Nancy Daugherty's murder: 5 key details about the case

The unsolved murder of Nancy Daugherty in July 1986 was solved after more than three decades using DNA evidence collected from the crime scene. She was found beaten, r*ped, and strangled to death in her Chisholm, Minnesota, home.

A man from Chisholm named Michael Carbo Jr. was arrested after 34 years in 2020 when investigators, with the aid of Parabon Nanolabs, utilized genetic genealogy and DNA testing to link him to the crime. At the time of the murder, he was 18 years old and attended school with the victim's children.

Carbo was charged with two counts of first-degree murder while committing s*xual assault in Daugherty's case. He was convicted in August 2022, receiving a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 17 years.

An all-new episode of ID's On the Case With Paula Zahn will further examine Nancy Daugherty's slaying this Wednesday, July 19. The episode, titled Righting a Wrong, will air on the channel at 10 pm ET.

The official synopsis says:

"A look at a witness account that could lead a small-town police department in the wrong direction as it tries to solve the murder of a friend."

---

Nancy Daugherty's murder: A brutal crime, decades-long investigation, and an unexpected killer, among other details

1) Daughtery was found dead during a welfare check

According to Law and Crime, on the afternoon of July 16, 1986, 38-year-old Nancy Daugherty's body was found in bed at her Chisholm, Minnesota, home by police during a welfare check requested by her friend. The friend in question showed up at her doorstep to help her move furniture for her big move to the Twin Cities the following day. But when she failed to answer her door or the phone, the person, along with a concerned neighbor, requested a check from the authorities.

---

2) She had been assaulted and manually strangled after a struggle

Nancy Daugherty had been brutally beaten, s*xually assaulted, and manually strangled to death. Evidence found inside and outside the house suggested that a struggle took place between her and the killer before she was murdered. Authorities also collected physical evidence from the scene of the crime, which included the victim's fingernail clippings and DNA from her r*pe kit.

---

3) Nancy Daugherty was last seen alive just after midnight

An Oxygen report mentioned that the night before the killing, Daugherty was out drinking with a friend, who later dropped her off at home. She was last seen alive just after midnight. The following day, the same friend arrived at her house and, after failing to get in touch with her, contacted Chisholm police to conduct a welfare check. Witnesses from the neighborhood even reported hearing a woman's screams sometime around 3:30 in the early morning hours that day.

---

4) Decades later, investigators made a breakthrough using DNA

According to NBC News, investigators used the DNA collected from the crime scene over the years to locate Nancy Daugherty's killer, but to no avail. Then, 34 years later, in 2020, Minnesota's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and Chisholm police, aided by the Parabon Nanolabs, used genetic genealogy and DNA testing to identify a suspect, 52-year-old Michael Carbo Jr. His DNA sample matched the one from the scene.

---

5) Michael Carbo Jr. attended school with Daugherty's children

The suspect, Michael Carbo Jr., was 18 years old when he r*ped and murdered Nancy Daugherty in July 1986. Reports state that at the time, he attended school with her children. Carbo was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder while committing criminal s*xual conduct. Two years later, he was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison with parole after 17 years.

The official website of the Minnesota Department of Corrections shows that Michael Carbo Jr. is still incarcerated at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Rush City.

---

On the Case With Paula Zahn is set to chronicle Daugherty's case this Wednesday on Investigation Discovery.