Police find killer in 59-year-old cold case
Jun 26, 2024, 10:37 AM | Updated: 10:35 pm
LOGAN — The Logan City Police Department and Cache County Attorney’s Office announced a 59-year-old cold case had been solved with modern DNA testing and analysis.
According to a release from the department, 17-year-old Tanya Weber was found dead on West Center Street in Logan on June 26, 1965.
Tanya Weber (Utah Department of Public Safety)
Police gathered evidence from the crime scene, including Weber’s clothing, interviewed approximately 1,000 people, and collected statements from 150 of those interviewed. An autopsy revealed Weber was strangled to death, and police classified the death as a homicide.
Several days into the investigation, police identified 26-year-old Owen Hodges Kimball as a suspect in Weber’s death. Kimball lived close to Weber and knew of her. Statements from the people interviewed revealed Kimball was in the area around the time Weber was killed. Then, on June 30, 1965, Kimball’s family reported him missing.
Law enforcement found Kimball dead in his car, and his death was ruled a suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.
Cache County Attorney B.H. Harris issued this public statement on July 10, 1965: “As far as this case is concerned, there has been no evidence submitted to this office directly indicating there are any prime suspects subject to this prosecution.”
Since that time, Weber’s murder has gone unsolved for 59 years.
The case was reopened in 2022 by Logan police. Using the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative grant, the evidence from Weber’s case, primarily Weber’s clothing, was sent to the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative grant for DNA analysis. Updated technology revealed a mixture of several males’ DNA on her clothing.
Investigators determined a DNA sample was needed from the suspect for comparison and filed for an order to exhume Kimball’s body, which was granted.
On Nov. 2, 2023, investigators exhumed Kimball’s remains and sent them to the Utah Medical Examiner’s Office for DNA samples.
“Both the Utah State Crime Lab and the lab at Bode Technology Group in Lorton, Virginia, conducted DNA testing on the collected samples. Investigators compared the DNA profile from Kimball to the DNA mixture found on Ms. Weber’s clothing. Investigators discovered DNA from Kimball on an article of clothing worn by Ms. Weber at the time of her death,” a release from LCPD states.
The new evidence was presented to Cache County Attorney Taylor Sorensen and Chief Deputy Daniel Major.
A review of the evidence and numerous statements from the time of Weber’s death, along with the DNA evidence, revealed that Kimball killed Weber.
“It should be noted that today is the 59th anniversary of Ms. Weber’s death. LCPD (Logan City Police Department) has been in contact with Tanya’s family throughout this process and hopes this information provides them closure. LCPD would like to thank all those who assisted with this case, especially the officers and detectives from 1965 and the relentless work they showed in the initial days and weeks following this homicide.”
