Discarded cigarette helps solve Washington murder after 44 years

(KENT, Wash.) — DNA evidence from a discarded cigarette has helped investigators finally solve the murder of a 33-year-old woman in Washington state after 44 years.

Kenneth Kundert was arrested in Arkansas on a nationwide murder warrant out of Washington, police said. He is expected to be charged with first-degree murder, according to a spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

His bail is set at $3 million and he is awaiting extradition, according to police.

On Feb. 23, 1980, after 10 p.m. Dorothy “Dottie” Maria Silzer left work at a pizza place to head home. That was the last time she was seen alive, according to police.

She was reported missing by her co-workers three days later after she failed to show up for work two days in a row, which was “hugely unusual” for her, Kent, Washington, Police Chief Rafael Padilla said at a press conference.

Police performed a welfare check at her condo, where she was found murdered, Padilla said.

Evidence, including DNA, was collected from the scene and preserved.

“It was their extensive and exhaustive work to collect and preserve that evidence that made the eventual identification of Dottie’s murderer possible,” Padilla said.

The Kent County medical examiner later determined the cause of death was asphyxia by means of cervical compression. There was also blunt-force trauma to her head, according to Padilla.

Crime lab investigators determined that DNA evidence collected at the scene of the crime belonged to an unknown man.

In 1996, additional DNA evidence from the case was examined, but investigators still came up empty.

Over the years, DNA from persons of interest were submitted to compare, but none were a match, Padilla said. The case dragged on unsolved for so long that many of the officers who worked on it had retired and a couple of them had even died, he added.

Finally, a breakthrough came in 2022, when the rapidly advancing field of genetic genealogy, in which DNA is submitted to public databases to find familial connections, identified 11 potential suspects.

Investigators said they then began to collect DNA samples to eliminate suspects from the group.

Two of the suspects identified were Kurt and Kenneth Kundert, brothers who lived in Arkansas, police said. Investigators discovered the brothers were both in custody on unrelated charges stemming from an assault.

Kurt Kundert agreed to provide police with a DNA sample voluntarily, but Kenneth Kundert did not, police said. Kurt Kundert’s DNA did not match the sample.

Investigators said they were able to determine Kenneth Kundert had ties to Washington and worked in the state in 1987. The brothers also lived in an apartment complex about 1,200 feet away from where the murder took place, authorities said.

In March, police were able to obtain a discarded cigarette belonging to Kenneth Kundert and it was compared to the DNA sample found at the crime scene and came back a match.

On Aug. 20, police found and arrested Kenneth Kundert in Arkansas. He is now at a Van Buren correctional facility awaiting extradition.

Silzer was originally from North Dakota where she graduated from high school before working at a school district in the state. She later moved to Washington and lived in the Seattle area for about 12 years, police said.

She had just purchased a condo in Kent, Washington, just before she was killed. Silzer was a training supervisor at Boeing and worked at a pizza place on weekends, according to police.