Advanced DNA analysis on cigarette butts solves San Rafael cold case murder after 60 years

By Carlos E. Castañeda

A suspect was positively linked to the cold case murder of Marjorie Rudolph, a San Rafael woman killed inside her home in 1966, police announced Tuesday.

The 60-year-old Rudolph, the wife of a prominent banker, was home alone when someone entered her home and bludgeoned her to death in her bathtub, the Press Democrat reported at the time. 

The San Rafael Police Department said in a press release that Laurel James Switzer was considered a suspect during the original investigation, but police could not conclusively connect him to the crime. Switzer knew Rudolphs, and investigators believed there had been a dispute between Switzer and the family, which may have led to the homicide, police said.

Cigarette butts believed to have belonged to Switzer were collected at the crime scene, but DNA testing did not exist at the time, and forensic science was limited. Switzer left the Bay Area for South Lake Tahoe and died by suicide just days after the killing, police said. 

In 2025, retired San Rafael Police Department investigators Harry Barbier and Kevin MacDougald partnered with the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office to submit forensic evidence from the case to Texas-based forensic laboratory Othram. The company successfully extracted DNA from the evidence and used genome sequencing to develop a comprehensive DNA profile, which was used in a genetic genealogy search, police said. 

Othram forwarded the new leads generated from the genealogy search to Barbier and MacDougald, who contacted Switzer’s surviving relatives, and they consented to providing DNA samples. Police said the samples produced a positive match, confirming Switzer’s DNA on the cigarettes at the scene of the crime.

“The San Rafael Police Department extends its gratitude to cold case investigators Harry Barbier and Kevin MacDougald for their continued dedication to positively identifying Switzer as being at the scene of this homicide,” the press statement said. “Both investigators have generously volunteered their time to support cold case investigations. As they often note, ‘Cold cases never grow cold in the hearts of the victim’s family.'”