The county sheriff’s office announced that after nearly 43 years, a cold case has officially been solved.
The sheriff’s office says that on November 15, 1983, deputies responded to “a report of a suspicious van parked at a turnout along highway 1,” about 3 miles north of Hearst castle. Detectives found the body of Dorothy “Toby” Tate, who had been fatally shot. For years there were no known suspects, and the case went cold. Thanks to advancements in investigation techniques and forensics technology, cold case/unsolved homicide detective Clint Cole reopened this case, using advanced DNA genealogy analysis. Evidence at the scene was analyzed, identifying Steven Richard Hardy as a contributor.
Additional evidence, such as fingerprints recovered from a Coca-Cola can found at the scene, placed Charley Sneed at the crime scene as well. Both Hardy and Sneed were residents of Texas in 1983, but are now deceased. The sheriff’s office says the two men were involved in Tate’s murder beyond a reasonable doubt, and the case has now been officially closed as “exceptionally cleared.”
