Vermont State Police say they are encouraged by an arrest in a cold case dating back to 1989 — adding that it motivates detectives and other experts working on difficult investigations to keep striving to close old files.
In quiet Danby, folks who have been in town a while still remember the shock that gripped the community in September 1989, when George and Catherine Peacock were found stabbed to death in their home. There was no sign of a break-in, and nothing was stolen, police said.
“It was a tragedy,” recalled Collette Yrsha, the assistant town clerk of Danby.
According to Vermont State Police, George Peacock was 76 and Catherine Peacock was 73 at the time of their murders.
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Soon after, police attention focused on the couple’s own son-in-law, Michael Louise. However, detectives acknowledged they couldn’t quite come up with conclusive evidence — at least, not for more than 30 years.
“I thought they had just forgotten about it,” said Byron Battease, who added he knew George Peacock from around town. “I guess they didn’t.”
Vermont State Police now say scientific advancements in DNA testing have finally led to a match on a drop of George Peacock’s blood which they told reporters was found in Michael Louise’s car after the killings. Previous testing on the sample had been inconclusive, VSP noted.
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“This is what they work for every day,” Capt. Scott Dunlap, who heads the Major Crime Unit of Vermont State Police, said of the breakthrough in the case.
Dunlap praised his cold case team for never giving up on justice for the Peacocks.
“We hope for the outcome for more cases, just like this one,” Dunlap said in an interview Thursday with NECN & NBC10 Boston.
The suspect, who is 79 and walked with a cane into a court hearing held via video link to the jail Thursday, had been living in Syracuse, New York, Vermont State Police said. VSP brought Louise back to Vermont this week to face the murder charges.
“It’s a good thing,” Yrsha said of the arrest. “Because anyone who might have known the people, I would think they wanted closure.”
Apparent staffing challenges meant Louise’s attorney wasn’t available for a planned hearing Thursday. However, the judge said she expects the accused killer to enter a plea to the accusations Friday.
Dunlap urged people to check out this website dedicated to unsolved homicides in Vermont, and asked anyone with memories of the crimes — however faint they may be — to come forward with information that could help investigators close another cold case.
