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Oregon man charged with raping and killing woman in Back Bay building in 1979
By adamg on Mon, 09/11/2023 - 9:31am
A man from Portland, OR was arraigned in Boston Municipal Court today on charges he raped an killed a woman inside 285 Beacon St. on Oct. 30, 1979, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports.
A construction worker at the building - being converted into condos at the time - found the body of Susan Marcia Rose, 24, inside the building. She suffered multiple skull fractures and brain lacerations, the DA's office says. Boston Police report she had also been raped.
A Brighton man was tried for her death in 1981, but a jury found him not guilty.
According to the DA's office, John Michael Irmer, 68, walked into the Portland FBI office last month and said he had a confession to make, that he:
Met a woman with red hair at a skating rink around Halloween in Boston in 1979. Irmer said the two walked into 285 Beacon Street, which was under renovation at the time. Irmer said that shortly after the two entered the building he grabbed a nearby hammer and struck the woman on the head, killing her. Irmer said he fled to New York the next day.
After verifying that Rose, who had red hair, was, in fact murdered like Irmer said, agents took a DNA sample from him, which matched a sample taken at the murder scene, the DA's office reports. Irmer was then arrested by Portland Police as a fugitive from justice on Aug. 26 and held in the Multnomah County jail until he was flown to Boston yesterday for his arraignment.
Rose, a native of Johnstown, PA, was living on Dartmouth Street at the time of the murder, the DA's office says, adding Irmer said he fled to New York the day after the murder.
The DA's office reports Irmer was formally charged with murder and aggravated rape at his arraignment this morning. Judge James Coffey ordered him held without bail.
Innocent, etc.
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Comments
RIP Susan Rose
I knew Susan Rose. She was a co-worker, and a nice person. We both worked together at a company in South Boston back in the 70s. Some of the details of the murder we heard were even more gruesome than those mentioned in this article. The police interviewed many of us who worked with her but none of us knew anything that could help the police.
I occasionally check the internet to see if they ever solved this case. And finally the murderer has been found.
May she finally rest in peace.
A guilty conscience?
Or need for free prison medical care and hospice?
Medical care in old age and a long life is something beautiful red headed Susan Rose can never have.
That this murder is solved is the only redeeming thing about this. Hope it brings a measure of solace to her friends and families. What a sad day for them.
Perhaps there are other unsolved murders m that may be solved with the DNA taken.
Seems unlikely
The fellow is 68 — it's hard to imagine that he would actually be better off in prison rather than receiving Social Security and Medicare on the outside.
If he qualifies for SS.
If he doesn’t have assets he wants to leave behind for others rather than Medicaid.
He may just be looking for hospice. No idea what his situation is but there are various reasons people sometimes want to be institutionalized later on life permanently or temporarily.
Conscience and Redemption
I know his older sister fairly well. She is dear to me.
I am also distantly related to the victim by marriage.
It does not surprise me that he committed this crime. John has been estranged from his family due to his mental and chemical illness since he hit adolescence.
What surprises me is that he seems to be doing the whole "come clean" part of repentance and sobriety in the best possible way.
May Ms. Rose RIP.
Surprised that the Feds aren't involved (apparently).
Boston Municipal Court seems pretty low level for rape, murder, crossing state lines, fugitive, etc. Then again, state prison will probably be a harsher punishment than the federal system.
There's no federal crime. It
There's no federal crime. It happened here. He didn't cross state lines in committing the crime. It starts in BMC because he has not been indicted yet. Whe he is, it moves to superior court.
That 1981 trial
should be examined.
Ok...
Why? Or did you not mean the trial, but instead "the process by which this individual was brought to trial"?
both
what was said to establish probable cause, and what was said to the jury.
tbf he was acquitted so it wasn't a real frame-up.
I feel for the person falsely charged
What a nightmare that must have been for the person falsely brought to trial for this terrible murder. Lost so much of his life, his good name, and much more.