Carol Ann Dougherty (left); St. Mark's Church, 1025 Radcliffe St, Bristol (right)

By Jillian Pikora From Daily Voice

More than six decades after 9-year-old Carol Ann Dougherty was raped and strangled inside St. Mark’s Roman Catholic Church in Bristol Borough, authorities say they’re ready to reveal new findings in the haunting cold case.

Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn and Pennsylvania State Police leadership will hold a press conference on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, at 1 p.m. at the Bucks County Justice Center in Doylestown, officials announced on Tuesday, Oct. 28.

The briefing will share formal findings from a Bucks County Investigating Grand Jury that recently reviewed evidence in the 1962 murder — one of the region’s most notorious unsolved crimes.

A Crime That Shocked A Community

On Monday, Oct. 22, 1962, Carol, a fifth-grader at St. Mark Catholic School, was last seen riding her bike from her Landreth Manor home to the Bristol library. When she failed to return home by 4:30 p.m., her parents, Frank and Dorothy Dougherty, began searching.

Moments later, Carol’s father found her lifeless body inside St. Mark’s, on a stairwell leading to the choir loft. Investigators said she had been strangled and sexually assaulted.

The murder of the 9-year-old girl devastated the close-knit borough and sparked an exhaustive investigation by Bristol Police Chief Vincent Faragalli and Pennsylvania State Police Sgt. Andrew Kutney.

A Web Of Suspects — But No Arrests

Over the decades, investigators pursued multiple leads but never made an arrest.

Among the first suspects was Frank Zuchero, a local handyman who drunkenly confessed but later recanted. His confession was later deemed coerced. Another, Father Joseph Sabadish, a priest at St. Mark’s, provided a false alibi but passed a polygraph.

A third man, William Schrader, was spotted outside the church near the time of the rape and murder, and later extradited back to Bucks County in 1994 for questioning. He invoked his Fifth Amendment right before a grand jury and was released.

Despite DNA testing advancements and multiple reinvestigations, no match has ever been confirmed, and the case remains open.

Renewed Interest, New Evidence Review

In recent years, the crime has resurfaced in the public consciousness through renewed coverage and a podcast titled “The Coldest Murder,” hosted by Philadelphia radio personality Mike Missanelli, whose uncle Chief Faragalli led the original investigation.

The upcoming grand jury findings may finally clarify what investigators have long debated: who was responsible for the murder that shook Bristol and haunted generations of detectives.

No additional details will be released before the press conference, the district attorney’s office said.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact the PSP Troop M Criminal Investigation Assessment Unit at 610-861-2026 or submit a tip online.

Click here to read our previous coverage on this shocking cold case.