A man suspected of a San Rafael homicide 60 years ago has been identified thanks to the efforts of two retired police officers and modern forensic technology, police officials announced Tuesday.

On Feb. 1, 1966, Marjorie Rudolph, the wife of a prominent banker, was bludgeoned to death while home alone.

Police at the time believed Laurel James Switzer was responsible and that he killed Rudolph following some kind of dispute with her family. Before investigators could get to the bottom of the case, Switzer took his own life just eight days after the killing.

Police examine the crime scene where Marjorie Rudolph was murdered on Feb. 1, 1966, in San Rafael. The San Rafael Police Department has positively linked a previously identified suspect, Laurel James Switzer, to the homicide using advanced DNA analysis. (Marin Independent Journal/San Rafael Police Department via Bay City News)

Then, in 2025, two retired San Rafael Police Department investigators who now work cold cases — Harry Barbier and Kevin MacDougald — submitted cigarettes collected from the crime scene to Othram, a forensic laboratory in Texas.

Scientists at Othram extracted DNA from the cigarettes and used “Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing” to develop a comprehensive DNA profile, which helped researchers conduct a genealogy search.

That search led detectives to collect DNA samples from Switzer’s living relatives, who cooperated with the investigation, and that led to confirmation that he was at the scene of the crime, according to San Rafael police.

Still, police cautioned that, because Switzer killed himself before he could provide any answers, “the exact circumstances of his involvement and his true motivation for being there may never be known.”

Funding for the forensic testing in this case was provided via a grant from Season of Justice, a nonprofit group that supports law enforcement access to advanced DNA testing for unsolved cold-case homicides, sexual assaults and other crimes.

Anyone with information about this crime can call San Rafael Police at (415) 485-3000. Tips can also be made online.

Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.