DOYLESTOWN, PA — After more than six decades of uncertainty, Bucks County prosecutors say the question of who brutally raped and murdered nine-year-old Carol Ann Dougherty inside St. Mark’s Church in Bristol in 1962 has finally been answered.
District Attorney Jennifer Schorn announced Tuesday that a Bucks County Investigating Grand Jury has formally concluded that William Schrader, who died in 2002, was responsible for the child’s death — bringing long-awaited closure to one of the county’s most haunting cold cases.
The finding, approved by President Judge Raymond F. McHugh on October 27, follows a detailed, 53-page Grand Jury report that relied on witness statements, forensic evidence, Schrader’s own confession, and expert testimony from a forensic psychologist specializing in sexual violence.
A Crime That Shattered a Community
On October 22, 1962, young Carol Ann Dougherty left home on her bicycle to return books to the Bristol Borough Free Library. The avid reader, known for her love of mystery novels, stopped for candy and soda at Tommy’s on Farragut Avenue before heading toward St. Mark’s Roman Catholic Church on Radcliffe Street. She never came home.
Her father found her body later that evening inside the church. Investigators determined she had been sexually assaulted and strangled with a ligature.
At the time, Schrader — then a local resident living on Lincoln Avenue, just a block and a half from the church — was questioned by police. He failed a polygraph test, lied about his whereabouts, and fled to Florida shortly thereafter. Despite strong suspicions, investigators were unable to secure enough evidence for prosecution.
Decades of Investigation
The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, assisted by Pennsylvania State Police, kept the case open for decades. Advances in forensic analysis and fresh investigative leads ultimately confirmed Schrader as the sole suspect who could not be eliminated through hair sample comparison.
A pubic hair recovered from Carol Ann’s hand showed “significant similarities” to a sample obtained from Schrader, and no other tested individual matched. Investigators also linked Lucky Strike cigarette butts at the crime scene to Schrader, who was known to smoke the brand.
Schrader’s violent criminal history later revealed a chilling pattern. In 1985, he was convicted in Louisiana for the death of 12-year-old Catherine Smith after setting his house on fire, fully aware she and others were inside. Testimony from relatives revealed that Schrader sexually abused numerous young girls and women with cognitive disabilities over the course of his life.
A Confession From Beyond the Grave
In 2024, Schrader’s stepson, Robert Leblanc, provided what investigators described as the final piece of the puzzle. Leblanc recounted two separate occasions when Schrader confessed to killing a little girl in a Pennsylvania church, saying he “had to kill her to keep her from talking.”
Leblanc’s testimony, which included details unknown to the public, matched the evidence in Carol Ann’s case — strengthening the Grand Jury’s conclusion that Schrader was responsible.
A Collaborative Pursuit of Justice
District Attorney Schorn credited Bucks County Detective Lt. Timothy Perkins, Pennsylvania State Police Troopers Jordan Rhodes, Christopher Cleveland, and David Bair, and Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Rees for their exhaustive work on the case.
“For 63 years, the murder of Carol Ann Dougherty has cast a long shadow over Bucks County,” Schorn said. “Today, that shadow lifts. This finding represents justice — delayed, but not denied — for Carol Ann, her family, and a community that never stopped remembering her.”
The Grand Jury also heard testimony from Dr. Veronique Valliere, a forensic psychologist who characterized Schrader as a psychopathic offender driven by deviant arousal, impulsivity, and an absence of empathy — traits consistent with both his known crimes and the brutality of the 1962 killing.
While Schrader cannot face prosecution due to his death in 2002, officials say the Grand Jury’s findings bring moral and evidentiary closure to a case that spanned generations of investigators.
For the latest news on everything happening in Chester County and the surrounding area, be sure to follow MyChesCo on Google News and MSN.