The Killer Lawyer: 50-Year-Old Cold Case Murder Reveals a Surprising Suspect

Nancy Anderson was 19 and had just started a new life in Hawaii when her life was taken.

Nancy Anderson (L) and Tudor Chirila (R). Image: Honolulu Police Department

When teenager Nancy Anderson moved from Michigan to the Aloha State in 1971, it should have been the start of an exciting new chapter in her life.

But mere months later, the trusting young woman was dead — and it would take five decades before the person who took her life could be unveiled as a particularly unusual suspect.

A new start cut short

Nancy Anderson came from Bay City in Michigan and had relocated to Hawaii in late 1971. She was beginning to get to know her new home a little, taking a job in her local McDonald’s and finding an apartment she could share with a roommate.

On January 7th 1972, Nancy had been at home in the afternoon when a couple of salesmen dropped by to try their luck showing her some new cutlery. She listened to their pitch before showing them out again, then went out herself to open a new bank account. According to Law and Crime, she returned to the apartment at around 3:00 PM while her roommate was still taking a nap.

Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. However, when Nancy’s roommate awoke at around 5:15 PM, she came upon a terrible sight in the bathroom. Nancy lay dead, having been stabbed multiple times in the neck, chest and stomach.

First responders quickly arrived and discovered that although the defensive wounds on her hands suggested the young woman had fought valiantly for her life, she was ultimately no match for whoever her murderer had been.

They also realised that the attacker must have overpowered and killed Nancy while her roommate lay sleeping in the next room.

An investigation began and police took away several blood-stained towels as part of the evidence, including one that had been discarded as the assailant fled through the apartment stairwell.

Meanwhile, multiple interviews and lie detector tests were carried out as detectives tried to work out who could have killed Nancy. Included in the investigation were the two salesmen who had been at the apartment…