DNA helps DA identify man shot dead at Sacramento park in 1980. His family still seeks answers
William “Billy” Suttle led a nice, quiet life.
The 22-year-old San Francisco resident crossed the country to spend Christmas with his family. Kim Harrell fondly recalled her Uncle Billy staying past Christmas in New York City to celebrate her older sister’s birthday in the new year.
But those festivities in 1980 marked the last time Suttle’s family saw him.
The man, born in Chelsea, Manhattan, had vanished. Worried, Suttle’s family hired private investigators to dig into Suttle’s life in San Francisco. Nothing ever turned up, Harrell said. Suttle’s parents died believing he either disappeared or decided to never contact them again.
The family’s long-standing search for answers drew to a close this year when the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said Suttle was identified as a John Doe shot in January 1980 at a softball field.
“It was a very, very sad time, but we were all so happy that we found him and give him a proper (grave marker),” Harrell said. “That was very impactful to do that for him.”
But the case still remains unsolved 44 years later. Harrell’s family is seeking information from anyone who may know who killed Suttle.
Suttle was one of two men killed on Jan. 17, 1980, and the fifth victim of a homicide over four days in Sacramento, according to The Sacramento Bee’s previous reporting.
Where Suttle died is unclear.
The Sacramento Police Department said Suttle was killed at Sixth and X streets — at O’Neil Park in the Land Park neighborhood. The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office said he was killed at Sixth and W streets — at Southside Park, one block away from O’Neil Park and on the opposite side of Highway 50. Three Sacramento Bee stories published in 1980 said Suttle was killed in Southside Park; a 2012 Bee story on the cold case said he was killed at O’Neil Park.
An anonymous caller alerted Sacramento police just before 9:30 that night to a man either injured or dead, slumped against a softball field’s bleachers. The man was described as neatly dressed, according to The Bee’s previous reporting.
Suttle wore a blue denim cap with a short bill; a “LeChevron Collection” jacket; a long-sleeve, navy blue “Sigallo” sweater with a gray collar; prescription eyeglasses; and royal blue Adidas shoes with bright yellow stripes. A pack of Salem cigarettes and a lighter were next to him.
Detectives also retraced his steps to a Burger King inside an old Greyhound bus station, then at Seventh and L streets. Fast food workers remembered selling him a drink about 8 p.m., according to previous reporting.
He was shot in the left side of his head and had been dead apparently less than an hour when he was found at the park. He didn’t have an identification card with him.
The Sacramento Police Department did not respond to additional questions about the case. Anyone with additional information about what happened to Suttle may call the Police Department at 916-808-5471 or anonymously at 916-443-4357.
“This is the last thing I can do for him,” Harrell said, “because we have done everything that we could.”
‘LONGEST 15 SECONDS OF MY LIFE’
Harrell didn’t think twice about her DNA sample she shipped to Ancestry back in 2017.
She was cajoled by her mother-in-law to send the genetic material as an activity to do together.
But in October 2023, Harrell received a call from the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office requesting permission to test her DNA and compare it to DNA from another body. She agreed, and after many steps, a geneticist began to determine Harrell’s connection to the body.
That moment was the “longest 15 seconds of my life,” Harrell said.
With the confirmation of Suttle’s identity, Harrell said that chapter of her life could finally close. She lauded these “heroes” who brought closure for her family, Harrell said, while noting that only through genetic genealogy testing would her family have known what happened.
Harrell and her family also came to Sacramento and met with those who worked on Suttle’s case.
“It was the most empowering, inspiring, humbling experience that I may ever go through in my life,” Harrell said.
Lt. Kirk Campbell, an investigator with the District Attorney’s Office who works in genetic genealogy, said law enforcement determined Harrell was a living relative of Suttle and tested her DNA with her permission.
The testing would not be possible without funding from a Roads to Justice grant, Campbell said. The grant was created to help identity unknown human remains.
“The Harrells have been waiting so many years to figure out what happened to William,” said Campbell, who also worked on the investigative genetic genealogy used to identify the Golden State Killer.
In this case, investigators identified a Suttle ancestor and worked to find a living relative, Campbell said. He noted the case was resolved by a whole team, including employees of the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office and the Sacramento Police Department.
It was very empowering to finally identify Suttle in death and memorialize him, Harrell said. And it all happened because she opted to send her DNA and allow it to be tested.
“In a million years, I never thought it would lead me to Billy,” Harrell said.