WFLA

‘I think he is a serial killer’: Florida man arrested for rape and murder of nurse nearly 43 years ago

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The cold case murder of a Florida nurse in 1980 has finally been solved thanks to advances in DNA technology, WTVJ reported.

Evelyn Marie Fisher-Bamforth was 32 years old when an intruder broke into her home in Miramar, and sexually assaulted and killed her on Jan. 22, 1980.

“Half of the bed was soaked with blood,” Evelyn’s husband, John Bamforth, who now lives in England, recalled in an interview with the news station. “She was raped and she was also bludgeoned to death.”

Three months after the brutal killing, Ronald E. Richards, a neighbor who lived at their mobile home park, was named a person of interest in the case, however, there was not enough evidence to link him to the crime.

Richards, now 75, was finally identified as her killer thanks to advances in DNA technology, police announced Thursday. Last year, Detective Jonathan Zeller took another look at the case. He said results from DNA tests proved Richards was the killer.

“I think this is a serial killer,” Zeller said. “There could be potentially other cases out there, and that’s what we are trying to find out if there are any.”

The Miramar Police Department said it was the oldest cold case the agency has solved in its history.

Richards is already in prison in Ohio after being convicted of voluntary manslaughter. He was previously convicted in an unrelated case of sexual battery and attempted murder in Florida in 1981.

He’s been indicted by a grand jury on sexual battery and murder charges in connection with Fisher-Bamforth’s death and is awaiting extradition.

“I’m not a vindictive person, but i would certainly like to see justice for Evelyn. Ya and I don’t believe in this closure thing. One never has closure,” John Bamforth said.