By Brad Palmer
Carbondale, IL – A cold case from the 1970's in Carbondale has been solved using state of the art technology never before used in the state.
Carbondale police chief Bob Ledbetter says the Illinois state police crime lab in Springfield used new DNA technology to solve the murder of SIU-Carbondale student Kathleen McSharry, who was killed in her Carbondale apartment in 1976.
Ledbetter says DNA evidence led to the conclusion that Carbondale native John Paul Phillips murdered McSharry.
Phillips was convicted of murdering Joan Wetherall of Carbondale in 1981 and died while on death row in 1993.
Ledbetter says the investigation into Phillips also led to the conclusion that he murdered SIUC graduate student Theresa Clark in 1975. That conclusion was based on testimony from Phillips' cell mate and the similarities between the Clark and McSharry murders.
