A father and his adult son were discovered with their throats slit in their Connecticut home 35 years ago. On Tuesday, prosecutors announced the conviction of a longstanding suspect in the murders. New Haven prosecutors stated that Willie McFarland was found guilty of murder in the murders of Fred and Greg Harris.
Communications were directed to McFarland’s attorneys. The 55-year-old will be sentenced on January 31.
Fred Harris, 59, and Greg Harris, 23, were discovered dead and tied in their Hamden home’s second-floor bedroom on August 27, 1987.
Greg Harris had untied himself and attempted to flee, but McFarland grabbed him, re-tied him, and sexually abused him, according to a police affidavit cited by The New York Times.
Hamden police captain Ronald Smith told the newspaper that the killings were “bone-chilling.”
“Any murder is heinous, but this one was exceptional,” he told The Times.
McFarland rapidly became a suspect and was interrogated shortly after the murders. However, officials had no physical evidence linking him to the crime for years, despite continuing to seek and undertaking DNA testing in 2006.
Then, in 2018, a new round of DNA testing on a glove discovered at the crime site revealed that it was “at least 1.5 million times more likely” than not that McFarland was one of four participants, according to investigators at the time.
His arrest occurred in 2019
“In utilizing innovative investigative techniques, advances in forensic science, and the determination to hold perpetrators of horrific crimes accountable, today’s jury verdict is the result of a 35-year quest by dedicated investigators and prosecutors who never gave up their search for justice for the victims of these horrific crimes,” said State’s Attorney John Doyle Jr. in a press release.