Tupac Shakur's 1996 killing reached a conviction in August 2026 and a 40-years-to-life sentence on Oct. 13, 2026. At 30 years it falls short of this top 10, and it was solved through Duane 'Keffe D' Davis's own memoir and interviews, not DNA.
Back to the trend of the day: Thirty Years On, Tupac's Killer Sentenced to 40 Years Minimum
Poly Rating · from the trend of the day
Longest Cold Cases Solved: Top 10 US Murder Convictions
An 84-year-old man pleaded guilty in 2025 to killing hitchhiker Mary Schlais in 1974, ending a 51-year wait that was broken by DNA from a stocking cap.
- No. 1: Mary Schlais murder: Jon Miller (Wisconsin, 1974–2025)
- 10 places
01Final list
The leading AIs built their own top-ten lists independently. Above is one combined result that is easy to check: every place has a reason, the AIs that included it and, where the AIs gave one, a source.
Order: from most to least AI agreement.
A bright badge means this AI put the entry on its list. A dim badge means it did not.
- 1
Mary Schlais murder: Jon Miller (Wisconsin, 1974–2025)
51 years from the 1974 killing to Miller's 2025 guilty plea at age 84. Genetic genealogy from a stocking cap broke it; police had first blamed the I-5 killer.
Included it: Grok, DeepSeek. Did not include: Meta.In their lists: Grok: 7 · DeepSeek: 1
What each AI noted 2
- Grokplace 7
50 years to arrest in Wisconsin; conviction status for living defendant not fully confirmed in available reports.
- DeepSeekplace 1
51 years, and the break came from a stocking cap and a family DNA tree.
Source ↗
2 AIs put it here - 2
Michelle 'Missy' Jones murder: Leonard Nash (California, 1980–2025)
45 years, the oldest cold case in San Bernardino County. A 2020 database hit was confirmed with DNA from Nash's discarded Wingstop cup.
Included it: Grok, DeepSeek. Did not include: Meta.In their lists: Grok: 1 · DeepSeek: 6
2 AIs put it here - 3
Golden State Killer: Joseph DeAngelo (California, 1975–2020)
He pleaded guilty in 2020, 45 years after his first killing. The case made genetic genealogy famous; across 13 murders from 1975 to 1986 the wait runs 34–45 years.
Included it: Grok, DeepSeek. Did not include: Meta.In their lists: Grok: 9 · DeepSeek: 4
What each AI noted 2
- Grokplace 9
Post-2018 genealogy wave produced multiple 30–40-year living convictions, but none older than the top entries here.
Source ↗ - DeepSeekplace 4
45 years; the case that made genetic genealogy a household phrase.
2 AIs put it here - 4
Laurel Jean Mitchell murder: Fred Bandy Jr. (Indiana, 1975–2024)
49 years, the second-longest wait here, but only one source has it, so it stays out of the top three. DNA on her saved clothing plus three witnesses convicted him.
Included it: DeepSeek. Did not include: Meta, Grok.In their lists: DeepSeek: 2
What each AI noted 1
- DeepSeekplace 2
49 years; DNA on saved clothing plus three witnesses who had heard him talk.
Source ↗
1 AIs put it here - 5
Shelley Connolly murder: Donald McQuade (Alaska, 1978–2023)
About 46 years from the 1978 Anchorage killing to the 2023 conviction. Genetic genealogy matched DNA from the victim's body; he got 50 years.
Included it: DeepSeek. Did not include: Meta, Grok.In their lists: DeepSeek: 3
What each AI noted 1
- DeepSeekplace 3
46 years; genetic genealogy matched DNA from a 1978 Anchorage killing.
Source ↗
1 AIs put it here - 6
Susan Leigh Wolfe murder: Deck Brewer Jr. (Texas, 1980–2025)
Nearly 46 years: DNA named him in August 2024 and he pleaded guilty at 79. He got only eight years because of his age and health.
Included it: DeepSeek. Did not include: Meta, Grok.In their lists: DeepSeek: 5
What each AI noted 1
- DeepSeekplace 5
45 years; a 79-year-old pleaded guilty and received eight years because of his age and health.
Source ↗
1 AIs put it here - 7
Barbara Tucker murder: Robert Plympton (Oregon, 1980–2024)
44 years. Investigators tailing him picked up the chewing gum he spat out, and its DNA confirmed the genetic genealogy lead.
Included it: DeepSeek. Did not include: Meta, Grok.In their lists: DeepSeek: 7
What each AI noted 1
- DeepSeekplace 7
44 years; chewing gum on the street supplied the DNA.
1 AIs put it hereno source given - 8
De Anna Lynn Johnson murder: Marvin Markle (California, 1982–2025)
43 years, and the only top-10 case won mainly on witnesses rather than DNA: three people, including his sister, testified he had confessed.
Included it: DeepSeek. Did not include: Meta, Grok.In their lists: DeepSeek: 8
What each AI noted 1
- DeepSeekplace 8
43 years; three witnesses, including his sister, said he confessed.
1 AIs put it hereno source given - 9
Karen Stitt murder: Gary Ramirez (California, 1982–2025)
43 years. A DNA match and a tip led police to him in Hawaii; he pleaded no contest at 78 and is first eligible for parole at 103.
Included it: DeepSeek. Did not include: Meta, Grok.In their lists: DeepSeek: 9
What each AI noted 1
- DeepSeekplace 9
43 years; a 78-year-old pleaded no contest and will be parole-eligible at 103.
Source ↗
1 AIs put it here - 10
Michelle Martinko murder: Jerry Burns (Iowa, 1979–2020)
About 40 years from the Cedar Rapids mall stabbing to a first-degree murder conviction. Genetic genealogy plus DNA from a straw he used; life without parole.
Included it: Grok. Did not include: Meta, DeepSeek.In their lists: Grok: 2
What each AI noted 1
- Grokplace 2
41 years from the Cedar Rapids mall stabbing to Jerry Burns’s first-degree murder conviction via genetic genealogy.
Source ↗
1 AIs put it here
02Worth knowing
What the AIs noticed while building the list.
Nine of the ten were broken by DNA or genetic genealogy, often from something the suspect threw away (a cup, gum, a straw). Most of the delay came from the limits of forensic science, not from evidence ignored in plain sight.
Older 'solved' cases exist but don't qualify. Felix Vail's 1962 Louisiana killing ended in a conviction about 54 years later, but he died in 2021. Maria Ridulph's 1957 case was convicted in 2012 and reversed in 2016.
Many 'oldest cold case solved' headlines only name a suspect who is already dead. Living defendants convicted decades later are far rarer.
Most of these crimes happened when national clearance was still near or above 70%. It then fell below 70% after 1986, bottomed at 50% in 2021 and rose back to 69% in 2025.
03Questions people ask
what is the longest cold case solved
Among living US defendants with a conviction that still stands, the longest is Jon Miller's: he pleaded guilty in 2025 to the 1974 murder of Mary Schlais, about 51 years later.
Source ↗what is the oldest cold case solved by dna
Jon Miller's 1974 case was broken by genetic genealogy from a stocking cap and ended in a 2025 plea, 51 years on. The best-known DNA case is the Golden State Killer, who pleaded guilty in 2020, 45 years after his first murder.
Source ↗what is the oldest cold case solved
Counting only living defendants with a standing conviction, it is the 51-year Schlais case. Older cases, such as a 1956 double homicide solved by DNA, often name suspects who are already dead.
Source ↗why do 'oldest cold case solved' lists disagree
They count different things: identifying a dead suspect, an arrest, or a conviction. Nash's 45-year case is called the 'oldest' in San Bernardino County, but it is not the oldest nationally.
Source ↗04How we counted
In plain words, no formulas.
1The question
Top 10 Longest Roads to Justice: US Murder Cases Closed in Court Decades After the Crime
2Why this topic
It puts the longest delays next to the national odds of a case being solved and the tool that finally closed each one. No single list holds all three.
3Where it applies
United States criminal justice history
4What we looked at
- Years from the crime to a conviction or guilty plea, checked against court records
- Only living defendants with a verdict or plea; convictions later overturned (such as Maria Ridulph, 1957 to 2012, reversed in 2016) are noted but not ranked
- What broke the case: DNA or genetic genealogy, a witness, a confession or memoir, or a new review
- The national clearance rate in the year of the crime against the year of the conviction
- Court dockets, prosecutor and DOJ releases — Date of the crime and date of the conviction or plea for each case, and what solved it
- Council on Criminal Justice, Homicide Trends (FBI Supplementary Homicide Reports) — National homicide clearance rate by year: about 82–83% in the mid-1960s, under 70% since 1986, 50% in 2021 and 69% i
- Murder Accountability Project — Historical unsolved homicides and how often old cases move to cleared, decade by decade
- National Registry of Exonerations — Convictions later overturned, used to leave out cases such as Maria Ridulph (reversed in 2016)
5Who ranked
The leading AIs, each building its own list of ten independently and naming a source for every place: Meta, Grok, DeepSeek.
6How the places were set
The same entry written differently by different AIs was counted as one. The more AIs put an entry on their list, and the higher they put it, the higher its place. "AI agreement" shows how many of the AIs had it on their own list. Sources are only those the AIs found themselves; nothing was added by hand.
05Each AI's own list
🇺🇸 Grok10 places · 4 notes
The same question, answered by Grok alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1Michelle “Missy” Jones murder (1980–2025)
45 years from the Fontana grapefruit-grove killing to Leonard Nash’s second-degree murder conviction via DNA from a discarded Wingstop cup.
Source ↗ - 2Michelle Martinko murder (1979–2020)
41 years from the Cedar Rapids mall stabbing to Jerry Burns’s first-degree murder conviction via genetic genealogy.
Source ↗ - 3Tupac Shakur murder (1996–2026)
30 years from the Las Vegas drive-by to Duane “Keffe D” Davis’s first-degree murder conviction and 40-years-to-life sentence.
Source ↗ - 4Other multi-decade DNA convictions (examples)
Cases such as certain 1980s–90s killings have reached living-defendant convictions after 30–40+ years via genealogy, though fewer exceed the top three.
- 5Note on overturned or deceased-only cases
Cases like Maria Ridulph (1957 conviction later reversed) or many DNA IDs of long-dead suspects are excluded from ranking.
Source ↗ - 6Robin Warr Lawrence (1994–2025)
About 31 years to sentencing of a New York man to 70 years for the Virginia murder.
- 7Mary Schlais (1974–2024 arrest)
50 years to arrest in Wisconsin; conviction status for living defendant not fully confirmed in available reports.
- 8Typical genetic genealogy solves
Many 30–40-year cases reach identification, but living-defendant convictions remain rarer than identifications of the deceased.
Source ↗ - 9Golden State Killer era cases
Post-2018 genealogy wave produced multiple 30–40-year living convictions, but none older than the top entries here.
Source ↗ - 10National clearance context for delay
Crime-year clearance was often ~50–60%; conviction decades later reflects forensic limits more than ignored evidence in most DNA cases.
Source ↗
What Grok noticed
The longest living-defendant convictions (45 and 41 years) relied on DNA/genealogy unavailable at the time of the crime; system delay was secondary to scientific limits.
Tupac’s 30-year path was broken by the defendant’s own memoir and interviews rather than new forensics.
Many “oldest solved” headlines identify deceased suspects; living-defendant court outcomes decades later are rarer.
National clearance rose from ~50% (2021) to 69% (2025), so recent years offer better odds for both new and cold cases.
🇨🇳 DeepSeek10 places · 3 notes
The same question, answered by DeepSeek alone. The final list above combines all the AIs.
- 1Jon Miller — Mary Schlais, Wisconsin (1974-2025)
51 years, and the break came from a stocking cap and a family DNA tree.
Source ↗ - 2Fred Bandy Jr. — Laurel Jean Mitchell, Indiana (1975-2024)
49 years; DNA on saved clothing plus three witnesses who had heard him talk.
Source ↗ - 3Donald McQuade — Shelley Connolly, Alaska (1978-2023)
46 years; genetic genealogy matched DNA from a 1978 Anchorage killing.
Source ↗ - 4Golden State Killer / Joseph DeAngelo — California (1975-2020)
45 years; the case that made genetic genealogy a household phrase.
- 5Deck Brewer Jr. — Susan Leigh Wolfe, Texas (1980-2025)
45 years; a 79-year-old pleaded guilty and received eight years because of his age and health.
Source ↗ - 6Leonard Nash — Michelle 'Missy' Jones, California (1980-2025)
45 years; a discarded Wingstop cup and DNA ended a 45-year wait.
Source ↗ - 7Robert Plympton — Barbara Tucker, Oregon (1980-2024)
44 years; chewing gum on the street supplied the DNA.
- 8Marvin Markle — De Anna Lynn Johnson, California (1982-2025)
43 years; three witnesses, including his sister, said he confessed.
- 9Gary Ramirez — Karen Stitt, California (1982-2025)
43 years; a 78-year-old pleaded no contest and will be parole-eligible at 103.
Source ↗ - 10Tupac Shakur / Duane 'Keffe D' Davis — Nevada (1996-2026)
30 years; a memoir and a task-force review turned a boast into a murder conviction.
Source ↗
What DeepSeek noticed
The 1970s were not a golden age for clearances: the national rate was above 70% before 1986, then fell below 70% and hit 50% in 2021 before recovering to 69% in 2025. The long-delay cases therefore sit across a long national decline and a recent rebound.
Nine of these ten cases were resolved by DNA or genetic genealogy, a confession, or both; Marvin Markle is the outlier, resolved mainly by witnesses who said he confessed. That is a forensic-science story more than a courtroom story.
Maria Ridulph's 1957-2012 conviction would rank near the top on elapsed time, but it was reversed in 2016; that is why this ranking uses only convictions and pleas that still stand.