Posted By Travis Uresk| Murder | Cold Case | Roosevelt, Ut. |
School Teacher Murdered
Fontella Galloway, a 65-year-old retired Roosevelt school teacher and former Vernal resident was the victim of criminal assault and murder last week in her home. She was found dead in the bedroom of her home Thursday at noon with her hands and feet tied to the bed.
A medical examination indicated that she had been tied to the bed, gagged and raped, and that she had been dead dead for more than 24 hours at the time she was discovered by a 14-year-old boy youth, Lynn Casto of Roosevelt. Suffocation was the cause of death, according to an autopsy.
The Casto youth went to the Galloway home to cut the lawn as he did regularly, when no one responded to his knock, he become curious about Miss Galloway’s absence. He noticed a screen lying on the ground and a window open about 12 inches. He looked into the room, saw the victim and reported it to his parents who notified the police.
A group of 30 to 40 officers from among over 150 officers who were attending a Utah Peace Officers conference on crime three blocks away rushed to the Galloway home, and several helped in the investigation of the crime.
The investigation was led by Sheriff George Merrett, Duchesne County and David Roberts, Roosevelt chief of police. A mobile crime laboratory from Salt Lake City arrived about 3 p.m. to fingerprint and collect evidence for analysis.
The body was taken to the University Hospital in Salt Lake City where an autopsy was made Friday determining the cause of death. The autopsy report indicated that Galloway had died sometime Tuesday night or Wednesday morning of last week. Her mouth had been cut or scratched and her throat was red, indicating something had been stuffed in her mouth, probably to smother her Sheriff Merrett indicated.
The victim’s body was partially clothed. After initial investigation, no bruises or other of a beating and apparently no body surface wounds were found. A number of items found at the scene were sent to the FBI laboratories in Washington for analysis. The Duchesne Sheriff’s office is checking out leads but at present has found “no definite suspects”.
Source: Uintah Basin Standard 1969
