Childhood friend of murder victim helps solve case after more than 40 years
VACAVILLE, Calif. (CNN, KYMA/KECY) - For more than 40 years, the murder of a 14-year-old girl in Northern California remained unsolved.
De Anna Lynn Johnson never returned home from a party in her hometown of Vacaville in 1982, but Johnson's best friend, Mary Borchers, never gave up trying to find the person who killed Johnson.
Even though the trail seemingly had gone cold, detectives in the Vacaville Police Department identified Marvel Markle as a suspect in 2017.
When he was arrested, he was serving a life sentence for the murder of a woman in Butte County, about 100 miles north of Vacaville.
Several weeks ago, Markle went on trial for Johnson's murder, and last Thursday, a jury found him guilty of killing her.
Borchers said she feels relief knowing her best friend's killer was finally convicted.
"I still don't think that it's hit me that this really happened after 42 years. How did we get here? Why did it take so long? Don't ever give up hope. 42 years later, here we are. We have justice," Borchers expressed.
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