Roger Neil Schmidt, a 64-year-old man from Tucson, has been placed under arrest for his alleged connection to a cold case murder that took place in 1984 in Burney, California. According to information provided by FOX 10 Phoenix, Schmidt was apprehended last week and showed up at court in a wheelchair, dependent on an oxygen tank for breathing.
Terry Arndt, an 18-year-old at the time, was found shot dead near a high school in Burney, a place north of Sacramento. It is believed that Schmidt was also involved in sexually assaulting a girl who was with Arndt at the time. Authorities have managed to match the DNA found on the victim’s clothing with Schmidt’s, an attempt to slowly unravel the truth behind a mystery that’s persisted for over 40 years. However, the motive for the murder remains as elusive as the case was long thought to be.
The case saw a wrongful accusation in its history, with Thomas Elmer Brewster being exonerated in 1997 of the crimes initially ascribed to him—a reminder of the wrongful detours in the pursuit of justice. AZ Central reports that Brewster’s acquittal came after DNA testing on evidence proved his innocence. Despite the setback, Shasta County Sheriff Michael Johnson highlighted the advancements in DNA analysis that helped significantly in Schmidt’s arrest…