Human remains ID'd as suspect wanted in Pa. police chief's 37-year-old unsolved killing
The remains were found buried behind a Massachusetts home.
— -- The human remains found buried behind a Massachusetts home have been positively identified as a fugitive suspect wanted in connection to the decades-old, unsolved slaying of a Pennsylvania police chief, authorities said today.
The remains were found buried behind the North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, home of the former wife of alleged killer Donald Eugene Webb, police said.
Webb, who had been among the longest tenured fugitives on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, is alleged to have killed Saxonburg Police Chief Gregory Adams in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, Dec. 4, 1980, after what police believe was a routine traffic stop.
Webb was never apprehended after being charged with first-degree murder, and investigators now believe he died in 1999, according to the FBI. The investigation is ongoing.
“Although it’s unfortunate Mr. Webb will never be brought to justice to pay for his crimes, we’re hopeful the family can find some closure in knowing that this alleged murderer has been located,” Harold H. Shaw, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division, said today in a news release.
Saxonburg Police Chief Joseph Beachem added, “The biggest question in the history of Saxonburg has been answered. Our thoughts are with the family and we hope this eases their minds, if even only slightly.”
The FBI released updated wanted photos of the fugitive last month, asking for the public’s help in locating him.
The FBI was offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to the whereabouts of, or the location of Webb’s remains, the federal law enforcement agency said in a news release.
Donald Eugene Webb would have been in his 80s, according to FBI records.
