Thanks to evidence preserved by the Three Rivers Police Department and Familial Genetic Genealogy (FGG) testing, authorities were able to use DNA and fingerprints collected at the scene of the 1988 murder of Cathy Swartz to bring charges against a suspect nearly 35 years after the murder occurred.
St. Joseph County Prosecutor David Marvin will be seeking open murder charges against Robert Waters, 53, of Beaufort, South Carolina after the Michigan State Police Grand Rapids Lab ruled out Waters’ siblings using the aforementioned DNA evidence, and matched Waters’ fingerprints to those found in Swartz’s apartment.
On December 2, 1988, Swartz, a 19-year-old Three Rivers resident and mother of one, was brutally murdered at her Riverside Townhouse apartment. After coming home from work that afternoon, Swartz’s boyfriend discovered blood throughout the apartment, and Cathy’s body on the floor of her bedroom upstairs. Cathy’s nine-month-old daughter Courtney was also found in a different room in her crib, seemingly unscathed.
In May 2022, Marvin was contacted by MSP Grand Rapids Lab DNA Director Joel Schultze to discuss submitting DNA evidence from the Swartz case for Forensic Genetic Genealogy testing. After determining the DNA samples were viable, the sample was submitted, and authorities reviewed the results in January of this year. Genealogy records determined the DNA collected at the scene was that of a son of John and Judith Waters.
The Waters’ youngest son Barry Waters was quickly ruled out after it was confirmed his DNA was already in CODIS (Combined DNA Index System). Sonne Waters, who lives north of Three Rivers, was also cleared after providing a DNA sample, which MSP’s Grand Rapids Lab determined was not from the suspect. The MSP Lab also ruled out John Waters of Mattawan but John’s DNA swab helped authorities determine that John was a 100 percent sibling of the suspect. Based on that information all but one sibling was ruled out, leaving Robert Waters as the lone suspect.
After securing legal representation, Waters submitted to a search warrant for his DNA and fingerprints. Waters’ fingerprints were scanned and emailed to Michigan State Police Det. Sgt. Tom Flowers at the Grand Rapids Lab, where Flowers and Det. Lt. Hackard confirmed Waters’ fingerprint matched that of the suspect fingerprint found on the telephone in Cathy Swartz’s bedroom.
According to Marvin, Waters was taken into custody on Sunday afternoon, April 30 in Beaufort, South Carolina. He has waived extradition back to St. Joseph County for prosecution, and St. Joseph County Undersheriff Jason Bingaman is working on arrangements to transport Waters from South Carolina to Southwest Michigan.
Alek Haak-Frost is executive editor and publisher of Watershed Voice. Beca Welty is a staff writer and columnist for Watershed Voice.
UPDATED: This story was updated at 10:10 a.m. Monday, May 1 with additional information from the county prosecutor, including details of Waters’ arrest, and the extradition process from South Carolina to Michigan. A copy of a press release from the Three Rivers Police Department was also added.
