Family, former student remember Rita Curran after her 52-year-old murder case is finally solved
By Carolyn Sistrand
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MILTON, Vermont (WPTZ) — The family of Rita Curran and her Milton community finally have answers after waiting nearly 52 years to find out who killed the beloved teacher.
Curran was only 24 years old and a teacher at Milton Elementary School when she was sexually assaulted and murdered inside her Burlington apartment at 17 Brookes Avenue on July 19, 1971.
Her case went cold for more than five decades until DNA testing brought it back to life. On Tuesday, the Burlington Police Department identified the killer as her upstairs neighbor William DeRoos, who they discovered died in 1986.
“We now have two generations in our family who never knew her,” Mary Campbell, Curran’s sister, said.
“I pray to my parents, and I pray to Rita. My wife Nancy tells me we will get through this, we are Curran strong,” Tom Curran, Rita’s brother, added.
Reaction came in from across the region and across the country.
“This is one of those cases where I regretted that I couldn’t find the killer with these very hard-working detectives but I’m so proud that the Burlington Police Department,” former Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo, said.
Jim Robar, a Milton resident, was in Curran’s second-grade class. He remembers his favorite teacher as being kind, generous, and beautiful from the inside out.
“We actually did a play the year that I had her, I forgot what the play was about, but I was a dancing clown holding a teddy bear,” Robar said. “She told me that I could keep the teddy bear and I still have the teddy bear I just can’t find it.”
Robar believes Curran had a passion for teaching and that’s why her impact has been felt in his life for five decades. He doesn’t want anyone to forget her name or her legacy.
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