Justice after 61 years: Solving the murder of 12-year-old Mary Theresa, one for record books

Linda Galpin is 78 years old now and still thinks about her little sister every single day. Growing up in the ‘60s, they’d play “kick the can” with other kids in their neighborhood in Elmira, New York and skate up and down the street on metal wheels that clamped to the soles of their shoes, tightened with a key.

Galpin was 16 when her sister, Mary Theresa Simpson, 12, was murdered, a crime that rocked their small community to the core. Out of town when it happened, Galpin rushed home and was overcome at the sight of her shy little sister lying there so still.

“I couldn’t believe she was in a casket,” Galpin recalled in an interview with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). “I tried to jump in it. I wanted to be in there with her.”

Today, more than 61 years later, Elmira Police Chief Kristen Thorne made a stunning announcement: They’ve finally found Mary’s killer. It’s the oldest case ever solved with DNA.

Over the years, dozens of law enforcement officers never stopped trying to figure out who killed “Mary Theresa,” as they fondly called her. As time marched on, advancements in DNA and genealogy testing finally brought them answers.

“This is a historic day for the Elmira Police Department,” Thorne said at a press conference. “Justice after 61 years.”

Perhaps most remarkable of all, police preserved evidence in the case for more than six decades, long before anyone even imagined DNA would become a powerful investigative tool. 

Elmira Police Department map shows where Mary Theresa was last seen and where her body was found. (Credit: Elmira Police Department)

Evidence found at the scene, including her eyeglasses and a fan club card, were preserved more than six decades. (Credit: Elmira Police Department)

Mary Theresa was last seen walking home from visiting relatives around 6:30 p.m. on March 15, 1964. Four days later, her body was found in a wooded area, seven miles from her home. Her body was partially hidden under four heavy stones, her mouth stuffed with dirt and twigs. She died from asphyxiation.

In 2003 – 43 years after her murder – DNA found from semen on her skirt was entered into a national DNA database, but there were no matches. It was re-submitted again in 2014. Still nothing.

Elmira police Sgt. William Goodwin was awarded a grant in 2022 for advanced DNA testing. Kenneth Jensen, an FBI special agent assisting with the case, shipped the DNA sample – 0.4 nanograms, too small to see – to Othram Technologies for forensic DNA analysis.

The lab uploaded a profile into two public DNA databases, and the FBI used it to build family trees, identifying a son who submitted a DNA sample. 

Raymond Murray, at age 59; died at age 72. (Credit: Elmira Police Department)

His father, Raymond Murray, a truck driver, lived and raised a family in Elmira. He died when he was 72 of natural causes and was buried in Elmira. The end of the road? Not a chance.

By this time, Jensen was retired and working for NCMEC as a forensic case manager. He told Goodwin, “I think NCMEC can help.” NCMEC provided the funds and expertise of a forensic anthropologist to exhume Murray’s remains three months ago.

Murray’s remains were exhumed in November 2025 for DNA testing. (Credit: NCMEC)

Dozens of officers, many now retired, were there for the emotional moment. DNA confirmed that Murray had killed Mary Theresa. The case has finally been closed. To her sister, the news was bittersweet.

“I’m just glad justice was finally done,” Galpin said. “I always said it would never happen in my lifetime.”

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To read more about NCMEC forensic resources, go to https://ncmec.org/ourwork/caseresources.