Murder Conviction Brings Closure In East Bay Girl's 1980 Death

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — The Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office has secured a first-degree murder conviction in the decades-old death of an Antioch girl, Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton announced Thursday.

Mitchell Lynn Bacom, 67, of Antioch, was convicted Tuesday by a Contra Costa County jury of killing 14-year-old Suzanne Bombardier in June 1980 — closing the book on what was the oldest open homicide on record in Antioch.

Bombardier disappeared June 21, 1980, from her sister's apartment where she was babysitting her younger cousins. A week later, her body was recovered from the San Joaquin River. Along with evidence of a sexual assault, the cause of death was determined to be a single stab wound to the chest.

At the time of her death, Bacom was 27 years old and was an early suspect in the initial homicide investigation. He had been previously convicted in 1974 of rape and other felony offenses in Mountain View and was on parole for those offenses at the time of Bombardier’s killing.

In 1981, Bacom was convicted of another sexual assault and related felonies and was sentenced to 24 years in state prison.

The Bombardier investigation went cold until 2017 when Bacom was identified as the perpetrator through a biological sample matched to his DNA profile.

• RELATED: DNA Results Lead To Arrest In 1980 Rape, Slaying Of Girl, 14

Because of the first-degree murder conviction in Bombardier's death, along with special circumstances for committing the murder during the course of burglary, kidnapping and rape, Bacom will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Becton's office said.

"Justice did not come swiftly for the Bombardier family," Becton said. "With the perseverance of Antioch detectives and scientific advancement, the successful prosecution of Mitchell Bacom brings closure to this 37-year-old mystery."