Police say they cracked 1984 Pembroke slaying

Nearly four decades later, police say they have finally cracked the unsolved homicide case of Virginia Hannon, who was killed in her Pembroke home in 1984.

Police on Thursday announced that the killer of the 59-year-old woman was Jesse Aylward, who apparently admitted to killing a person in Pembroke before he died himself last year.

“37 years later, justice for Virginia Hannon,” Plymouth District Attorney Tim Cruz tweeted.

“Thank you to all those who never gave up on finding her killer.”

“My condolences go out once again to the Hannon family for their loss,” Cruz said in a statement. “I am hopeful that they finally find some peace and closure with this news.”

Hannon on Feb. 13, 1984, was found strangled and stabbed to death in her home on West Street.

Police interviewed witnesses, analyzed and tested evidence found at the crime scene, conducted DNA testing and retested items as DNA science evolved over the years.

Three years ago, the Plymouth DA’s Office worked with the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab, and performed more rounds of testing on items from the crime scene — including broken glass from the door, nylon stockings and bloody paper towels.

Then a year later in 2019, police learned that the male DNA profile found on items from Hannon’s kitchen that were tied to the slaying were all from the same unknown man. However, no genetic genealogy testing turned up an ID for the man.

But last year, police received a tip that a man named Jesse Aylward had admitted to slaying a person in Pembroke many years ago. The tipster also said Aylward had died the day before.

Investigators then preserved a DNA swab from Aylward’s dead body.

Detectives got a warrant to obtain blood of Aylward’s from Brockton Hospital, and analysts determined his DNA profile was a match to the DNA found at the crime scene.