SOLVED: The 1971 Murder of Rita Curran

Murder, She Told

Kristen Seavey

Society & Culture, Documentary, True Crime

4.8 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 2 March 2023

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

1971 - Burlington, Vermont. In July of 1971, a 23-year-old elementary school teacher named Rita Curran was brutally attacked and murdered as she slept in her own bed in Burlington, VT. Her roommates just happened to be away, and in the span of 70 minutes, an unknown man entered the apartment and took her life. Rita’s murder shook the small city. It was brazen; and police had zero leads. For 51 years, Rita’s case remained unsolved. It was Burlington’s oldest cold case, and one of the most infamous true crime cases in New England. Ted Bundy was even considered to be a suspect at one point. Rita’s family came to the conclusion that her case may never be solved. Until February 21st, 2023, when Burlington police detectives and other officials announced that through genetic genealogy, they had solved the case: her killer was a man named William DeRoos, who was 31 at the time and lived just 2 floors above her. But who was he? And why did he murder Rita? This is a story of hope, and modern forensics. This is the story of Rita Curran; Burlington's newest solved case. Episode sources and photos: https://murdershetold.com/episodes/rita-curran Support the show: https://www.murdershetold.com/support Instagram: @murdershetoldpodcast TikTok: @murdershetold Facebook: /mstpodcast Website: murdershetold.com Donate to Season of Justice Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Kristen Ceevy. This is Murder She Told.
0:23.5	The newspaper ink stained Rita's hands as she thumbed through the pages of the Burlington
0:28.6	Free Press, reaching its final section, the Classified's. Sandwiched between auctions
0:34.6	and realtors was section 42, furnished apartments. Rita was getting ready to leave the safety
0:41.0	of her parents' home in Milton, just north of the city, and meet new people, maybe even
0:46.4	get a couple of dates. She found a listing on North Winesky Avenue for 47 a month. It read,
0:53.2	Female roommate wanted, includes utilities. It sounded promising. The location was good. Her
0:59.7	salary, about $8,000 a year as a second grade teacher, could easily cover the rent. Plus,
1:06.3	she had a summer job in Burlington as a chambermaid at a nearby motel called Colonial Motor Inn.
1:13.4	She kept reading, though, and found one that looked perfect. Burlington, one to two female
1:19.6	roommates, summer, share large apartment on Brooks Avenue, called 864-9883 before 5 p.m.
1:28.7	He was Friday, June 4, 1971, and he was already a bit too late to call, but she would contact
1:34.8	them the next day. The apartment worked out, and she soon moved in. Her year at Milton Elementary
1:41.1	School had just ended, and she was getting started with her summer job in Burlington. She was 23
1:47.2	years old. Her birthday was coming up on June 21, and she had just finished her second full year of
1:53.8	teaching. Rita Kern was the oldest of three. Thomas was three years younger, and Mary was five years
2:02.4	younger. Rita had gone to college at Trinity College in Burlington, and though it bears the same name
2:08.5	as the big university in Hartford, Connecticut, the one that Reeves Johnson went to, this Trinity
2:14.2	College was a small private Catholic school that was next door neighbors within affiliated
2:19.6	All Girls Catholic Secondary School, called Mount St. Mary's Academy. They were both run by the same
2:25.9	group of nuns. Rita had attended their high school as well, from 1961 to 1965, and she stayed busy
2:34.0	during her time there. She was in the choir and the glee club for all four years, as well as two
	...

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