At the time, he said that he did not know what had happened, following a domestic dispute.
An elderly Pennsylvania woman was charged this week with the murder of her husband, following investigators matched DNA with evidence taken from the crime scene, in an unsolved case for more than three decades.
Judith Ann Jarvis, 76, was arrested and charged with one count of murder for allegedly fatally shooting her husband, Carl Jarvis, in August 1987, Whtm reported.
The crime dates back to a domestic dispute, when the woman called the police to report that her husband was throwing and breaking things, and that she was very scared.
When the uniformed officers arrived at the Jarvis home, they met Judith outside the house, who told them that she had not entered the house since she called them.
Officers unsuccessfully attempted to contact the man before finding him naked on the bedroom floor with two gunshot wounds to the head.
A revolver was found on the bed next to him. The autopsy confirmed that the man died following being shot at point-blank range with the pistol, but that it might not have been a suicide.
According to agents, no one other than the couple was in the house at the time of the homicide.
Judith was found to have blood on her pajamas, though she claimed it was her own and had come from being bitten by a goose. The garment was seized as evidence and stored.
In October 2020, more than three decades following the death of Carl Jarvis, investigators conducted DNA analysis on Judith’s bloody pajamas and compared it to a lock of her husband’s hair. The evidence found was considered sufficient to indict her.
The elderly woman was arrested and charged with one count of murder, and will remain in Cumberland County Jail following being denied bail.
Perry County District Attorney Lauren Eichelberger said this would not have been possible without new technologies like DNA testing. “This new technology allowed us to bring charges in this 35-year-old case,” she said.
