MIRAMAR, Fla. – Miramar police announced an indictment in a more than four-decades-old cold case Thursday.
A grand jury indicted Ronald E. Richards for sexual assault and murder in the Jan. 22, 1980 killing of Evelyn Marie Fisher-Bamforth.
“We are one step closer to justice for Evelyn,” the agency said in a tweet Thursday afternoon.
Richards bashed Fisher-Bamforth’s head and raped her, officials said.
Police said it’s the oldest cold case solved in the department’s history.
Police believe Richards, convicted of manslaughter in 1975 after killing his girlfriend in Ohio, may have been a serial killer, with more victims potentially out there.
Miramar police said he became a person of interest after another agency called on the department’s assistance to make an arrest on an attempted murder and rape.
“You never have closure,” Fisher-Bamforth’s husband, John Bamforth, said in a taped statement. “Certainly justice for Evelyn is the most important thing.”
It’s the oldest cold case solved in #MiramarPD history: Evelyn Marie Fisher-Bamforth was killed Jan. 22, 1980. Nearly 43 years later, we are pleased to announce a grand jury has indicted Ronald E. Richards for sexual battery & murder. We are one step closer to justice for Evelyn. pic.twitter.com/zFbQQljoBQ
— Miramar Police (@MiramarPD) December 1, 2022