A Oneida, New York, man has been taken into custody and is scheduled to be extradited to Germany on charges of raping and murdering a woman nearly 45 years ago. Thanks to advances in DNA testing, it is said that a 1 in 2.7 quintillion match revealed a link between this man and the crime. on court documents.
In a Feb. 13, 2024, filing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen C. Green announced that extradition proceedings have been completed for James Patrick Dempsey, 66, of Oneida. requested that he be detained until He could be charged with aggravated murder in Germany.
According to court documents, between June 8, 1978 and June 11, 1978, 35-year-old Babel Gansau was murdered inside his apartment in Ludwigsburg, Germany.
During the investigation into Ganso’s death, detectives learned that she had left the bathroom window open so the cat could come and go freely. The windows were about 39 inches off the ground and visible from the nearby sidewalk.
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James Patrick Dempsey, 66, of New York, was linked to the 1978 murder of a woman in Germany using DNA technology, according to court documents. (St. Petersburg)
He was attacked while sleeping and stabbed 37 times with a knife, sustaining injuries to his neck, left arm, right thumb, left leg, and right upper thigh. The intruder also stabbed Ganso in the center of the chest, which investigators determined was the primary cause of death. Investigators also determined that the victim’s wounds indicate that Ganso was not expecting the attack and was unable to defend himself from his assailant.
Investigators were able to take fingerprints from the bathroom window sill, suggesting someone had entered Gansau’s apartment through the window. A total of three unique fingerprints were found in the victim’s apartment, including one on the window sill.
Another piece of evidence taken from the scene was blood and secretions found on the bed sheets between Gansau’s legs.
According to court documents, close friends of Gansau were interviewed during the investigation and said the victim was attracted to American men and frequented a non-commissioned officer’s club for soldiers stationed at the U.S. Army base in Ludwigsburg. He claimed he was known to come and go.
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U.S. Marshals have detained a man accused of raping a woman in Germany in 1978. (St. Petersburg)
Despite identifying several soldiers with whom Ganso had been intimate, investigators were unable to identify the suspect at the time and said there was no evidence that Dempsey and the victim had prior sexual contact. added.
The case was retried in 2020 due to changes in DNA testing, and investigators suspected the killer was an American soldier and sent fingerprints to an FBI liaison in Berlin for analysis.
On January 29, 2021, the FBI announced to German law enforcement authorities that the fingerprints matched Dempsey’s fingerprints in a U.S. database.
According to court documents, Dempsey was a soldier in the U.S. Army from November 1976 to December 1978 and was stationed in Ludwigsburg from 1977 to late 1978.
Dempsey developed a drinking problem during his time in the Army and could become aggressive when under the influence of alcohol, according to Army records listed in court documents. As a result, he was sent to a six-day rehabilitation facility in June 1978.
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After leaving the Army in 1978, Dempsey continued to have problems with alcohol, including being charged with drunk driving in 1979, according to court documents.
The FBI conducted a trash pickup at Dempsey’s home in the United States on April 14, 2021, in support of the German investigation. The resulting evidence was provided to German investigators, who in 1978 conducted DNA trace analysis of several skin and semen samples obtained from the crime scene. One of the pieces of evidence they focused on was semen found on the bed sheets between Gansau’s legs.
In 2022, DNA from the crime scene was compared to DNA found when trash was removed from Dempsey’s home and a match was found.
Researchers say the chances of a match are 1 in 2.7 quintillion.
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On June 24, 2022, Judge Berger of the Lower Court of Stuttgart, Germany, issued a warrant for Dempsey’s arrest, and then on February 9, 2024, U.S. Magistrate Judge Miroslav Lovrik issued an arrest warrant for Dempsey.
He was eventually arrested on February 13, 2024 and taken into custody at the U.S. Marshals Service.
