EVERETT, Wash. — A man was arrested Wednesday in connection to the killing of an Everett woman nearly 40 years ago.
On June 2, 1984, 42-year-old Judith "Judy" Weaver was killed inside her home on Rucker Avenue, according to the Everett Police Department (EPD). Officials initially responded to her home for a report of a fire and found her inside.
The suspect, Mitchell Gaff, 61, was booked on charges of first-degree murder, first-degree arson, first-degree burglary, first-degree rape and first-degree kidnapping. A Snohomish County judge found probable cause to hold Gaff on the charges without bail.
According to EPD, Gaff was identified from "new DNA evidence" and was taken into custody by police in Olympia.
KING 5 does not typically name suspects until they are formally charged. However, Gaff's criminal record shows many similarities to Weaver's killing. His past convictions show a trend of him tying women up and then assaulting them.
He was convicted of assaulting a woman in 1979 but she was able to escape. Then, five years later, he was convicted of raping two teenage girls in Everett.
After his conviction, Gaff was incarcerated on McNeil Island, a prison housing people the state deems to be the most violent sex offenders. In 2006, he was granted release into a halfway house in Seattle.
Two of Weaver's surviving family members attended court Thursday afternoon and declined to speak on camera. Gaff faces the possibility of life in prison without parole if convicted.
Weaver co-owned a business on Hewitt Avenue and had walked home alone the night she was killed, according to EPD. She was a mother, grandmother and sister.
“My heart is with Judy’s family and friends as they continue grieving this difficult loss," Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin said in a press release. "I also want to commend our police department and our partner agencies for their continued focus on cold cases like this."
Old DNA sample leads to 2024 arrest
Court documents revealed how a DNA sample collected in 1984 and tested in 2023 led to Gaff's arrest Wednesday.
A DNA profile lifted from a piece of fabric used to bind Weaver's wrists resulted in a match in the state's CODIS system, a database used to store the DNA profiles of convicted criminals, and samples from unsolved crimes and missing persons.
The database identified Gaff as a possible contributor to the DNA, but law enforcement needed to get another sample to confirm the match.
In January, Everett police detective Susan Logothetti and other undercover officers "surreptitiously" collected Gaff's DNA through a ruse. That profile was used to confirm the match made by the CODIS system in the fall.
Everett police chief John DeRousse praised Logothetti for her work, which led to Gaff's arrest.
The Washington State Patrol Crime Lab matched the DNA sample to samples from a vaginal swab taken off of Weaver's body, three pieces of clothing the victim was wearing on the night of the murder and from the ligatures Gaff allegedly used to strangle her.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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