Oregon Man Sentenced to 50 Years for DNA Evidence Linking Him to ’78 Alaska Murder

A man residing in Oregon has been sentenced to a term of fifty years behind bars for his involvement in the murder of sixteen-year-old Shelley Connolly that occurred back in 1978 in Alaska. Donald McQuade, now sixty-seven, denied any responsibility for Connoll’s death during his court hearing presided over by Judge Andrew Peterson last Friday. Following an investigation spanning several decades, authorities utilized genetic genealogy testing to match DNA evidence collected from the crime scene with that of McQuade. Cigarette butts discarded in public areas were used to obtain a sample for this purpose while investigators in Oregon were carrying out their probe into the matter. While Connolly’s relatives expressed gratitude over the verdict, stating it offered them some level of comfort following decades-long agony and distress caused by her death, McQuade himself still maintains his innocence and has indicated that he intends to appeal against this conviction in due course.
In a filing made ahead of Friday’s sentencing hearing, the prosecution pointed out there seemed little possibility whatsoever of an alternative verdict underpinning new trial orders for anyone as firmly convicted by DNA evidence. McQuade’s attorney Benjamin Dresner requested that his client be handed down the minimum sentence possible – twenty years in prison- given his advanced liver cancer diagnosis, which is currently being treated and has gone into remission.
Connolly’s mother passed away before any resolution could have been reached regarding her daughter’s murder. The judge acknowledged during Friday’s hearing that a fifty-year term would effectively translate to life imprisonment for McQuade in view of his age, health condition, and the nature of this crime.