State police identify serial killer responsible for 2 Washington County cold case murders

Serial Killer Identified in Cold Cases DNA evidence has finally helped bring answers to the two cold cases for local families, identifying James Richard Clark Sr. (far right) as the suspect. More than five decades ago, Susan Rush (left) was 21, and Brenda Ritter (right) was 18. Both were raped and murdered. (Pennsylvania State Police)

By Jess Shannon

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Pa. — Pennsylvania State Police have identified a serial killer responsible for two murders in Washington County in the 1970s, and authorities say there could be more victims.

DNA evidence has finally helped bring answers to the two cold cases for local families, identifying James Richard Clark Sr. as the suspect. Clark, however, died on July 17, 2023, at the age of 66.

Serial Killer Identified in Cold Case Murders State Police have identified a serial killer responsible for two murders in Washington County in the 1970s. Investigators used advances in DNA technology to identify James Clark, who was 19 and 20 at the time of the murders. Clark died in 2023. (Pennsylvania State Police)

More than five decades ago, Susan Rush was 21, and Brenda Ritter was 18. Both were raped and murdered.

Rush, a resident of Washington, disappeared in 1976 after leaving a local shopping mall. She was scheduled to meet family members at a church for a Thanksgiving Eve dinner but never arrived at the services or her home. Her family reported her missing to police. On Nov. 25, her brother found her locked car parked along North Avenue in Washington with the driver’s side window open one inch. Rush was found dead inside the vehicle. Investigators determined she had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Early inquiries produced multiple leads but yielded no results.

Six months after Rush was killed, a second homicide occurred in the county. Ritter was last seen leaving her boyfriend’s home in Chartiers Township on May 18, 1977. The following morning, her abandoned vehicle was located along Rankin Road in South Strabane Township. A Pennsylvania State Police helicopter located her body on a hillside about three-quarters of a mile from her car, and her clothing was found approximately 50 feet away. Investigators confirmed Ritter was also sexually assaulted and strangled to death. Early leads in her case similarly yielded no results.

Serial Killer Identified in Cold Case Murders More than five decades ago, Susan Rush (left) was 21, and Brenda Ritter (right) was 18. Both were raped and murdered, and their cases were never solved until now. DNA evidence has helped bring answers to the two cold cases, identifying James Richard Clark Sr. as the suspect. (Pennsylvania State Police)

Investigators submitted evidence from the Ritter homicide to a crime lab in late 2008 to create an offender profile, but the profile produced no matches until state police received grant funding for cold-case DNA testing in May 2022 and completed further testing in May 2025.

State police believe there could be more victims and are asking anyone with information to come forward.

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