Washington Man Gets 50 Years To Life For Two 1980s Cold-Case Murders
Mitchell Gaff, 74, was sentenced to 50 years to life in Everett, Washington, in mid-May 2026 after pleading guilty to two cold-case murders from 1980 and 1984.[1]
Everett detectives obtained Gaff's DNA by posing as gum researchers at his home and sending his chewed gum for analysis, and the federal CODIS database tied him to Judith Weaver's 1984 killing.[1] Gaff was arrested in May 2024 and later charged in the 1980 murder of 21-year-old Susan Vesey; at sentencing he faced a 1979 attack survivor and family members of both homicide victims.[1]
Judith Weaver was killed in 1984 and Susan Vesey was killed in 1980, and investigators say earlier evidence in both cases produced no DNA matches until the gum sample entered the federal database and linked to Gaff.[1]
Gaff pleaded guilty before the sentence was imposed, ending decades of uncertainty for the victims' families and bringing a long-unsolved pair of crimes to legal closure.[1]
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📌 Key Facts
- Mitchell Gaff, 74, was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison in Everett, Washington, in mid-May 2026 after pleading guilty to two murders from 1980 and 1984.
- Everett Police detectives obtained Gaff’s DNA by posing as gum researchers at his home and sending his chewed gum for analysis through the federal CODIS database, which tied him to Judith Weaver’s 1984 killing.
- Gaff was arrested in May 2024, later charged in the 1980 murder of 21‑year‑old Susan Vesey, and faced in court both a 1979 attack survivor and family members of the two homicide victims at sentencing.
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