Grand jury identifies killer in 1962 Bristol church murder cold case

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

Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn announced that a grand jury investigation identified William Schrader as the man who killed Carol Ann Dougherty inside St. Mark’s Church in Bristol on October 22, 1962.

Page 53 Grand jury report He concluded that Schrader alone was responsible for the murder, citing eyewitness testimony, forensic evidence, and a newly verified confession from a member of Schrader’s family.

“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. “Despite the passage of time, this case has never been forgotten and has always been under review by law enforcement.”

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Fighting back tears, Kay Talanka addressed reporters at a district attorney’s press conference on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, after authorities revealed the identity of her sister’s killer. (Michelle C. Haddon/Bucks County Courier Times/USA Today Network via Imagine Images)

During a news conference at the Bucks County Justice Center on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, Dougherty’s sister, Kay Dougherty Talanka, cried and shared what the results mean for her family.

“Our family lived without answers, and the uncertainty surrounding Carol’s death became part of our identity,” Talanca said. According to 6ABC News.

“After many decades of not knowing, this discovery finally brings closure and truth to a wound that has never healed.”

Kay Talanka wipes away tears as she speaks to reporters at a Democratic Party press conference where her sister’s killer was revealed on Wednesday, October 29, 2025. (Michelle C. Haddon/Bucks County Courier Times/USA Today Network via Imagine Images)

According to the grand jury’s findings, Dougherty was last seen riding her bike to the Bristol Borough Free Library after stopping for candy and soda. When she failed to return home, her father discovered her body inside St. Mark’s Roman Catholic Church. Investigators determined she was She was raped and strangled With strap.

At the time, so was Schrader, a local factory worker who lived a block and a half from the church The police questioned him A hair sample was provided. He failed a polygraph test and investigators later determined that he “lied about his alibi, with time cards 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 before moving between Texas and Louisiana, eventually settling in Houma, Louisiana, where he lived most of his life, according to the statement.

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

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

A key development came in November 2024, when Robert LeBlanc, Schrader’s stepson, told Bucks County investigators and Pennsylvania State Police That Schrader confessed on two occasions to killing a young girl in a Pennsylvania church.

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

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Police and investigators inspect Carol Ann Dougherty’s bicycle outside St. Mark’s Church in Bristol on October 22, 1962. Her murder remained unsolved for more than six decades. (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 highly credible, as the details he provided could only have come from the perpetrator’s confession.”

The grand jury also reviewed and eliminated other early suspects, including Frank Zucchero, Wayne Roach, and Reverend Joseph Sabadesh, finding each of them wrongly implicated during the early investigation. Zucchero’s “confession” was deemed unreliable, Roach was out of state and his hair sample did not match, and it was determined that Sabadesh’s initial lie about his whereabouts had nothing to do with the crime.

The report describes the “Schrader incident.”Pattern of violence and sexual violenceHis criminal history, which spans several states, includes assaults with a deadly weapon and a 1985 conviction in Louisiana in the death of 12-year-old Katherine Smith, who died after Schrader “intentionally set fire to his residence, knowing that she and other family members were inside.”

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

Further investigation revealed that Schrader “sexually abused virtually every female child he lived with or had access to, including his biological daughter and his granddaughters,” most of whom were between the ages of 6 and 13. He “sexually assaulted two adult women who had such cognitive delays that they lacked the capacity to consent,” the grand jury report said.

Dr. Veronique Valliere, a clinical and forensic psychologist who testified before the grand jury, said the perpetrator was “a psychopath with a perverted sexual arousal for prepubescent victims…incredibly impulsive, with little to no self-control, and comfortable with the high risks associated with these crimes.” She added that such perpetrators “often want to share or show off out of arrogance and grandiosity.”

Pallbearers carry Carol Ann Dougherty’s coffin from St Mark’s Church in Bristol in October 1962. The community mourns as police search for her killer. (Bucks County District Attorney’s Office)

The grand jury found its analysis “accurately consistent with the crime and crime scene, and with Schrader’s subsequent conduct and confessions.”

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Investigators say the work of Bucks County investigators, Pennsylvania State Police and prosecutors has brought “a final 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 resolution will “finally bring a sense of peace to Carol Ann’s family and everyone affected by this tragic crime.”

“This case has haunted the Bristol Borough community for years,” Bristol Borough Police Chief Joe Moores said. According to USA Today. “(Investigators’) pursuit of the truth and teamwork finally provided answers for the Carroll family and our community… Their pursuit of the truth has finally been achieved.”

Stephenie Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and immigrant crimes. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.