Donald Mars, suspect in 1966 murder of Betty Lou Zukowski, pleads guilty

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – A nearly 58-year-old homicide investigation may finally come to a close in a Springfield courtroom on Thursday morning.

Convicted sex offender Donald Mars changed his plea to guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the 1966 West Springfield murder of 10-year-old Betty Lou Zukowski.

Zukowski was last seen alive leaving her home on Front Street in Chicopee on the evening of May 26, 1966. Zukowski had left home after telling her mother she had received a call from one of her friends. Four days later, Zukowski’s body was discovered near the Westfield River in West Springfield.

For decades, the case remained an unsolved mystery. Mars was first linked to the murder in 1997, when West Springfield police received tips about him however, no arrests were made at that time.

The investigation ramped up again in recent years, and Mars, who was living in the eastern Massachusetts town of Bedford, was arrested in November of 2022 at the age of 73. Mars pleaded not guilty to Zukowski’s murder and has been ordered held without the right to bail since.

During an interview with detectives in 2022, Mars said, “I’m not crying because of Betty Lou. I’m crying about my whole life”, and added, “that she hurt him more than he ever hurt her”. The district attorney’s office said, he then stood up and hunched over, and made a striking motion downward four times with his left arm, and then admitted that he hit Betty Lou with a rock. He sat down again and was very emotional, sobbing loudly. Investigators asked the defendant whether the rock was “a little bigger than a softball,” and the defendant replied, “Yes”.

On Thursday, 75-year-old Donald Mars pled guilty in connection with the homicide of Betty Lou Zukowski. He was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison followed by 2 years of probation and registration as a level 3 sex offender.

VIDEO: DA remarks on 1966 murder case

Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni stated, “Sadly, Betty Lou’s parents are deceased, and are not able to see Donald Mars answer for the brutality he inflicted upon their daughter. While neither solving this case nor any punishment of the perpetrator will give Betty Lou a chance to live the life that she deserved, I hope today represents a significant step for her family in their mourning and how they are able to memorialize her, so many years later.

District Attorney Gulluni went on to say, “ I would like to thank the Massachusetts State Police and, specifically, Colonel Jack Mawn, for his dedication to these cases and his leadership that prioritizes service to victims and the betterment of our communities. I with also thank the West Springfield Police Department, especially, Chief Paul Connor, who never forgot about Betty Lou and her family, and never gave up on justice. Paul persisted and passionately pushed for a focus on this case, with the belief that Betty Lou’s killer could be brought to justice.  Further, I would like to highlight the intensive investigative efforts in 1997 of the late Captain Daniel Murray, retired Sgt. Paul Finnie, and Detective Thomas Caney of the West Springfield Police Department, whose diligence and commitment to Betty Lou developed strong evidence that allowed this case to be brought forward today by more recent investigators in the last couple years; Assistant District Attorney Beth Farris, Massachusetts State Police Detective Thomas Sullivan, and West Springfield Sergeant Tom Svec.

Victim impact statements

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