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BATTLE CREEK, Mich. Police said they solved the murder of a Battle Creek woman more than 30 years later, after a newly discovered blood sample connected a man to the fatal stabbing.
But no charges will be filed because Roger Plato was killed in 1988, three days before Gayle Barrus’ body was found by hunters in Calhoun County, prosecutor David Gilbert said.
Nonetheless, Barrus’ family is relieved that authorities believe the case has been solved.
“I am just going to exhale and pray and tell my mom it’s done,” James Barrus of Dayton, Ohio, told the Battle Creek Enquirer. “She can rest knowing we have the answers, and we don’t have to wait until we meet her again.”
Blood sample from dead suspect helps solve 1988 homicide, cops claim Storm Gifford
A random blood sample taken in the late 1980s has led to the solving of a 33-year-old homicide cold case.
Three days before the body of Gayle Barrus was discovered in Calhoun County, Mich., in October 1988, 24-year-old Roger Plato, an assault suspect in a different case, was killed.
At the time, Plato was being interviewed by cops about a different assault. While attempting to flee, he was shot dead, the Battle Creek Enquirer reported.
Investigators subsequently took a blood sample from Plato.
Barrus was 30 years old when she was last spotted at a Battle Creek, Mich., coffeeshop. Sixteen days later her raped body was found alongside a road by hunters.
January 29, 2021 - 11:07 AM
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. - Police said they solved the murder of a Battle Creek woman more than 30 years later, after a newly discovered blood sample connected a man to the fatal stabbing.
But no charges will be filed because Roger Plato was killed in 1988, three days before Gayle Barrus body was found by hunters in Calhoun County, prosecutor David Gilbert said.
Nonetheless, Barrus family is relieved that authorities believe the case has been solved.
âI am just going to exhale and pray and tell my mom it s done, James Barrus of Dayton, Ohio, told the Battle Creek Enquirer. She can rest knowing we have the answers, and we donât have to wait until we meet her again.â
Battle Creek Police Cruiser (photo by John McNeill).
BATTLE CREEK, MI (WNWN/WTVB) – Battle Creek Police Detective Scott Marshall says the October 1988 cold case murder of Gayle Barrus has been solved.
Marshall told the Battle Creek Enquirer that according to DNA results, Roger Plato raped and stabbed the 30-year-old Barrus to death.
The Battle Creek woman was last seen October 9, 1988 at the old Speedâs Koffee Shop on West Michigan Avenue. Her body was found by hunters 16 days later along River Road in Emmett Township.
Plato died before Barrusâ body was found. He was a suspect in another rape when police detectives tried to interview him. But Plato resisted police and was shot to death as he tried to flee.