Marin County detectives ID Idaho man in 1973 cold case murder

SAN RAFAEL -- Investigators used DNA to track down and arrest a suspect this week in the 1973 sexual assault and killing of a woman at her home in Marin County.

Michael Eugene Mullen, 75, was arrested in Idaho on Wednesday in connection with the death of Nina "Nadine" Fischer in November 1973, according to the Marin County Sheriff's Office.

Fischer, a Swedish national, was sexually assaulted and killed at her home in unincorporated San Rafael home during the day, while her husband was away at work, officials said.

The case went cold due to a lack of investigative leads but, in 2021, the sheriff's office sent the case to the California Department of Justice's Familial Search Program for assistance. After several months, the state program provided a lead and an ensuing investigation over the next three years led detectives to identify Mullen as a suspect.

The sheriff's office, district attorney and authorities with Lemhi County, Idaho and the Idaho State Police took Mullen into custody.

He was booked into Lemhi County Jail pending court proceedings for his extradition to California.