84-year-old Minnesota man charged with killing hitchhiking woman in Wisconsin in 1974 | The mighty 790 KFGO

OWATONNA, Minn. (KFGO-WCCO) – An 84-year-old southern Minnesota man has been charged with murder in a 50-year-old Wisconsin case once considered the work of a notorious serial killer and former Green Bay Packer.

Mary K. Schlais was found dead at an intersection in Spring Brook Township, Dunn County, on February 15, 1974, according to the sheriff’s office there. Police said it was a murder.

Schlais was from Minneapolis and police believe she was hitchhiking to Chicago for an art exhibition.

Decades passed as investigators pursued leads, conducted interviews and examined evidence. The Dunn County Sheriff’s Office said it used genetic evidence to find and arrest Jon Miller of Owatonna.

Authorities charged Miller with first-degree murder on Thursday, according to court records. He is in custody awaiting extradition to Wisconsin.

How authorities identified Miller as a suspect
According to the charges filed Thursday, investigators found a hat near Schlais’ body in 1974 and collected hair from it.

Years later, researchers used that hair to create a DNA profile of the suspect. Dunn County partnered with Ramapo College in New Jersey, which specializes in genetic geneology. After interviewing and collecting DNA from several potential relatives, authorities were led to Miller, the criminal complaint states.

Before speaking to Miller, authorities went to his daughter and obtained her genetic profile. Investigations revealed that the hair from the hat belonged to her biological father. Investigators say the fact that Miller was adopted initially made it harder to track him. On Thursday, investigators met with Miller, who initially denied knowing about Schlais’ murder.

When Miller learned of the DNA evidence, he admitted to picking up Schlais while he was hitchhiking and asking for “sexual contact,” the complaint says. He allegedly told investigators that when she said no, he grabbed a knife he had stashed in the car and fatally stabbed her in the back.

When Schlais was found dead, she had multiple stab wounds, including defensive wounds to her hands, according to the complaint.

According to the complaint, Miller said he got off the highway and tried to hide Schlais’ body in a snowbank but became scared when a car drove by and left the area.

Miller also admitted that the hat found at the scene was his, the complaint says. He was arrested after being interviewed by investigators and is being held in the Steele County Jail.

“We were sitting at the kitchen table last night and we got a call,” said Mary Dodge, who lives with her husband, Jack, near the wooded area where investigators discovered Schlais’ body. Her neighbor, Denny Anderson, drove past Miller when he allegedly left Schlais’ body in the snow and alerted authorities.

“Denny said when he walked by the guy just stared at him. He said he would never forget the look on his face,” Mary Dodge said.

The former suspect was the accused serial killer, a former Green Bay Packer
In 2009, Schlais’ body was exhumed and DNA testing two years later allowed investigators to identify a suspect: Randall Woodfield, a former Green Bay Packers draft pick who later became known as the I-5 Killer.

Authorities linked Woodfield to dozens of murders along Interstate 5 from Washington to California in the 1980s. He is in prison in connection with a murder, but has never confessed to any of the murders.

Authorities noted that Woodfield was traveling from Portland to Green Bay at the time of Schlais’ murder and that he matched a witness’ description. Woodfield was never further linked to or charged with Schlais’ murder.