Preserved DNA evidence leads to arrest in 1974 murder of Shrewsbury woman

(MyFoxBoston.com) -- Lonzo Guthrie, 69, of Austell, Georgia, was arrested Tuesday night for the 1974 murder of Eileen Ferro in Shrewsbury, Fox25 News has learned.

Lonzo Guthrie is a registered sex offender, according to an inmate website, Guthrie was convicted of rape in October 1974.

Mass State Police detectives assigned to Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early's office arrested Guthrie in Georgia Tuesday night, almost exactly 40 years after Eileen Ferro was killed.

On February 22, 1974, Ferro was found stabbed to death in her home on Ladyslipper Drive. Over the decades, detectives worked the case. The break came with a DNA match, according to law enforcement officials. After violating his parole, Guthrie's DNA was entered into the FBI's Combined DNA Index System which police say helped them connect him to Ferro's murder.

Nancy Donnelly, Eileen Ferro's sister, told Fox 25's Bob Ward she is elated with the news that there has been an arrest in her sister's case. She said she feared she might never live to see justice.

The day before, Guthrie had delivered furniture to Ferro's home. He was 29 at the time.

Georgia authorities say Guthrie lived in the state for 12 years, and at one point was a long haul trucker. They also say he is a person of interest in other similar crimes in the south.

Lonzo Guthrie appeared in a Douglas County, GA courtroom Wednesday afternoon. He refused to waive his extradition rights. For now, Lonzo Guthrie remains held without bail in Georgia until a hearing decides when he will return to Massachusetts to face new murder charge for the death of Eileen Ferro.

Cox Media Group