Michael Gaff, 63, pleaded guilty for the murders of Judith Weaver and Susan Vesey. He was arrested in 2024.
EVERETT, Wash. — A man suspected of murdering two women in cold cases dating back to the 1980s pleaded guilty in Snohomish County Superior Court Thursday.
Michael Gaff was charged in May 2024 with first-degree murder in the murder of Judith “Judy” Weaver. In June 1984, 42-year-old Weaver was killed inside her home on Rucker Avenue. Officials said they initially responded to her home for a report of a fire and found her inside.
Court documents said police started looking into this case in July 2020. Eventually, a DNA sample from a wrist ligature found on Weaver matched a sample listed in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), a national database of DNA managed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The database found Gaff to be a likely match to samples from inside the victim, the fabric used to restrain her and pieces of clothing that had been cut from her body. However, police needed another sample from the suspect to confirm the match.
Everett police detective Susan Logothetti and other undercover officers posed Jan. 17, 2024 as representatives from a gum company to determine the favorite flavors of participants in a study. The detectives collected multiple pieces of gum they saw the suspect chew in front of them in a ramekin, which was sent to compare with the DNA recovered from the victim.
A forensic scientist found samples from the evidence “were consistent” with Gaff’s DNA from the gum.
Gaff was also charged on March 13 with the murder of Susan Vesey and plead guilty Thursday. It was DNA evidence from Weaver’s case that led Everett police to connect Gaff to the 1980 murder of 21-year-old Vesey. She was killed in her home while her two children slept nearby.
Gaff has been diagnosed as a sexual sadist and labeled a sexually violent predator by two separate juries. He previously served 21 years for breaking into a home and raping two teenage sisters. After that sentence, he was held at the McNeil Island facility for the state’s most dangerous sex offenders.
According to Everett police, Gaff admitted to both crimes in court Thursday and is scheduled to be sentenced at 1 p.m. on May 13.
KING 5’s Eric Wilkinson contributed to this report.
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