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A man with a history of violence against children killed Carol Ann Dougherty in the choir loft of her parish church in Pennsylvania in 1962, a grand jury report concluded on October 29, putting an end to one of the most notorious cold cases in the state's history.
Dougherty, 9, was sexually assaulted and killed in the choir loft at St. Mark's Catholic Church in Bristol Borough, Pennsylvania, on October 22, 1962. The fifth-grade student at St. Mark School had left her house by bicycle earlier that day to go to the library, and her parents became alarmed when she did not return home in time for dinner.
Dougherty's body was discovered by her father, Frank, who searched the church after seeing his daughter's bicycle parked outside.
Her parents and her teachers taught her to always stop to pray when she passed by a church, and authorities believe she was doing just that before she was killed.
"For exactly 63 years and one day, this case was unsolved. Our family lived without answers and the uncertainty surrounding Carol’s death became a part of who we were,” said Carol Ann's sister, Kay Dougherty, at a press conference announcing the identity of the suspect. Kay was 3 years old when her sister was killed and she is her only surviving relative.
"My parents both passed away without knowing on this earth who murdered their daughter," said Kay Dougherty.
"This week, I learned that the Bucks County Grand Jury determined that William Schrader was responsible for my sister’s death. After so many decades of unknowing, this finding finally brings closure and a truth to a wound that never healed.”
Suspect confessed to relatives; died in 2002
Authorities identified Dougherty's killer as William Schrader, who was 24 at the time of the crime. Schrader lived near the church and was initially one of the main suspects in the case after he was spotted near the church at the time of the murder.
“Unbeknownst to Carol Ann and unbeknownst to everyone in Bristol Borough, living on Lincoln Avenue was an absolute predator," said Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn at the October 29 press conference. "A predator who his prey was little girls. And that was William Schrader.”'
After Dougherty's murder, Schrader moved out of Pennsylvania, eventually settling in Louisiana. He continued to sexually abuse women and girls, including his own daughters and stepdaughters. Schrader was convicted of manslaughter and arson in 1985 related to the 1970 death of his foster daughter. He was sentenced to 21 years in Angola state prison for the arson killing of the 12-year-old girl and died in jail.
Schrader died in 2002.
Robert Leblanc, one of Schrader's stepsons, told authorities in Louisiana that his stepfather had confessed to sexually assaulting and killing a girl in a Catholic church in Pennsylvania, but this information was not shared with Pennsylvania law enforcement until "several years later," said local media.
Authorities in Pennsylvania interviewed Leblanc in November 2024 as part of the grand jury investigation into the crime.
Leblanc's account was "highly credible, as the details he provided could only have come from a confession by the perpetrator," said a release from the Bucks County District Attorney.
