DNA leads to an arrest 4 decades after murder, sexual assault of teens in California

CBS News

4 days ago

Police have made an arrest in Arizona four decades after the cold-case murder and sexual assault of two teenagers who were attacked in a parked car in Northern California, officials said Wednesday.
On December 19, 1984, the Shasta County Sheriff's Office was called to an incident in Burney, California by the California Highway Patrol. They found two 18-year-old victims, a male and a female, according to a news release from the office. The male victim, identified by police as Terrance Arndt, had sustained a gunshot wound. He was transported to an area hospital but died from his injuries. The female victim, who police did not identify, had been sexually assaulted.
An investigation found that Arndt and the female victim were parked in Arndt's car talking near an area high school when an unknown person pulled up in a vehicle. Arndt tried to protect the female victim, but was shot. The female victim was then assaulted and left for dead, Shasta County Sheriff Michael L. Johnson said in a news conference. After the suspect left the scene, she drove Arndt's car for help until she was able to reach police. Johnson said that the crime "rocked the community for many years."
An extensive investigation followed, Johnson said, including "thousands of hours" of case work. Detectives collected forensic evidence from the female victim's clothes, according to forensic genetic genealogy company Othram, and investigators also developed a DNA profile of the suspect. A man was arrested and charged in connection with the case, Othram said, but later cleared by the DNA profile.
The DNA profile was entered into the Combined DNA Index System, a national database used by law enforcement to compare DNA profiles. There were no matches to any known individuals, Othram said.
In 2024, the Shasta County Sheriff's Office revisited the case using forensic genetic genealogy, Johnson said. That led police to a suspect, identified as Roger Neil Schmidt Sr. Schmidt, now 64, would have been 23 at the time of the crime, police said. He also "strongly resembled" a sketch developed based on an account from the female victim, the sheriff's office said.
Police determined that Schmidt was currently living in Tucson, Arizona but had lived in Burney, California in 1984. Detectives from the Shasta County Sheriff's Office traveled to the city to coordinate with the Tucson Police Department and obtain a search warrant. Police were able to collect a DNA sample from Schmidt and confirm that it matched the profile.
Schmidt was arrested in Tucson on Saturday and charged with murder and sexual assault, police said. He made his first court appearance on Monday, CBS affiliate KOLD reported. He was in a wheelchair and using an oxygen tank.
Schmidt is expected to be extradited to Shasta County, the sheriff's office said. Johnson said he hopes the arrest brings closure to the female victim and Arndt's family. He said that the families were informed of the arrest before the news conference.
According to SFGate, Arndt was a star athlete at Burney High School before enrolling at Shasta College in Redding, California, where he lived at the time of his murder.
"The resolution to this case is a bit bittersweet for us," Johnson said. "Although it's a monumental accomplishment for the investigators, for the agency and the closure of having a suspect in custody, it doesn't negate the fact that there is a family and families that have been forever impacted and will forever live with the trauma and the aftermath that was left behind for them."