Discover how DNA technology cracked the chilling 1982 murder of Linda Strait, and the twisty journey to justice.
Linda Strait’s trip to buy a gallon of milk and a perm kit was supposed to be routine. Instead, it spiraled into a 22-year odyssey of trauma and perseverance, shadowed by the riverbank where tragedy struck. Every sentence here carries a trace of that raw ache, and a fierce drive for resolution.
What You'll Discover:
The Teen Whose Light Was Stolen
Linda was 15, a high-school sophomore around Spokane who glowed with life, roller-skating, flute in hand, a smile that lingered like warm sunlight. Her family, and her community, felt that brightness everywhere until it was gone. That spirit becomes the heartbeat of this story.
September 1982: A Walk, A Vanishing
On September 26, 1982, she walked to the nearby grocery store, barely half a football field away, and vanished. The next day, a fisherman found her body in the Spokane River. She’d been raped and strangled; a pillowcase soaked in semen lay close by. It was the kind of horror that turns the ordinary inside out.
A Cold Case Freezes Time
Investigators chased leads, interviewed nearly a thousand people, and even explored the possibility of the Green River Killer, but nothing stuck. Year after year, evidence turned brittle. The pillowcase was preserved, but DNA tech hadn’t caught up yet.
Science Catches Up, Slowly, Relentlessly
Fast forward to the late 1990s and early 2000s: forensic breakthroughs were blooming. Detective Tim Hines submitted the pillowcase for new DNA tests in April 2003. A partial match appeared in a criminal database, it pointed to a man already behind bars.
Enter Arbie Dean Williams, Already Locked In
Arbie Dean Williams had been imprisoned since 1983 for the abduction, rape, and attempted murder of two eight-year-old girls. He was the kind of predator who should never, ever walk again. And he was days away from parole when the cold case cracked open.
DNA Speaks Truth, 22 Years Later
April 2003: DNA from that long-forgotten pillowcase finally matched Williams. Mitochondrial DNA tied him to Linda’s murder. Twenty-two years after her death, the paper trail, and genetic code, linked him directly to the crime.
A Guilty Plea, A Family’s Reckoning
In July 2006, Williams pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. The courtroom crackled with emotion, it wasn’t cold or clinical but raw, fierce, full of the grief and rage his crime had sparked. Linda’s mother confronted him: “I think you are the scum of the earth and I hope you rot in hell.” Those words landed like thunder.
He sucked in the gravity of the moment; tried to withdraw the plea as the judge detailed the crime, but ultimately stayed with it. He received a 20-year sentence. For a case that seemed unsolvable, that moment was a blazing finish line, or the painful beginning of something new for the family.
Is the Sentence Enough? The Battle Isn’t Over
Williams’ 20-year sentence left Linda’s family reeling, they assumed “life” meant what it said. But parole loomed. Less than 13 years later, in 2019, they confronted him again, this time not in court, but in a fight to keep him in prison. They harnessed grief into purpose: creating websites, launching campaigns, collecting letters.
When Justice Rings, But the Echo Lingers
In April 2019, the Indeterminate Sentence Review Board denied Williams parole and added 15 more years to his minimum term. It was justice, but not closure, because no sentence can bring Linda back. Still, for her family, it meant this wave of pain wasn’t going to wash away the boundaries between predator and innocence again.
Key Takings
- DNA breakthroughs in the 2000s cracked a 22-year-old cold case that once seemed unsolvable.
- Arbie Dean Williams, already convicted of horrific crimes, was linked via mitochondrial DNA to Linda’s murder.
- A guilty plea in 2006 offered reluctant closure, loaded with confrontation and trauma.
- Linda’s family channeled their pain into activism, and helped block Williams’ early release in 2019.
