A Washington man has been handed a 50-year-to-life prison sentence after confessing to two cold-case murders from decades ago. The breakthrough in these cases came from an unlikely source—a piece of gum.
Mitchell Gaff, now 74, was sentenced last week following his guilty plea to the murders of Susan Vesey, 21, and Judith “Judy” Weaver, 42, both of whom were killed in Everett, according to a report by FOX 13.
The connection to Weaver’s 1984 murder was made when detectives from the Everett Police Department, posing as gum industry researchers, visited Gaff’s home. They offered him a free gum sample, which he accepted. This sample was sent to the federal database, CODIS, where it linked him to Weaver’s murder, as reported by USA Today.
Gaff’s DNA from the gum led to his arrest in May 2024. While in custody, he was also charged with the murder of Vesey. Authorities disclosed that Vesey was killed in her apartment the day after her 21st birthday on July 12, 1980.
This case underscores the advances in forensic technology and investigative techniques, which have turned what was once an unsolvable mystery into a closed chapter in the pursuit of justice.
He was arrested in May 2024 and was later charged with Vesey’s killing while behind bars, with investigators revealing she had been murdered inside her apartment the day after her 21st birthday on July 12, 1980, officials said.
Speaking in court on Wednesday, Gaff offered an apology to the families of both victims seated in the courtroom, while pointing to drugs and alcohol as contributing factors to his history of violence.
Susan Vesey was murdered inside her home in Everett, Wash., on July 12, 1980, according to authorities. (Everett Police Department)
“I am sorry, not because I was caught, but the consequences,” Gaff said, according to NBC News. “No one did anything to deserve me coming into their lives.”
The court also heard from Jacqueline O’Brien, a former law enforcement officer who survived a violent attack by Gaff inside her Everett home’s garage in 1979.
Authorities found Judy Weaver’s body inside her home on Rucker Avenue in Everett, Washington, after first responders were called to a fire on June 2, 1984. (Everett Police Department)
“I knew he was going to kill me,” O’Brien said, FOX 13 reported.
O’Brien managed to escape the attack and was pivotal in helping authorities identify Gaff, who was arrested several times in the years after and spent time behind bars for the rapes of two teenage sisters in 1984.
“My nightmare occurred 47 years ago, but it seems like yesterday,” O’Brien added.
Vesey’s son, Joshua Vesey, told the court he was just 3 months old and inside the apartment when his mother was killed by Gaff, FOX 13 reported.
“What the defendant took from me and my sister was not just a life, it was a mother’s unconditional love,” Joshua Vesey told the court, according to the outlet. “At any point he could have stopped the confusion, the suspicion and the pain that spread through my family.”
Leon Gregory, Weaver’s brother, also emphasized how the case haunted his family for years as they grappled with the possibility of never receiving closure.
“Your Honor, as we all know, it’s been a long 42 years,” Gregory said, according to FOX 13. “My parents, brother, two other sisters, passed on years ago, never knowing who killed Judy.”
Before determining Gaff’s fate, the judge pointed to his history of violence and attempts to cover up the crimes throughout the years as a determining factor in denying the defense’s request that he receive the minimum sentence.
“The defendant’s history consists of sexually motivated, extremely violent crimes against women,” the judge said, FOX 13 reported. “The appropriate sentence has a minimum is the number of years that the families had to wait.”
The Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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