Cold case involving the death of a 7-year-old 65 years later solved through genetic genealogy

OZAUKEE COUNTY, Wis. (WLUC/Gray News) – Investigators in Wisconsin announced Friday that they have solved a 65-year-old cold case involving the death of a 7-year-old boy who was searching for his parents in a culvert in Wisconsin moved from Houghton County to Chicago.

Officials with the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office laid out the details of the case in a lengthy Facebook post that said Chester Alfred Breiney died as a direct result of torture and abuse at the hands of his adoptive parents.

According to investigators, Mequon police assisted the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office in gathering evidence by conducting the initial investigation, during which they determined that the Houghton County Sheriff’s Department was investigating a possible missing child, Markku Jutila.

Officials said Houghton County officials were working with Chicago police after family members of William and Hilja Jutila became suspicious about the whereabouts of their adopted child.

The Jutilas had moved from Houghton to Chicago and could not say where their 6-year-old son, Markku, was.

During the interview with police, the couple admitted to fleeing from Houghton to Chicago and disposing of the child’s body in a ditch in Mequon before arriving in Chicago.

The mother, Hilja Jutila, confessed to physically beating her son to death.

The sheriff’s office Facebook post detailed what happened next: “The Jutilas were arrested on March 28, 1966 by Chicago police and Houghton County investigators. During the Jutilas’ psychiatric examination, they claimed that Markku was sick and had been sent home from kindergarten.

“The couple claimed Markku had been ill for several days before he was found dead in his room. They claimed they were afraid of what had happened and decided to leave their home for Chicago, dropping Markku off on the side of the road along the way.

“Detectives from the Houghton County Sheriff’s Department contacted Mequon Police regarding the human remains found in the culvert and determined they had similar characteristics to Markku Jutila. For this reason, and based on William and Hilja Jutila’s statements to police, the Jutilas were arrested and extradited to Houghton County for prosecution.”

On November 10, 1966, the charges were dismissed because there was no corpus delicti and the prosecution had failed to connect the child’s skeleton found in Mequon to the defendants.

The case remained untouched until October 2023, when officials from the Wisconsin Department of Justice – Division of Criminal Justice and the Madison State Crime Lab met with researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

It was decided that investigators would attempt to identify the person using DNA extracted from the skull and conducting investigative genealogy.

Investigators said that in September 2024, genealogy revealed that DNA extracted from the skull had several matches to Breiney family members, particularly Josephine Breiney, the mother of Chester Breiney.

All results of genealogical research confirmed that the skeletal remains belonged to Chester Alfred Breiney.

Investigators were unable to find any photos of Chester Alfred Breiney/Markku Jutila. DCI S/A Truli Nielsen performed a facial reconstruction using the skull remains to show what Chester looked like.

Since both people involved in the case, adoptive parents William and Hilja Jutila, died in 1988, there will be no criminal prosecution for the death of Chester Alfred Breiney.

Officials familiar with the case say Chester can rest in peace now that the truth about his death is known.

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