Suspected serial killer linked to 1979 cold case out of North Aurora, Illinois

CHICAGO (CBS) — Police suspect Bruce Lindahl was a serial killer who targeted mostly female victims in Chicago’s western suburbs in the 1970s—and now they say they have tied Lindahl to yet another victim.
Police vowed to provide answers to the families of Lindahl’s suspected victims. The latest murder case they say they have solved dates back 45 years to 1979.
The body of Kathy Halle, 19, was discovered April 24, 1979, in the Fox River south of the I-88 bridge in North Aurora. She had been missing almost a month.
Her body was found by a boy fishing near her apartment. Now, authorities are connecting the murder to Lindahl.
Lisle Police Department investigators told CBS News Chicago back in 2020 that they were determined to connect the deaths of multiple women to Lindahl.
Lindahl is also linked to the 1976 murder of Pamela Maurer, a 16-year-old girl who left her  home to go get a soft drink. The next morning, her body was found on College Road in Lisle—she had been strangled and sexually assaulted.
Another woman told CBS News Chicago she was raped by Lindahl, also in 1979. She survived and reported it to police, but charges were not filed.
“I call him a monster,” said Annette Lazar. “I don’t even like saying his name. I call him the monster.”
Lazar said Lindahl lured her into his house 45 years ago by offering to sell her marijuana.
“He put a gun to my head, and he raped me—but I got away,” Lazar said. “When he put that gun to my head, all I could hear in my brain was, ‘I’m going to die, I’m going to die.'”
Lazar was asked why she thinks she survived that day.
“By the grace of God,” she said, “my angels were with me.”
Investigators said many other women did not escape. They have linked Lindahl to at least a dozen other murders in the western suburbs in the 70s and very early 80s.
In 2020, police exhumed Lindahl’s body and used DNA to solve the Maurer case. Now, Halle is the latest victim to be tied to Lindahl.
“It’s really opened the door for solving those cold cases from before DNA was really prevalent,” said Samantha Spencer, a forensic DNA expert for SEP Forensic Consultants.
Spencer is not involved in the Halle case, but said advances in DNA technology have made solving long cold cases like this one possible.
“We have what’s called next generation sequencing that is developing way more data from small amounts of DNA that we have at crime scenes,” Spencer said.
Lindahl died in 1981 at just 28 years old. Investigators believe he accidentally stabbed himself while murdering a man named Charles Hueber.
North Aurora police and the Kane County State’s Attorney’s office are set to hold a media briefing on the Maurer case on Wednesday—where more details are expected to be revealed. It is known that DNA was used to help solve the horrific mystery.