Following a three-and-a-half-week trial, an Anchorage jury today found 67-year-old Donald McQuade guilty of multiple counts for the 1978 murder of 16-year-old Shelley Connolly. The jury deliberated for approximately two hours before finding McQuade guilty of one count of murder in the first degree and one count of murder in the second degree.
On January 7, 1978, the body of Shelley Connolly, 16, of Anchorage, was discovered along a roadside pullout on the Seward Highway south of Anchorage. Alaska State Troopers (AST) responded and investigated the murder and suspected rape of Connolly. Despite an extensive investigation and review of multiple suspects, the case went cold. Evidence collected from inside Connolly’s body at the autopsy was used to develop a DNA profile. That profile was later uploaded into a nationwide DNA database, however no match was ever discovered.
Despite reopening the case and re-examining the evidence multiple times, Alaska State Troopers were unable to identify a suspect in Connolly’s death until 2019, when the Alaska State Troopers Cold Case Unit connected McQuade to the case using genetic genealogy. Through DNA testing, investigators were able to match DNA samples from two places on Connolly’s body to McQuade’s DNA.
The case was initially investigated by Alaska State Trooper Investigators Charles Miller and D. Randy Johnston, both of whom testified at the trial. Between 1978 and 2019, the case was investigated by multiple Alaska State Troopers. AST Cold Case Investigator Randy McPherron investigated the case from 2019 until 2023. Gresham Police Department also assisted with the investigation.
Assistant Attorneys General Erin McCarthy and Paige Smothers of the Office of Special Prosecutions prosecuted the case for the State.
“We are thankful that a jury held Donald McQuade accountable for this crime after it went unsolved for 45 years. We hope that Shelley’s loved ones are able to obtain some closure in light of this verdict,” McCarthy said. “The State appreciates the attention and dedication of the jurors in this case. The Department of Law thanks the Alaska State Troopers, the Alaska Scientific Crime Detection Lab, and the Gresham Police Department for their partnership and assistance.”
McQuade is being held without bail pending sentencing, which is scheduled for April 26, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. The first and second-degree murder charges will merge at sentencing, and McQuade faces a sentencing range from 20 years to life in prison for the first-degree murder charge, pursuant to the sentencing laws that were in place in 1978.
