Idaho man taken into custody in connection with 51-year-old cold case murder of woman in California

In Idaho, Michael Eugene Mullen, 75, has been arrested in connection with the shooting death of Nina “Nadine” Fischer in California in 1973. DNA evidence led to Mullen being identified as a suspect in the killing of Fischer, who was found dead in her home in San Rafael. Fischer, a Swedish national, was preparing to move back to Sweden with her husband and young daughter when she was sexually assaulted and shot three times. Her 2-year-old child was found unharmed in another room. The case went cold after initial investigations yielded no leads, but in 2021, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office sent the case to the California Department of Justice’s Familial Search Program. This program compares DNA from crime scenes to a DNA database to find potential suspects’ relatives. After several months of investigation, Mullen was identified as the suspect in Fischer’s murder. The Marin County District Attorney’s office and sheriff’s office, along with Idaho law enforcement agencies, worked to arrest Mullen in Salmon, Idaho. He is currently being held in jail awaiting extradition to California to face charges of murder. Mullen’s defense attorney, Dan Brown, has not commented on the case.

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