SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash. — The suspect in a 40-year-old cold case murder appeared before a Spokane County judge for the first time Friday.
Tracy Pruitt is accused of killing Spokane businessman Archie Rutherford at his South Hill home in 1982. Court documents described Archie's murder as "very gruesome and violent." His wife discovered his body after she returned home from a trip.
An autopsy determined Archie suffered multiple injuries including a stab wound to his neck.
For 40 years, investigators didn't have any strong leads to a murder suspect. That's until they ran a DNA test in 2022. A match report confirmed the blood found in the kitchen at the crime scene was the suspect's DNA. Court documents also say one set of fingerprints found on the victim's stolen Honda matched the suspect's.
Police arrested Pruitt in Los Angeles in November 2022. He was extradited from California and booked into Spokane County Jail Thursday night. He is charged with aggravated murder and murder in the first degree.
Pruitt previously served a 27-year prison sentence for rape and robbery charges in Ohio. He was living in L.A. at the time of his arrest in November.
The suspect made his first appearance in Spokane on Friday afternoon. The judge kept Pruitt's bond at $1M.
The suspect is 62 years old and would have been 22 years old at the time of Archie Rutherford's death. Investigators do not believe the two knew each other.
Pruitt is expected to enter a guilty or not guilty plea in March.
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