California authorities were able to score another victory by solving a fifty years old case gone cold decades ago. The homicide investigation of Stanford Law Librarian, Marie Perlov, then 21-year-old, started off with limited physical evidence and no witnesses to aid detectives back in 1973.
Perlov had recently graduated from Stanford University and planned to study law at the time of her death. Detectives said she was strangled with a floral scarf the killer left tied around her neck. He had tried to sexually assault her. Soon after she vanished, her body was discovered in the hills of Stanford University.
For years Perlov’s murder troubled detectives. It wasn’t until recently, using advance DNA technology, they were finally able to test the DNA from under her fingernails. The results from the test lead to a new discovery and a new suspect — a convicted serial killer already serving a life sentence for other murders.
John Arthur Getreu, 78, admitted to killing Perlov soon after detectives questioned him. At the time of her murder, Getreu worked as cardiology technician at the Stanford Hospital.
Speaking about the case, district Attorney Jeff Rosen said “Justice for Leslie Perlov and her loved ones took a very long time, but it has arrived. This serial rapist and murderer will spend the rest of his life in prison.”