A Washington man has been sentenced after a gum trick that broke a cold case
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A Washington man has been sentenced to 50 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to two murders last year that investigators linked to the use of chewing gum.
Mitchell Gaff, 74, was sentenced last week after pleading guilty to murdering 21-year-old Susan Vesey and 42-year-old Judith “Judy” Weaver in Everett, in accordance with FOX 13.
Investigators linked Gaff to Weaver’s slaying in 1984 after detectives from the Everett Police Department visited his home claiming to be researchers working in the gum industry and inviting him to try a free sample, USA Today reported. report.
Gaff was reportedly forced to, giving undercover detectives a sample that was sent through the CODIS database, where investigators eventually linked him to Weaver’s murder.
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Mitchell Gaff pleaded guilty to the rape and murder of Judith Weaver and Susan Vesey in Everett, Wash., according to the Everett Police Department. (KCPQ)
He was arrested in May 2024 and later charged with murdering Vesey while in custody. Investigators revealed that he was killed in his home the day after his 21st birthday on July 12, 1980, officials said.
Speaking in court on Wednesday, Gaff apologized to the families of both victims who were sitting in court, while pointing to drugs and alcohol as contributing factors to his violent history.
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Susan Vesey was killed in her home in Everett, Wash., on July 12, 1980, according to authorities. (Everett Police Department)
“I’m sorry, not because I was caught, but the consequences,” said Gaff. in accordance with NBC News. “No one is doing anything to get me into his life.”
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The court also heard from Jacqueline O’Brien, a former law enforcement officer who survived Gaff’s violent attack in her Everett garage in 1979.
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Authorities found the body of Judy Weaver in her home on Rucker Avenue in Everett, Washington, after first responders were called to a fire on June 2, 1984. (Everett Police Department)
“I knew he was going to kill me,” O’Brien said, FOX 13 reported.
O’Brien managed to escape the attack and was instrumental in helping authorities identify Gaff, who was arrested several times over the years and served time in prison for raping two teenage sisters in 1984.
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“My nightmare happened 47 years ago, but it seems like yesterday,” added O’Brien.
Vesey’s son, Joshua Vesey, told the court that he was only three months old and was inside the apartment when his mother was killed by Gaff, FOX 13 reported.
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“What the defendant took from me and my sister was not just life, it was a mother’s unconditional love,” Joshua Vesey told the court, according to the report. “At any time, he could have stopped the confusion, suspicion and pain that has spread in my family.”
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Leon Gregory, Weaver’s brother, also emphasized how the case had haunted his family for years as they struggled to find closure.
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“Your honor, as we all know, it’s been 42 years,” Gregory said, according to FOX 13. “My parents, my brother, and two other sisters, they died years ago, I don’t know who killed Judy.”
Before deciding Gaff’s fate, the judge pointed to his history of violence and attempts to cover up crimes over the years as a deciding factor in rejecting the defense’s request for a lesser sentence.
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“The defendant’s history consists of crimes aimed at sex, and extreme violence against women,” the judge said, FOX 13 reported.
The Snohomish County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
