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More than 30 years after the tragic murders of a 24-year-old woman and a 16-year-old teenager, both occurring within a year of each other, authorities in New Jersey are confident they have identified the perpetrator.
On April 9, the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office revealed they had connected the two cold cases using DNA evidence, pointing to Francis T. Schooley, a man who had unforeseen connections to both victims.
Unfortunately, Schooley will never be brought to trial for these crimes, as he passed away in 2000 at the age of 39, closing the door on any legal proceedings.
“Due to significant advancements in DNA technology and persistent investigative efforts, we can finally bring closure to the families who have been seeking answers for decades,” stated Camden County Prosecutor Grace C. MacAulay. “These cases remained a priority for our investigators, despite the passage of time.”
Francis T. Schooley is Suspected of Killing Woman, Teen
The body of Marebeth Welsh was found on a sidewalk in Camden, New Jersey, on November 14, 1993, as detailed in a probable cause statement released by prosecutors.
The 24-year-old was found without any shoes and only one sock and her clothes were dry, even though it had rained earlier that morning, leading detectives to strongly suspect that she’d been moved to the location after her death.
During an autopsy, Doctor Robert Segal concluded that Welsh had been strangled to death, also noting signs of a sexual assault, according to the probable cause statement.
“The New Jersey State Police (NJSP) Forensic Science Bureau conducted an analysis of the case evidence,” prosecutors wrote, “and found that Marebeth Welsh’s shirt, underwear, and the swabs collected from her body tested positive for spermatozoa.”
At the time of her death, Welsh had been estranged from her husband and living with two male roommates in Woodlynne, New Jersey—but all three men were ruled out as possible suspects after DNA testing. Although investigators discovered blood on a comforter in a second-floor bedroom of the home where she was living at the time, they had few other clues to who may have killed her.
Then, on April 4, 1994, the body of 16-year-old Jennifer Persia was found in the living room floor of her Magnolia, New Jersey home. The teen had “multiple stab wounds” and was found with “a cloth ligature around her neck,” prosecutors said.
Once again, Segal performed a post-mortem examination, according to the probable cause statement, and determined that Persia died from “multiple incised wounds to the neck and chest, ligature strangulation, as well as multiple sharp and blunt injuries.”
At the crime scene, investigators collected blood evidence from Persia’s socks, a lower-level exterior door and a master bedroom closet. An FBI laboratory later determined, per the probable cause statement, that the blood evidence belonged to an “unknown male contributor.” The alleged assailant’s profile was uploaded to the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database, but there were no matches at the time.
Advances in DNA Technology Lead to Breakthrough in Welsh and Persia Murders
For years, both cases went cold, until investigators sent a sample of the DNA to Parabon Nanolabs in February of 2021, prosecutors said.
While the genetic genealogy lab was able to provide the name of a “possible contributor,” that person was later ruled out.
Then, in August 2025, prosecutors said in the court documents that Welsh’s shirt and underwear were resubmitted to the New Jersey State Police Office of Forensic Sciences for additional testing and male DNA was discovered that matched evidence taken in Persia’s case, connecting the two crimes.
“As a result of investigative genetic genealogy testing and additional interviews,” prosecutors wrote, “a suspect was developed and tentatively identified as Francis T. Schooley.”
Investigators discovered that Schooley had once done construction work at the home of Persia’s stepfather and also worked at an auto shop the stepfather co-owned. The auto shop had also sponsored a mini race car that Schooley had ownership in.
Schooley also had a connection to Welsh. His sibling told investigators after seeing a photo of Welsh that he’d seen Schooley and Welsh together in the past.
Given that Schooley had died in 2000, investigators requested DNA samples from his sibling and a parent and submitted the buccal swabs to Parabon Nanolabs, the FBI and the New Jersey State Police Office of Forensic Sciences, prosecutors said.
Reports from all three organizations were reviewed the week of March 9, 2026 and investigators concluded that Schooley had likely been the killer.
“The kinship analysis from the NJSP OFS showed that it was at least 4.8 million times more likely that the source of the DNA profile was a child of Schooley’s parent than if the source of the DNA profile and Schooley’s parent were unrelated,” read the probable cause statement. “The report further showed that it was at least 150,000 times more likely that the source of the DNA profile was a full sibling to the brother of Schooley than if the source of the DNA profile and the brother of Schooley were unrelated.”
Prosecutors said that had Schooley still been alive, he would have been prosecuted for both crimes.
Magnolia Police Chief John Huston—whose department had been involved in the investigation into Persia’s death—offered his condolences to her family in light of the new development in the case.
“Our hearts are with her family, and while the results of this investigation cannot bring her back, we hope it offers them a measure of peace,” Huston said in the release from prosecutors. “Jennifer’s murder deeply stunned the entire Magnolia community. Residents can take some comfort in knowing that both the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office and the Magnolia Police Department remain steadfast in their pursuit of justice and will continue working tirelessly until cases like this are solved.”