Cold Cases are not Forgotten

■ MIRAMAR POLICE

COLD CASES ARE NOT FORGOTTEN

The oldest cold case solved in Miramar history recently made national headlines. Evelyn Marie Fisher-Bamforth was raped and murdered on January 22, 1980, in her own home. She was 32 years old. Evelyn’s horrific murder was one that the Miramar Police Department, and her widower John Bamforth, could never forget.

“I cried for two days, just couldn’t stop. Then I began drinking heavily and turned to drugs. I think her death affected me profoundly… It changed my whole character… I had a lot of guilt at the time because I wasn’t home when I should have been,” said Bamforth.

Throughout the last four decades, Evelyn’s case was looked at time and time again. This past year, homicide Detective Jonathan Zeller decided to reopen the case yet again.

The files showed a call received by the department in 1980, months after the murder, cast a spotlight on an unfamiliar face. Law enforcement in Volusia County contacted the Miramar Police Department for assistance in a rape and attempted murder in their jurisdiction. Their suspect, Ronald Eugene Richards, lived in Miramar. The similarities between the Volusia County case and Evelyn’s case could not be denied. Richards, who was unknown to the Bamforth family, lived only 12 homes away from them. Unfortunately, in 1980 DNA profiling forensics did not exist and detectives had no evidence tying Richards to the crime.

That all changed this year. Evidence stored for more than four decades was retested with the latest DNA technology. The results yielded a one in five-anda-half billion match to Ronald Eugene Richards. On November 30, 2022, a grand jury indicted him for sexual battery and murder, bringing us one step closer to justice for Evelyn.

John Bamforth, now 77 years old, remembers his wife as a calm and patient person, with a big smile. He has never gotten over her murder, “You never have closure, as you can tell. But certainly, justice for Evelyn is the most important thing,” an emotional Bamforth said.

The next step is to extradite Richards, who is currently incarcerated for an unrelated crime in Ohio, to Broward County.

“What’s most important is that even though nearly 43 years have passed, we did not let the person who did this get away with it. He will be held accountable.” Detective Zeller added, “It doesn’t matter how long ago the crime occurred, we are committed to investigating every cold case to see if new techniques can solve what was not possible to solve before. We will continue to fight to get justice for our victims.”

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