DNA helped solve 27-year-old Aurora murder, police say

After 27 years of hitting brick walls in their investigation of a murder, Aurora police said Friday it was a fresh DNA sample that helped them finally arrest a suspect.

Larry J. Galloway, 46, of the 700 block of Meadowsedge Lane, Aurora, now faces two counts of first-degree murder in the 1981 death of 20-year-old Cheryl Lynn Hall.

Aurora police arrested Galloway late Thursday at the Ogilvie Transportation Center in Chicago, where he worked as a train conductor.

At 6 p.m. on Sept. 9, 1981, Hall's husband, Nicholas, discovered her partially clothed body hanging by her neck from a doorknob in a second-floor bedroom of her home in the 1600 block of Shamrock Court.

Police said she had been strangled with a cord from a clothing iron, but not sexually assaulted.

Police said Hall had the day off from her job at a now-closed Aurora bank. About 2 p.m. that afternoon, her husband stopped by so the two could have lunch. After he left, neighbors reported hearing noises from their apartment, although no one was alarmed enough to call police.

Since the early days of the investigation, Aurora police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said, investigators believed Galloway, a co-worker of Nicholas Hall at the time, had information about the crime, but they lacked evidence.

"We've had several detectives look this case over in the last 27 years. They would just go back and look at it with a fresh set of eyes and conduct interviews on anyone that could possibly have any knowledge about the case," Ferrelli said. "They just hit a bunch of brick walls. In January a new team of detectives put Galloway under surveillance and this thing fell into place."

Undercover officers followed Galloway into a restaurant on Aurora's far west side and watched him eat his meal.

"(Galloway) has no idea he's being watched the entire time he's eating," Ferrelli said. "When he's done and gets up to leave, they go in the garbage and get the utensils he was eating with. That's how they got the DNA they needed."

Police then were able to match Galloway's DNA to some of the original evidence found at the crime scene, prompting Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti to authorize the charges.

"There were a lot of resources spent on this case and in the end it really was science, teamed up with some outstanding police work, that gave us the break in the case," Ferrelli said. "Any time you can team those two factors and bring someone to justice, and give a family some closure, even after 27 years, that's what police work is all about."

Galloway's bond was set Friday morning at $3 million in Aurora Branch Court. His next court date is scheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 13 at the Kane County Judicial Center in St. Charles.