Leahy calls Curran murder scene among most violent he ever saw as prosecutor

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - Former Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy says he wishes he had the opportunity to prosecute the man who killed Rita Curran.

Tuesday, Burlington police announced the 51-year-old cold case murder of Curran was solved. Curran was brutally beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled in 1971.

Investigators identified William DeRoos as her killer. He lived in an apartment upstairs from Curran.

Leahy was the Chittenden County prosecutor at the time. He called it one of the most violent murder scenes he’s ever been to.

“I thought, why should any young person have to go through something this terrible and I would have given anything to be able to prosecute the person who did it,” Leahy said.

But DeRoos will never be prosecuted. He died of a drug overdose in 1986.

You can see more of what Patrick Leahy told our Darren Perron about the Curran case this Sunday at 11:30 a.m. on “You Can Quote Me.”

Related Stories:

Case closed: Cigarette butt leads police to killer in 1971 Burlington murder

Cold case closed? DNA evidence reportedly helps police solve decades-old murder

Copyright 2023 WCAX. All rights reserved.