a local factory worker who lived a block and a half from the church at the time, was interviewed by police and provided a hair sample. He failed a polygraph test, and investigators later determined that he “lied about his alibi with timesheets proving he was not at work on the day of the murder.”

Shortly after being questioned, Schrader “fled to Florida, where he lived for a year, then moved around Texas and Louisiana, eventually settling in Houma, Louisiana, where he lived most of his life,” according to the statement.

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The grand jury investigation began on October 22, 1962, at St. Petersburg, Bristol. William Schrader was identified as the person who raped and murdered 9-year-old Carol Ann Dougherty at St. Mark’s Church. (Bucks County District Attorney’s Office)

Although Schrader died in 2002, the grand jury’s review included a 1993 forensic comparison that showed “substantial similarities” between Schrader’s hair sample and the hair found in Dougherty’s hand. Of the 141 men tested over the decades, only Schrader could not be eliminated as the source. The report also notes that Lucky Strike cigarettes found at the scene matched the brand Schrader was “known to smoke.”

A major breakthrough came in November 2024, when Schrader’s stepson, Robert Leblanc, told Bucks County investigators and Pennsylvania State Police that Schrader had twice confessed to killing a little girl at a church in Pennsylvania.

Leblanc told investigators that Schrader said he “had to kill the girl in Bristol to stop her from speaking.”

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Police and investigators investigated the incident at St. Paul’s Church in Bristol on 22 October 1962. He examines Carol Ann Dougherty’s bike in front of St. Mark’s Church. His murder remained unsolved for more than sixty years. (Bucks County District Attorney’s Office)

According to the grand jury report, “Leblanc had no prior knowledge of the specific details of the case… This makes his account extremely credible, since the details he provided could only have come from the perpetrator’s confession.”

The grand jury also examined and eliminated other initial suspects, including Frank Zuchero, Wayne Roach, and the Rev. Joseph Sabadish, finding that each had been falsely accused during the early investigation. Zuchero’s “confession” was deemed unreliable, Roach was out of state and the hair sample did not match, and Sabadish’s initial lie about his whereabouts was determined to be unrelated to the crime.

The report describes Schrader’s “pattern of violence and sexual violence, particularly against young, pre-adolescent, and adolescent women.” His criminal history, which spanned multiple states, included assaults with deadly weapons and a 1985 conviction in Louisiana for the death of 12-year-old Catherine Smith, who died after Schrader “intentionally set fire to her home knowing that she and other family members were inside.”

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A grand jury used forensic evidence and a family confession to solve the decades-old murder of a teenage girl at a Pennsylvania church. (Bucks County District Attorney’s Office)

Further investigation revealed that Schrader “sexually abused nearly every girl he lived with or had access to, including his own biological daughter and grandchildren,” most of whom were “between the ages of six and 13.” The grand jury report also said he “sexually assaulted two adult females who had cognitive delays such that they lacked the ability to consent.”

Testifying before the grand jury, clinical and forensic psychologist Dr. Veronique Valliere said the perpetrator was “a psychopath who experienced a perverted sexual arousal for pre-pubescent victims… who was incredibly impulsive, had little or no self-control, and enjoyed the high risk associated with these crimes.” He added that such criminals “often want to share or brag out of arrogance and grandiosity.”

Pallbearers at St. Paul’s Church in Bristol in October 1962. They were carrying the casket of Carol Ann Dougherty from St. Mark’s Church. The community mourned as police searched for her killer. (Bucks County District Attorney’s Office)

The grand jury found that his analysis was “fully consistent with the crime and scene and with Schrader’s behavior and subsequent confessions.”

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Investigators say the work of Bucks County detectives, Pennsylvania State Police and prosecutors brought “a definitive conclusion to a case that has haunted this community for decades.”

The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement that it hopes the long-awaited verdict “will finally bring a sense of peace to Carol Ann’s family and everyone affected by this tragic crime.”

“This case has plagued the Bristol County community for years,” said Bristol County Police Chief Joe Moors. According to USA Today. “(Investigators’) pursuit of the truth and teamwork ultimately provided answers for Carol’s family and our community… Their search for the truth has finally been fulfilled.”

Stepheny Price covers crimes including missing persons, murders and immigration crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.