A Cold Case Finds Justice: Suspect Identified in 1962 Murder of Carol Ann Dougherty

Описание: The search for justice that began in 1962 has finally reached its conclusion. Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn announced today that a Grand Jury investigation has identified William Schrader as the person who raped and killed 9-year-old Carol Ann Dougherty inside St. Mark’s Church in Bristol on October 22, 1962.

For more than six decades, this tragic case has haunted the community and inflicted unimaginable pain on Carol Ann’s family. Despite the passage of time, the case was never forgotten and was consistently under review by law enforcement.

While Schrader passed away in 2002, his name is now definitively linked to the crime that took Carol Ann’s young life, a conclusion reached through the combination of decades-old evidence and recent investigative developments.

The Bucks County Investigating Grand Jury formally found that William Schrader committed the crimes of rape and murder of the first degree in connection with Carol Ann Dougherty's death. The investigative team, with over two decades of combined experience, “ultimately, independently and collectively, concluded that the investigation only allows the conclusion that William Schrader raped and murdered [Carol Ann] Dougherty.”

The Grand Jury’s findings are detailed in a 53-page report, which was approved on Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, by President Judge Raymond F. McHugh, supervisor of the Grand Jury.

The Bucks County Investigating Grand Jury based its finding on several key pieces of evidence, including: Eye witness statements, Schrader’s Confession, Forensic Exclusion, Lies and Flight, Crime Scene and Common Scheme and Design Evidence and Expert Dr. Veronique Valliere.

For more information, visit: https://bucks.crimewatchpa.com/da/295...