Tuesday, a Minnesota jury found a man guilty of raping and murdering a woman 36 years ago on the Iron Range, a case that was resurrected by genealogical database analysts.
Michael Allan Carbo Jr., 54, of Chisholm, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and criminal sexual conduct in the 1986 death of Nancy Daugherty, 38, also of Chisholm. In delivering the judgment, county attorney Kimberly Maki said that her death “prompted one of the most thorough investigations in St. Louis County.”
The police discovered Daugherty dead in her home on July 16, 1986, while performing a welfare check.
Nancy DaughertyMinnesota Bureau of Criminal Investigation
CBS Minnesota claimed that she had been beaten, sexually abused, and choked. Later, witnesses reported hearing a lady crying in the wee hours of the morning.
Over the years, investigators questioned and gathered DNA from over 100 individuals, but were unable to identify a strong lead.
CBS Minnesota reported that police said Carbo had never been on their radar. He had not committed any serious offences warranting the inclusion of his DNA in the state database.
In 2020, the breakthrough occurred when Chisholm police contacted the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension about submitting a DNA sample to a business that analyzes public genealogical databases. Carbo was recognized as a possible suspect by the firm.
Authorities said that investigators received a DNA sample from Carbo and it matched. Carbo was 18 years old at the time of the incident, lived less than a mile away from the crime site, and attended the same school as Daugherty’s children.
Following Carbo’s arrest, Daugherty’s daughter Gina issued a statement “There are no adequate words to explain the dreadful voids left in so many lives, including my own. So many hardships and tears. She has missed so much, and I mourn her wisdom and affection.”
Carbo is facing a mandatory life sentence in jail. The sentencing date is September 30.