Oregon man convicted of murdering Anchorage teen in 1978 cold case

An Anchorage jury convicted an Oregon man Tuesday on all counts in the 1978 cold-case murder of a local teenager.

Donald McQuade, 67, was charged with first-degree and second-degree murder in the death of 16-year-old Shelley Connolly, who was found dead near a Seward Highway pullout between Anchorage and Girdwood.

Four decades later, genetic genealogy linked McQuade to the unsolved crime and Alaska State Troopers arrested him in 2019. McQuade’s trial was subsequently delayed due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, which has slowed much of Alaska’s court system in recent years.

In opening statements as the two-week trial began late last month, Assistant Attorney General Paige Smothers emphasized the evidence from Connolly’s body. Using a revolutionary investigative technique, troopers had linked DNA found on the body to McQuade and two brothers.

McQuade had been the only brother living in Alaska at the time of Connolly’s murder, and troopers were later able to get a DNA sample from McQuade that was a direct match to DNA found on her body.

McQuade’s public defender, Kyle Barber, told jurors the DNA evidence was the only evidence the state had against his client. He said investigators had found DNA evidence possibly linked to two other people on Connolly.

McQuade’s sentencing is set for April 26.

This story originally appeared on Alaska Public Media and is republished here with permission.

[Correction: An earlier version of this story inaccurately reported that Donald McQuade’s brothers were dead.]