DNA has revolutionized the war on cold cases and helped solve the 1985 murder of a Fullerton man whose skull was found by hikers near Big Bear Lake. The murderer has now been sentenced. (File Photo)
By G. T. Houts
Big Bear Lake, CA – DNA evidence speaks even when a victim can’t. That’s why a 1985 cold case was solved almost 30 years after the fragments of a skull were found by hikers near Big Bear Lake.
The remains were unidentified for over 27 years until DNA identified the skull as Frank “Bart” Marshall, 26, from Fullerton.
Frank “Bart” Marshall (Photo Courtesy Fullerton Police Department)
An Orange County District Attorney’s news release indicates that DNA evidence also linked David Richard Campbell to the 1982 cold case murder of Marshall to cover a previous murder.
Campbell, now 70, pleaded guilty to Marshall’s murder last week and was sentenced to nine years to life in prison, which was the maximum allowed for murder in 1982. He is currently serving a life sentence without parole for two other murders in Riverside County.
THE CASE
On January 2, 1982, Marshall — a U.S. Forest Service employee in Oregon — was in Fullerton visiting his “foster” family and friends. He told family members he was going for a ride on his motorcycle and disappeared.
Investigators — who pieced together the case — indicated in court that Marshall had gone to Campbell’s residence to inquire about a mutual friend, 30-year-old William Raber, unaware that Raber had been killed by Campbell several months earlier.
THE PRISON VISIT
David Richard Campbell (Prison Mugshot)
Armed with the DNA evidence, detectives visited Campbell at Salinas Valley Prison where he confessed to killing Marshall, Raber and 17-year-old John Fischer.
At the time, Campbell told authorities he feared the men were going to kill him or harm others. The incarcerated suspect also agreed to show detectives where he left the bodies of the three men after he conducted a ritual he described as a Tibetan sky burial.
A Tibetan sky burial — as described in Wikipedia – is a funeral practice in which a human corpse is dissected and placed on a mountaintop to decompose while exposing it to the elements.
COURT STATEMENTS
Prosecutors stated in court that Campbell feared Marshall had connected him to Raber’s murder and killed him to conceal his previous deed.
A letter, penned by Campbell was read in court. He apologized to the families for their “overwhelming loss.” The letter went on to say he has had a great deal of time to reflect on his deeds during his 33 years in custody.
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