An Oregon man confessed to the FBI that he killed a Boston woman nearly 44 years ago by smashing her head with a hammer, prosecutors said.
The New York Post reported that John Michael Irmer, 69, strolled into the FBI field office in Portland, Oregon, in August and allegedly confessed to the "ice-blooded" 1979 murder and rape of Susan Marcia Rose.
The Post reported that Irmer told FBI agents he met a red-haired woman at a skating rink around Halloween of 1979, the Suffolk County, District Attorney's Office said.
Irmer and Rose walked into a home on Beacon street in Boston as he grabbed a hammer and bashed her in the head. Irmer is then said to have allegedly raped her before fleeing to New York. Investigators said the attack resulted in fractures to Rose's skull and cuts to the brain.
The DA's office said Irmer's DNA was a match to samples taken from the murder scene.
"Nearly 44 years after losing her at such a young age, the family and friends of Susan Marcia Rose will finally have some answers," Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement.
The Post noted another man had been originally charged in the case, but was acquitted at a 1981 trial.
"This was a brutal, ice-blooded murder made worse by the fact that a person was charged and tried — and, fortunately, found not guilty — while the real murderer remained silent until now," said Hayden.
Irmer was arraigned on Monday and was remanded without bail on charges of murder and aggravated rape, the Post reported.
During the arraignment, Assistant District Attorney John Verner said Irmer also confessed to a murder in a southern state and had also served 30 years in prison for another slaying, NBC Boston reported.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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