Investigators have arrested an Idaho resident suspected of murdering a San Rafael woman in 1973, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office announced Thursday.
Michael Eugene Mullen, 75, was linked by DNA evidence to the case of Nina Fischer, who was killed in her home on Point San Pedro Road. Fischer was 31 years old.
Authorities booked Mullen into the Lemhi County Jail in Idaho, where he is awaiting court proceedings for extradition to California.
The victim’s husband, Gunnar Fischer, found her body after returning home that evening from his office in San Francisco, authorities reported at the time. She had been bound, gagged and shot twice.
Investigators found no signs of forced entry into the residence. The Fischer family’s 2-year-old daughter was found unharmed and sleeping in another room.
The Fischers were Swedish citizens who had lived in the Bay Area for three years. They had plans to move into an apartment in San Francisco.
Gunnar was the manager of Corona Industries International Corp. He tried to call his wife several times on the day she was found dead.
Neighbors last saw Fischer at her yard, where she was talking to a moving crew delivering a container for her.
“The case was investigated but ultimately, unfortunately, went cold, due to a lack of investigative leads,” the sheriff’s office said Thursday.
In 2021, Marin County sheriff’s detectives submitted the case to the state Department of Justice’s family tracing program to help find leads. Within months, state authorities gave them a lead and revived the investigation.
Investigators used DNA evidence collected from the crime scene, said sheriff’s Sgt. said Adam Schermerhorn. He said investigators are not aware of any prior connection between Mullen and the victim.
The sheriff’s office credited Idaho State Police, the Lemhi County Sheriff’s Office, the Marin County District Attorney’s Office, the California Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for assisting in the case.
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