CLAYTON, Mo –
A convicted murderer serving a life sentence for killing a man in 1995 has confessed to strangling four women five years earlier, St. Louis announced Monday.
Gary Muehlberg, a 73-year-old inmate at the Potosi Correctional Center in southeastern Missouri, confessed to the 1990 murder after O’Fallon Sheriff Jodi Weber reopened the case coldly and contacted a in the murders with Muehlberg through DNA testing, authorities said. at a press conference.
Prosecutors from Lincoln, St. Charles and St. Louis, where the victims’ bodies were found, announced four new first-degree murder charges against Muehlberg for the murders of Robyn Mihan, Brenda Pruitt, Donna Reitmeyer and Sandy Little.
“It may have been a while, but your family member is not forgotten,” said St. Charles, Tim Lohmar told relatives of the victims who attended the press conference.
Lohmar said all of the killings were linked to an area south of St. Louis, which was known at the time for prostitution, but he declined to elaborate. He said authorities have not yet determined a motive for the killing.
Muehlberg was sentenced to life in prison in 1995 for the murder of Kenneth Atchison. Lohmar said Muehlberg killed Atchison during a money dispute.
The body of one of the victims was found in O’Fallon, prompting Weber to reopen the case in 2008. She began trying to find a matching DNA sample. Finally, this spring, DNA evidence connected Muehlberg to Mihan.
“Incredible!” Weber said when asked about her reaction to the DNA match.
Prosecutors then began talking to Muehlberg and agreed not to pursue the death penalty in exchange for his cooperation, leading to his eventual confession, Lohmar said.
St. newspaper. The Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Muehlberg wrote a letter to Weber in August expressing remorse for the murder.
“I have to live with my past – the good and bad parts. No more running,” he wrote.
District Attorney for St. Louis Wesley Bell said authorities continue to investigate to see if Muehlberg may have committed other crimes.
“There are at least some indications of that,” said Lincoln County Prosecutor Mike Wood.
Dawn McIntosh, the daughter of Donna Reitmeyer, said she was emotional when she learned of the allegations.
“Because I don’t think she’ll rest easy knowing he’s still out there,” McIntosh said of her mother. “So I’m glad he’s been arrested.”
Saundra Kuehnle, now 75, said her daughter Robyn had dimples and a smile that lit up the room. Mihan was only 18 years old when she passed away.
“I’ve been hunting cops and detectives forever, for years,” Kuehnle said. “A long time to wait, but everything in God’s time.”
