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Anthony Harris, left, and Douglas Laming are charged with murdering Karen Umphrey. (Mug shots: St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office; inset: Othram)
There’s been a second arrest in the case of a woman found shot to death off a Michigan road four decades ago.
First, authorities in St. Clair County arrested local man, Douglas Laming, 70, in December 2023. Now they have announced apprehending a second suspect, Anthony Davis Harris, 63.
Investigators have said that Karen Umphrey, 21, got into an argument with her boyfriend between 12:30 and 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 2, 1980, according to The Port Huron Times-Herald. He stepped out and began walking home, they said. Umphrey parked and started to follow him on foot.
At 3:30 a.m., a driver called Port Huron cops to describe seeing a woman forced into a pickup truck. This was allegedly in the area of Umphrey’s car.
Hunters later found her shot in the head twice about 600 feet from the road in Clyde Township.
The case went cold as investigators could not identify the person or people responsible for killing Umphrey.
That changed in recent years.
“In 2022, the Michigan State Police submitted forensic DNA evidence from the crime scene to Othram. Othram scientists used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to develop a comprehensive genealogical profile from the DNA of the unknown contributor that was discovered at the crime scene in 1980,” Othram wrote in regard to the Laming case. “Othram’s in-house forensic genetic genealogy team used the genealogical profile to produce investigative leads. Othram returned the investigative leads to the Michigan State Police and they worked with St. Clair County Sheriff Department investigators to continue the investigation.”
Investigators first arrested Laming in Dec. 15, 2023. Online records currently show a charge of open murder. He is held on a $2 million bond.
Now investigators said they used DNA evidence to also identify a second suspect.
Honored that Othram could assist St. Clair Sheriff’s Department and the Michigan State Police in identifying a second suspect in the 1980 murder of Karen Umphrey. The second suspect, Anthony Harris, has been arrested for murder. #dnasolves
— Othram Inc. (@OthramTech) February 9, 2024
“In 2023, the Michigan State Police submitted the additional forensic DNA evidence from the 1980 crime scene to Othram in The Woodlands, Texas,” they wrote. “A second DNA profile belonging to the second unknown suspect was developed using Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing®. Othram’s in-house forensic genetic genealogy team used the genealogical profile to produce new investigative leads. The leads were returned to the Michigan State Police who continued their investigative work with St. Clair County Sheriff Department officials to identify the second suspect in the murder of Karen Umphrey. This follow up investigation led to the identification of 63-year-old Anthony Harris.”
He too is charged with open murder and held on a $2 million bond.
Neither defendant was Umphrey’s boyfriend. It is unclear if the suspect and victim had any prior connections.
