A convicted killer serving a life sentence for killing a man in 1995 has confessed to strangling four women five years earlier, St. Louis County prosecutors announced Monday. Gary Muehlberg, a 73-year-old inmate at Potosi Correctional Center in southeast Missouri, confessed to the 1990 murders after O’Fallon police Detective Jodi Weber reopened the cold case and linked one of the murders to Muehlberg through DNA testing, they said the authorities. at a press conference. Prosecutors from Lincoln, St. Charles and St. Louis counties, where the victims’ bodies were found, announced four new first-degree murder charges against Muehlberg in the murders of Robin Meehan, Brenda Pruitt, Donna Reitmeier and Sandy Little. “It may have taken some time, but your family member has not been forgotten,” said the St. Louis County District Attorney. Charles, Tim Lohmar, to the relatives of the victims who attended the press conference. Lomar said all the killings were related to an area of south St. Louis known at the time for prostitution, but declined to elaborate. He said authorities have not determined a motive for the killings. Muehlberg was sentenced to life in prison in 1995 for the murder of Kenneth Atchison. Lohmar said Muehlberg killed Atchison in a dispute over money. The body of one of the victims was found in O’Fallon, prompting Weber to reopen the case in 2008. He began trying to find a DNA sample match. Finally, this spring, DNA evidence linked Muehlberg to Mihan. “Incredible!” Weber said when asked about her reaction to the DNA match. Prosecutors then began talking with Muehlberg and agreed not to seek the death penalty in exchange for his cooperation, which led to his eventual confession, Lohmar said. The St. The Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Muehlberg wrote a letter to Weber in August expressing remorse for the killings. “I have to live with my past — the good and the bad parts. No more running,” she wrote. St. Louis County District Attorney Wesley Bell said authorities are continuing to investigate whether Muelberg may have committed other crimes. “There is at least some evidence out there to suggest that,” Lincoln County District Attorney Mike Wood said. Dawn McIntosh, Donna Reitmeyer’s daughter, said she was thrilled to learn of the charges. “Because I don’t think she rested in peace knowing that she was still out there,” McIntosh said of her mother. “Well, I’m glad he got caught.” Saundra Kuehnle, now 75, recalled that her daughter Robyn had three dimples and a smile that lit up the room. Mihan was only 18 when she died. “I had chased the police and detectives forever, on and off, over the years,” Kuehnle said. “Long time to wait, but all in God’s time.”
