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Colorado man convicted in 1978 San Francisco cold case murder of 15-year-old girl sentenced to life in prison

Investigators used DNA testing and genealogy to link Mark Personette to the killing after decades of stalled leads, prosecutors said.

  • On Wednesday, a San Francisco judge sentenced 80-year-old Mark Personette to life in prison for the 1978 murder of 15-year-old Marissa Harvey, holding him accountable after nearly 50 years.
  • In 1978, Harvey was visiting her sister in San Francisco when she disappeared while riding horses in Golden Gate Park; her body was discovered the next day in Sutro Heights Park.
  • Investigators identified Personette in 2021 through 'investigative genetic genealogy' after finding his DNA on Harvey's clothing and a piece of gum on her back; FBI agents later confirmed his identity via items discarded at a Denver Walmart.
  • District Attorney Brooke Jenkins stated, "While nothing can bring Marissa back to her family, today's sentence hopefully leaves her family with a sense that justice was done," with Personette eligible for parole after seven years.
  • During the trial, a woman testified that Personette raped her in New Jersey in 1979, while defense lawyer Sam O'Keefe unsuccessfully argued that legal issues affected his client's right to a fair trial, maintaining Personette remains innocent.
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Lean Left

Teenage Girl Murdered in 1978 in the United States. Killer Found Through DNA From Chewing Gum

MARK Personette, 80, was sentenced to life in prison for the 1978 murder of 15-year-old Marissa Harvey in San Francisco.

·Zagreb, Croatia
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InternewscastInternewscast
Center

1978 Murder Suspect Sentenced After DNA Found on Chewing Gum

Internewscast Internewscast More than four decades after a teenage girl was brutally killed, an… This Post: 1978 Murder Suspect Sentenced After DNA Found on Chewing Gum first appeared on Internewscast

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dailymail.comdailymail.com
Center

Murder suspect sentenced after his DNA was found on gum from 1978

Mark Stanley Personette, 80, was sentenced to life in prison after spending more than 40 years evading capture for the vicious sexual assault and murder of a 15-year-old girl.

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The Seattle TimesThe Seattle Times
Lean Left

Man gets life sentence for strangling 15-year-old girl in San Francisco in 1978

Mark Personette, 80, eluded the authorities for 43 years before he was arrested and eventually convicted of first-degree murder for killing Marissa Harvey.

·Seattle, United States
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CBS NewsCBS News
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kioncentralcoast.comkioncentralcoast.com
Center

Colorado man convicted in 1978 San Francisco cold case murder of 15-year-old girl sentenced to life in prison

A Colorado man convicted in the cold case murder of a teenage girl in San Francisco in 1978​ was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday, with parole eligibilty in seven years.

·New York, United States
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PatchPatch
Center

Man Gets Prison In 'Brutal' 1978 Killing Of 15-Year-Old Girl In San Francisco: DA

"He will spend the rest of his life facing the consequence of taking hers," prosecutors said.

·New York, United States
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New York Post broke the news in New York, United States on Wednesday, September 30, 2026.
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