The 1956 sweethearts case is finally solved
THE BRUTAL KILLER OF A YOUNG COUPLE HAS BEEN UNMASKED, THANKS TO 65-YEAR-OLD DNA
‘THEIR FAMILIES THOUGHT THEY MUST HAVE ELOPED’
In what is believed to be the oldest cold case ever solved using DNA, detectives have just identified the culprit of a horrific lovers’ lane killing. The bodies of teenagers Lloyd Duane Bogle and Patricia Kalitzke were discovered in 1956 in Great Falls, Montana, but their murder remained unsolved for decades – until now.
Duane, 18, was an airman at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Waco, Texas, who was planning to wed sweetheart Patricia, 16, a highschool junior described by classmates as bubbly, witty and beautiful. Patricia’s family said the couple spent all their time together and had just enjoyed a family Christmas. The smitten pair left the Kalitzkes’ house on 2 January on their way to a local drive-in, where witnesses accounted for them until just after 9pm. The pair were said to be so in love, their failure to return home led their families to believe they’d eloped. But that wasn’t the case.
TRAGIC DISCOVERY
On 3 January 1956, while walking in the Great Falls Park, three boys made a grisly discovery. In a lovers’ lane area near Sun River, the trio came across the body of Duane, who had been shot in the head. Located near to his car, he was face down, with his hands tied behind his back with his belt. Duane’s car radio was switched on, the car was in gear, and money and a camera were still
inside the vehicle, leading investigators to rule out a robbery motive. There was no sign of Patricia and no immediate evidence to suggest that she had come to any harm. But sadly, any hopes of finding her alive faded as the sun rose the next morning. A road worker discovered Patricia’s body seven miles from where Duane had been found.
She was also killed by a shot to the head, and investigators found evidence of sexual assault. Officers combed the area for clues and gathered what little they could from the crime scene. A forensic evidence swab was taken from Patricia’s body and placed on a microscope slide. It was to stay preserved for the next 50 years.
The local police were rallied by a host of crime agencies offering their assistance, but extensive searches of the area yielded no clue to the murderer’s identity. Sheriff DJ Leeper of the Cascade County Sheriff’s Department urged members of the public to offer the names of possible suspects, and used his own money to purchase a polygraph machine, stating that he would employ ten officers full-time on the case until it was solved. Dead-end leads mounted up and a reward for information was eventually disbursed after ten years. Patricia’s sister Darlene Murray was interviewed for US news show Hard Copy, where she said, “You couldn’t even cry. My dad, especially. He was just numb. You know, these things just didn’t happen. And in a town like Great Falls, there was nothing like it.” For years, Cascade County law enforcement worked on the case, with several different detectives picking up the file. A number of high-profile suspects were in the frame, including serial killer Edward Wayne Edwards, but no forensic evidence connecting them to the killings was ever found.
LAST CHANCE
In 2001, the case was reopened by Detective Phil Matteson, and the investigation looked to be making progress. The DNA swab was sent to the Montana State Crime Lab and, miraculously, found a sperm cell that did not match Duane. DNA comparison was conducted with over 35 suspects, but failed to turn up a match. Matteson then said he believed the case would never be solved. After numerous lines of enquiry came to nothing, the file was once again resigned to the coldcase locker. But in 2012, on his first cold case, Detective Jon Kadner re-examined the file, saying, “My first
‘YOU WERE JUST LEFT NUMB – YOU COULDN’T EVEN CRY’
impression was that the only way we’re gonna solve this is through the DNA.”
So, in 2019, additional DNA testing was carried out on the sample, and when it was uploaded to a genealogical database, a family connection emerged, leading detectives to Kenneth Gould. Born and raised in Great Falls in 1927, he was a married 29 year old when the murders took place. Gould lived less than a mile from Patricia’s family home and was known to ride horses throughout the Montana landscape. He had no known criminal history, and was never interviewed in connection to the murders, but he had moved away from his birthplace shortly after the killings.
DNA CONFIRMATION
Frustratingly for the detectives, Gould passed away in 2007, and his remains were cremated. This meant that a match could not be confirmed without investigators gaining additional samples from his closest living relatives. Detective Kadner knew he likely had his man
‘SHE ALWAYS HAD A SMILE AND THESE BIG BLUE EYES’
and approached Gould’s surviving children. He said, “I wasn’t sure how they were going to react when I went to them, saying, ‘Hey, your dad’s a suspect in this case’. But they were great to work with.” The testing confirmed what Kadner already knew – Gould was the DNA match, and the case was finally solved. Though the passing of time meant that surviving relatives of the murdered couple were all but gone, Kadner felt strongly that giving them closure was important. He said of the relatives who he was able to inform, “They’re excited, but at the same time, it has brought up a lot of memories.”
Patricia’s sister Darlene spoke lovingly of her sibling, saying she liked to remember the happy times. “She always had a smile and those big, blue eyes,” she said. “Deep blue, with eyelashes you could hang your hat on. Those memories don’t fade.”