EVERETT, Wash. — A man arrested in 2024 for allegedly raping and brutally murdering a woman in 1984 has been charged for a second, similar cold case that happened four years prior.
On March 13, 68-year-old Mitchell Gaff was charged with the 1980 rape and murder of then-21-year-old Susan Vesey. Gaff was 22 when he allegedly committed the crime.
According to court documents, Vesey was found by her husband, tied up and beaten, on the morning after her 21st birthday in her home off Casino Way in Everett. Vesey was a mom of two children under the age of two, with her youngest being only three months old.
Her children were not hurt in her attack, court docs said.
Vesey’s case went cold and remained unsolved until recently.
Gaff was already incarcerated in 2024 for the rape and murder of 42-year-old Judy Weaver.
Between June 1 and June 2, 1984, someone entered Weaver’s home and attacked her.
She was found bound, beaten, and strangled. She had also been raped, court docs said.
Court documents say her attacker took batteries out of her smoke alarm and tried to set fire to her apartment in an apparent effort to destroy evidence.
In both cases, DNA samples had been taken from both victims, even though the technology was not as high-tech as it is today for testing, court docs said. The samples were stored to be tested at a later date.
In November 2023, a detective investigating Weaver’s case sent the DNA sample out and finally got a match: Gaff, court docs say.
According to court documents, his DNA was in the system at that time following a 1984 conviction for the rape and torture of two teen sisters inside their home.
He was arrested and charged in May of 2024 for Weaver’s death.
The detective working her case also noticed similarities with where and how both Weaver and Vesey were found, and tested Gaff’s DNA against the sample found at Vesey’s home, court documents say.
According to court documents, that, too, was a match.
Court docs say that to date, there is no evidence that Gaff knew either Weaver or Vesey, and that there wouldn’t be any “innocent reason” as to why his DNA was at the scene.
Gaff remains in Snohomish County Jail and has additionally been charged with aggravated first-degree murder and first-degree murder for his alleged involvement in Vesey’s death. Those same charges have been filed against him for Weaver’s death.
According to court documents, one doctor who evaluated Gaff deemed him a “sexual sadist,” and he was given a designation of “sexually violent predator” by the state of Washington in 1994 and 2000.
He is currently being held on no bail.
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