A cold case spanning more than six decades is finally closed. Authorities in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, have formally identified the suspected killer of 9-year-old Carol Ann Dougherty. The girl was raped and strangled in 1962.
The suspect is William Schrader. He died in 2002 at the age of 64.
Grand Jury Uncovers the Truth
The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office announced the finding on October 29. A grand jury investigation reached the conclusion. They used a “combination of decades-old evidence and recent investigative developments,” the press release noted.
The 53-page grand jury report details the extensive evidence. This included Schrader’s disproven alibi, his confession to a family member, and forensic exclusions. A clinical psychologist also provided testimony.
The grand jury concluded Schrader committed rape and first-degree murder.
The Crime and the Early Investigation
Carol Ann Dougherty vanished on October 22, 1962. She left her Bristol home to ride her bike to the library. She was last seen near St. Mark’s Roman Catholic Church. Her father found her body inside the church after she failed to return home for dinner. She had been fatally strangled with a ligature.
Schrader lived nearby. He was questioned early on. He provided a hair sample, one of 177 collected. He failed a polygraph test. His initial alibi—claiming he was at work—was quickly disproven by timecards.
The Key Confession
The case was frequently reviewed over the years. Schrader’s hair sample was re-analyzed in 1993. It remained the only one that couldn’t be eliminated.
The breakthrough came recently. In November 2024, state police interviewed Robert LeBlanc, Schrader’s stepson.
LeBlanc told police Schrader had confessed to the crime twice. Schrader admitted to LeBlanc that he had lured a little girl into a church to rape her. He then killed her “to keep her from talking.”
Further investigation revealed Schrader had a lifelong pattern of sexually abusing female children. Schrader had moved south after the initial questioning. He was later charged with crimes in multiple states, including the 1985 death of a 12-year-old girl.
Closure for the Family
At a press conference, Carol Ann’s sister, Kay Dougherty, spoke about the finding.
“After so many decades of unknowing,” she said, “this finding finally brings closure and a truth to a wound that never healed.”