60-Year-Old Cold Case Solved By DNA Breakthrough In San Rafael

SAN RAFAEL, CA — After nearly six decades, a DNA analysis has connected a long-dead suspect to a prominent 1966 San Rafael homicide, bringing a form of closure to a case that has remained unsolved since the victim’s death, police announced Tuesday.

The San Rafael Police Department stated that Laurel James Switzer, who was an original person of interest in the murder of Marjorie Rudolph, was positively identified through advanced DNA testing as being present at the crime scene.

Switzer was initially investigated in 1966 but could not be conclusively linked to the scene due to the forensic limitations of the era; he died by suicide just eight days after the murder occurred.

Marjorie Rudolph, the wife of a banker, was found murdered in her home on February 1, 1966. During the original investigation, police recovered cigarettes believed to belong to the killer from the scene. However, with no DNA testing available, investigators were unable to confirm if Switzer had left them behind.

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The case was resurrected in 2025 when the SRPD, along with retired investigators Harry Barbier and Kevin MacDougald who now volunteer on cold cases, partnered with the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.

Forensic evidence was sent to Othram, a specialized laboratory in Texas, for advanced testing. Scientists at Othram successfully extracted a DNA profile from the cigarette evidence using Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing.

The lab's forensic genetic genealogy team then developed investigative leads from the DNA profile. These leads allowed investigators Barbier and MacDougald to locate surviving relatives of Switzer. After obtaining DNA reference samples from the relatives with their consent, a comparison was performed against the profile from the crime scene evidence. The result was a positive match, confirming Switzer’s familial DNA was on the cigarettes and placing him at the scene of the 1966 homicide.

Case files indicate that Switzer was acquainted with Rudolph and her husband, and investigators said a dispute with the victim's family may have motivated the crime.

While the DNA evidence strongly implicates Switzer as the likely suspect, his suicide shortly after the murder means the full circumstances of his involvement and his exact motive may never be fully uncovered, officials said.

Anyone with information about the 1966 crime is asked to call San Rafael Police at (415) 485-3000. Tips can also be submitted online at www.srpd.org/tips.

If you are having suicidal thoughts, dial 988 for the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.