Man confesses to killing woman in 1975, but he won’t be charged, Maryland police say
A 49-year-old murder mystery came to a surprising end, when detectives “recovered lost evidence” that led them directly to her accused killer, according to investigators in Maryland.
Charles William Davis Jr. confessed to killing 20-year-old Roseann Sturtz after meeting her at a bar in August 1975, the Howard County Police Department said March 11 in a news release.
However, he was not charged in the case.
Davis has been in prison since 1978, “serving three life sentences for other murders,” and he confessed to killing Sturtz only after being granted immunity, police said.
“In 2024, cold case detectives unearthed a 1981 audio recording of HCPD detectives interviewing Davis in which he provided details of Sturtz’s murder. They also recovered a letter from the state’s attorney ... giving Davis full immunity from prosecution,” police officials said.
“Davis was not able to positively identify Sturtz (who went by Ann) in a photo shown to him during the 1981 interview, and the case remained open. ... Late last year, cold case detective Cpl. Wade Zufall re-interviewed Davis Jr., showing him a different photo of Sturtz that more closely resembled her at the time of her murder.”
Davis, 77, recognized the woman in the photo as one of his victims, officials said.
Sturtz was reported missing Aug. 24, 1975, and her body was found four months later in Columbia, about a 20-mile drive southwest from Baltimore, police said.
“Detectives believe that Davis met Sturtz at a Howard County bar the night of August 24, then assaulted her and dumped her body in the woods,” officials said.
“The investigation revealed she had sustained trauma to her body which resulted in her death.”
Sturtz has four sisters who learned of Davis’ confession in a December meeting with Zufall, officials said.
This story was originally published March 13, 2025 at 12:22 PM with the headline "Man confesses to killing woman in 1975, but he won’t be charged, Maryland police say."