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SALT LAKE CITY — When Steven Weber talks about June 26, 1965, he still gets emotional. He was 10 years old but remembers the day like it was yesterday.
"It was just really terrible," he said."I didn't know quite how to handle it."
As he went through old family photos, he described himself as the "caboose" of the family. His sister, Tanya Kay Weber, was 17 years old and a senior in high school when she was killed.
He gave a big sigh of relief when asked how important it was to have his sister's killer officially named. Even though it was widely believed to be 26-year-old Owen Kimball, a man who lived nearby, investigators weren't able to confirm. Nearly 60 years ago, they couldn't get much more than circumstantial evidence.
And, three days after her death, they said Kimball died by suicide.
Lt. Lemuel Earl was one of the lead investigators on the case all those years ago. He's been retired 24 years now but said it was a case he could never get out of his mind.
"My primary role at that time was investigations," Earl said. He arrived on the scene on June 26, 1965. He said the hours and days that followed were painstaking as he and other investigators processed the crime scene and meticulously gathered evidence. Their precision and attention to detail are likely the reasons DNA evidence was still intact all this time later.
"We were careful," Earl said. "We took hundreds of photographs. We photographed her clothing from all angles, her shoes, her underwear."
Killing of Logan High student in 1965 finally solved, police say
Logan police said Wednesday that they have solved the cold case homicide of a 17-year-old girl. The announcement was made on the 59th anniversary of the girl's death.Sixty years ago, investigators didn't have the technology and access to DNA analysis. That, of course, has changed and a grant by the state of Utah allowed investigators to reopen the case in 2022.
Utah's State Bureau of Investigation reopened the case and in November of 2023, investigators exhumed Kimball's remains for DNA analysis. It was a match. Six decades after the 17-year-old high school senior was killed, the case was closed, this time solved.
Weber said he has forgiven his sister's killer, and he hopes this can bring closure to others close to the case too.
"I can't tell you how much peace of mind I have."
Earl said getting that call on the 59th anniversary of Tanya's death was a personal payoff.
"It took a lot of good hard work and effort, not just back in those days but fellows today that stuck with it," says Earl.
