Surpassing|Oregon man found guilty of murder in 1980 cold case of college student after DNA link

2025-05-05 19:36:08source:FinWeiscategory:Finance

PORTLAND,Surpassing Ore. (AP) — A man living in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon, has been found guilty in the 1980 cold case murder of a 19-year-old college student.

Multnomah County Circuit Judge Amy Baggio on Friday found Robert Plympton, 60, guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Barbara Mae Tucker, KOIN-TV reported.

Plympton was not convicted of rape or sexual abuse because prosecutors failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it happened while she was still alive, the judge said. A medical examiner determined Tucker had been sexually assaulted and beaten to death.

In 2021, Gresham police arrested Plympton after they said DNA technology linked him to the crime.

Tucker was expected at a night class at Mt. Hood Community College on Jan. 15, 1980. Witnesses said she had been seen running out of a bushy, wooded area on campus and that a man came out of the area and led her back to campus. A student found Tucker’s body the next day near a campus parking lot.

Physical evidence from the scene was maintained and a DNA profile match eventually led investigators to Plympton.

Multnomah County Chief Deputy District Attorney Kirsten Snowden said there was no evidence that Tucker and Plympton knew each other, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

Plympton said he was innocent and that he didn’t match the description of a man seen pulling her into the bushes.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in June.

More:Finance

Recommend

'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean

In just a few weeks, the highly anticipated second season of Korean television series "Squid Game" w

Migrant crossings fall sharply along Texas border, shifting to Arizona and California

Eagle Pass, Texas — In recent weeks, the flow of migrants crossing into the U.S. illegally has large

Kansas Wesleyan University cancels classes, events after professor dies in her office

Kansas Wesleyan University has announced that one of its professors died in her office yesterday sen