ANCHORAGE, Alaska — An Oregon man who was convicted in the 1978 killing of a 16-year-old girl in Alaska was sentenced Friday to 50 years in prison.
Donald McQuade, 67, told Superior Court Judge Andrew Peterson that he maintains his innocence and did not kill Shelley Connolly,. McQuade in December was convicted of murder in the death of Connolly, whose body was found near a highway pullout between Anchorage and Girdwood in 1978.genetic genealogy testing, which involves comparing a DNA profile to known profiles in genealogical databases to find people who share the same genetic information.
There was no indication McQuade knew Connolly prior to her death, assistant attorney general Erin McCarthy wrote in a sentencing memorandum.Douglas C-54 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, AlaskaPeterson acknowledged that any sentence would likely be a life sentence for McQuade. McQuade’s attorney, Benjamin Dresner, said he is in remission from advanced liver cancer. Dresner requested that McQuade receive the minimum sentence, or 20 years in prison.