For 45 years the mystery of who killed Clifford and Linda Bernhardt, both just 24 years old, has haunted their families and citizens of Billings, but none more so than law enforcement officers, who never gave up trying to solve the mystery.
At a press conference on Monday morning, in the county commissioners’ conference room, Sheriff Mike Linder reported that through the efforts of many forensic experts, dedicated law enforcement officers, some of whom are now retired and working as volunteers, and many other people — the murderer has been identified as Cecil Stan Caldwell. Caldwell died at age 59 in 2003, after working as an employee for the City of Billings Sanitation Department, for most of his life.
At the time of the murders, however, on November 7, 1973, Caldwell was a co-worker of Linda’s at Ryan Wholesale Grocers. Identifying Caldwell, who murdered the young couple in their home at 1116 Dorothy Lane, was made possible through DNA technology and genealogy data, which was also used to exclude dozens of other suspects.
News about solving the case was powerful news, as evidenced, during the press conference, by emotions that lingered just below the surface with the occasional welling-up of tears among many, including hardened law enforcement officers. The purpose of the press conference had been held under tight wraps by the Sheriff’s Department. The families of Linda (Reich) and Clifford had only been informed about who the murderer was earlier Monday morning, and they sat in a group at the press conference, holding hands, occasionally dabbing away tears as they struggled to come to terms with the long-awaited outcome.
Sheriff Linder said that the family asked for privacy but offered a statement from them which he read, which thanked those who had worked so diligently to solve the case.
The Sheriff, too, thanked those who had dedicated so much time and effort over the years, many of whom are part of a Cold Case unit that was assembled in 2012 within his department. Others included members of the state crime lab and Attorney General Tim Fox who has focused efforts of his agency on cold cases in Montana. Attorney General Fox, County Attorney Scott Twito, Chief of Police Rich St. Johns and Yellowstone County Commissioners were all present at the press conference.
Fox said, “It’s a good day. It’s a somber day, as we celebrate some closure.”
The Sheriff credited the thoroughness with which crime scene investigators gathered evidence for the ability to close the case. Because of their thoroughness and understanding that anything could be important, the case was able to be solved by technology that was not available at the time. DNA technology has reached a point at which it is possible to determine physical characteristics of an individual such as gender, hair color, eye color, ethnicity, etc. Keeping on top of every advancement in the technology, was Vince Wallis, Captain of Detective.
The DNA evidence not only allowed investigators to eliminate as many as 80 other suspects, but helped to generate a composite drawing that turned out to be remarkably close to a year book photo of Caldwell.
In 2015, the sheriff’s department engaged Parabon NanoLabs to analyze the DNA by comparing it to genetic samples available through a public genealogy database. Cece Moore of Parabon NanoLabs, who did the research, was presented at the press conference via video. She explained the process which was described as reverse engineering the killer’s family tree reaching back as far as 1832. She narrowed the search to two possible individuals, either Cecil Caldwell or his brother who lives in another state.
Further testing was able to eliminate the living individual, leaving only Cecil Caldwell as the murderer. Cecil Caldwell also fit other aspects of their profile, said Linder, who marveled that the technicians were able to achieve so much using only the DNA information. They were provided with no other information, he said. When they asked whether the name Caldwell had any significance, local investigators were amazed.
Linda was probably the “target”, said the Sheriff, but that is just “feelings we have.” Beyond the basic facts of the case, “everything else is just speculation. “There is no way to know many of the details of the murder or the motivation.
“There are a lot of theories,” said Wallis, “but we will probably never know.”
Investigators sifted through hundreds of potential suspects including everyone within the couple’s social circles and co-workers. Cliff Bernhardt was employed at Quality Concrete and was a decorated veteran of the Vietnam and Cambodia conflicts. He and Linda were Senior High School sweethearts and married in 1969.
Along the length of the press conference room, piled high in the middle of a long table were stacks and stacks of files and documents that were compiled over the decades of the investigation. Scott Goodwin, a special services officer, said that the files included 36,000 pages, reflecting 894 contacts made with individuals in interviews and gathering information, including 118 employees at Ryan’s and 67 at Quality Concrete. Later investigation involved tracking people down throughout the country, and finding that many were deceased.
One of the individuals interviewed had included Caldwell, but no one could recall anything specific about him. Sheriff Linder pointed out that Caldwell had a “spotless” record up until the time of the murders, and he did not have a criminal record for anything following the murders.
Linda’s mother discovered the bodies of Linda and Cliff, after being informed that her daughter had not shown up for work. The bodies were in separate bedrooms and were determined to have suffered blows to the head and had signs of strangulation. There was evidence that Linda had been sexually assaulted. It also appeared that both had been bound at some point but investigators did not find what was used to bind them.
There was evidence that the murderer was someone known to them, in that there were place settings for a meal for three in the home. The home was very cold, as windows were opened as though the murderer wanted to confuse the time of death.
