Burlington police say neighbor killed Rita Curran, solving a more than 50-year-old cold case

By Alan J. Keays and Diane Derby
Feb 21 2023, 10:42 AM
Updated at 4:19 p.m.

Burlington police say they have closed out one of the state’s oldest cold cases, a crime that shook the city more than a half-century ago, pinning the death of 24-year-old Rita Curran on a neighbor whose wife had provided an alibi at the time of the killing.

At a Tuesday morning press conference, authorities said the use of DNA had helped them determine that William DeRoos was the person who murdered Curran. The school teacher was found dead by her roommate at her Brookes Avenue apartment on July 20, 1971. DNA from a discarded cigarette butt found at the scene proved critical in solving the case, authorities said.

The announcement, held at the Burlington Police Department’s North Avenue headquarters, featured prosecutors, a scientist, Curran’s family members and retired U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. At the time of Curran’s death, Leahy was Chittenden County’s state’s attorney.

Two siblings of Rita Curran — brother Tom Curran and sister Mary Curran Campbell — spoke at the press conference and praised the work of law enforcement and other organizations in helping to solve the case.

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