Overview
- San Rafael police announced Tuesday that DNA matched Laurel James Switzer to cigarettes found at the 1966 murder scene.
- Cigarette butts were collected in 1966, but the case stalled because DNA testing did not exist at the time.
- In 2025, two retired San Rafael detectives and the Sacramento County district attorney sent the evidence to Othram, which extracted DNA and built a full profile using genome sequencing.
- Othram’s family-search leads led investigators to Switzer’s surviving relatives, whose voluntary DNA samples produced a positive match, though his suicide days after the killing leaves motive and details unresolved.
- A grant from the nonprofit Season of Justice funded the testing, showing how private funding and labs now help police revive and resolve long-cold cases.