60-year-old cigarette helps solve grisly Bay Area cold-case murder

A grisly 1966 murder in the affluent town of San Rafael — which sent shockwaves through the community — was finally solved 60 years later, all thanks to modern-day DNA testing.

Sixty-year-old Marjorie Rudolph — a descendant of a wealthy and prominent 19th-century San Francisco dentist and landowner — was brutally killed in the evening hours while alone in her home.

More than half a century later, well after both she and her killer had died, two retired detectives finally solved it, SFGate reported.

“Both investigators have generously volunteered their time to support cold case investigations,” the San Rafael Police Department said in a news release. “As they often note, ‘Cold cases never grow cold in the hearts of the victim’s family.’”

Rudolph’s killer, Laurel James Switzer Jr., then aged 41 years old, was identified after well-preserved cigarettes at the scene of the crime placed him at the victim’s home the night the murder took place.

The perpetrator left behind a crucial piece of physical evidence: Discarded cigarettes that did not match the brand smoked by the Rudolph, leading investigators to believe they were key to solving the case.