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Donald Mars, age 73, of Bedford, was charged in connection with the death of Betty Lou Zukowski on Wednesday, Nov. 3, the Hampden County District Attorney's Office reports.
Betty Lou left her Chicopee home around 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 26, 1966 after getting a call from one of her friends. Later that night, Betty Lou's parents Stanley and Mildred Zukowski reported her missing after she did not come home.
Betty Lou's body was found beaten and covered in mud in the Westfield River next to Robinson State Park in West Springfield four days later, the office reports. She was buried on June 2, 1966, which would have been her 11th birthday.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the young girl's cause of death to be multiple blunt force injuries to her head, a skull fracture and terminal drowning, the DA's Office reports.
A week after her death, authorities released a composite sketch of who they believed was the last person to see Betty Lou in the mid-evening hours of May 26.
While the sketch circulated throughout local media and lead to several tips, investigators never identified Betty Lou's assailant and the case went cold. The case was later revived when investigators got new information that linked Mars to Betty Lou's murder.
As the investigation progressed, a grand jury returned their indictment to charge Mars with the first-degree murder of Betty Lou. He is being held without bail with his next scheduled court date set for May 1, 2023, the office reports.
“Sadly, Betty Lou’s parents are deceased and will not see Donald Mars answer for what we allege he did to their daughter," Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said.
"While this investigation will not bring Betty Lou back to her family, or grant her the opportunity to grow into a healthy adult that she and every child deserves, it is for them and for Betty Lou that we embark upon this journey of seeking justice."
Gulluni also praised the tireless efforts of all the investigators from Chicopee, West Springfield and Massachusetts State Police who helped bring Mars to justice.
“I cannot promise that we can solve every case, but I can and do promise that we will make every possible effort, and never forget," he said.
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