Robert Waters: Man arrested for 1988 murder of mother who was stabbed while her infant slept in next room
THREE RIVERS, MICHIGAN: Investigators arrested a 53-year-old man who was responsible for killing a young mother three decades ago while her infant was in the next room. On December 2, 1988, Cathy Swartz, 19 was stabbed and viciously attacked and she also fought back while she was strangled by Robert Odell Waters.
Waters is currently taken into custody and has been charged with the murder of Swartz, as per Michigan's Three Rivers Police Department. The suspect's identity was determined after using blood found at the crime scene and using genetic genealogy, reported Law and Crime.
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'Nothing can replace the loss of Cathy Swartz'
Following the arrest of Waters, police said, "While nothing can replace the loss of Cathy Swartz, and the impact this senseless tragedy has had, we hope the identification and arrest of a suspect will bring some long-awaited closure to her family and friend."
On the day of the murder, the slain woman's boyfriend left her home to work early and came back from work, and found her dead. An investigator stated that were no signs of forced entry.
"From the scene and the evidence at the scene, it looks like the struggle started downstairs in the kitchen area and then it carried to the foyer that leads to the front door and then up the stairway and then down the hallway to her bedroom," said a rookie cop named Mike Mohney in 1988.
Killer left behind evidence
After Swartz was murdered, Waters left behind a footprint, fingerprint, and blood and before leaving the scene, cops suggested that the accused murderer changed clothes before leaving.
Talking to the Sturgis Journal in 2013, the slain woman's father David Swartz said, "For 25 years, someone out there knows something that has yet to be provided to the proper authorities."
"I had hoped Cathy’s mom would be alive long enough to see the case solved, but Audrey died last year … at least she’s finally together with Cathy again," he added.
The DNA obtained from the genetic genealogy conducted in 2022 to track down and revealed that the test was determined to be from a single family. "Investigators then interviewed, fingerprinted, and DNA tested the family members until the suspect was identified as Robert Waters," said the cops.
