American man of Michigan arrested for 1988 murder

By Edward Era Barbacena 

An arrest has been made in a 35-year-old murder in Three Rivers.

According to the Three Rivers Police Department, Robert Waters was arrested for open murder on Sunday in the death of Cathy Swartz on Dec. 2, 1988.

Swartz was killed inside her apartment while her 9-month-old daughter was in the next room, the police department said. An investigation showed that she fought her attacker but was stabbed several times, beaten and strangled.

Fingerprints, blood and a footprint believed to belong to the killer were found at the scene.

The police department said thousands of people were interviewed, and fingerprints and footprints were collected, but no one matched the evidence found at the scene.

With the advancements of DNA technology in the 2000s, officers entered the DNA into a national crime database, hoping to find a match. Years went by without a hit.

The police department said they made it a priority in 2022 to bring justice to her family and solve the cold case. Officers partnered with the Michigan State Police to use Forensic Genetic Genealogy which narrowed the suspect pool to a single family. Investigators then interviewed, fingerprinted and DNA tested the family members until Waters, who was in South Carolina, was identified as the suspect.

Officers traveled to Beaufort, South Carolina, to interview Waters and were able to put together enough probable cause to arrest him for open murder.

St. Joseph County Prosecutor David Marvin said Waters waived extradition back to the county. Undersheriff Jason Bingaman is working to transport him back to the state.

“While nothing can replace the loss of Cathy Swartz and the impact this senseless tragedy has had, we hope the identification and arrest of a suspect will bring some long-awaited closure to her family and friend,” the police department said in a release.