CAMDEN COUNTY—A man convicted of sexually assaulting a minor in 1983 killed two women in Camden County a decade later, but the case remained unsolved until this month. On Wednesday, county prosecutors revealed the killer’s identity, determined through DNA evidence. The announcement closes two investigations that stalled for three decades, despite DNA evidence and prior connections between the perpetrator and his victims.
Francis T. Schooley, who died by suicide in December 2000 at the age of 40, has been linked through investigative genetic genealogy to the November 1993 murder of Marebeth Welsh, 24, of Woodlynne, and the April 1994 killing of Jennifer Persia, 16, of Magnolia. The announcement marks the first case publicly resolved by the Camden County Cold Case Unit since its establishment in January 2024.
Killer Had Prior Convictions, Prior Connections
The attacks were not random. Schooley had performed construction work at the home of Persia's stepfather and co-owned a mini race car sponsored by the stepfather’s auto shop. In Welsh's case, a sibling reported having seen Schooley and Welsh together before her death.
Welsh disappeared on November 14, 1993; her body was discovered the following day on a Camden sidewalk, strangled and sexually assaulted. Six months later, Persia was found dead in her Magnolia home, stabbed 20 or more times and strangled with a ligature. DNA evidence collected from both scenes in 1994 and 1995 was entered into the FBI's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), but no matches were generated.
Investigation Timeline Spans Four Decades
Schooley's 1983 conviction in Gloucester County occurred a decade before the murders. Authorities have not provided details regarding whether Schooley served prison time for the 1983 offense or how he was situated in 1993 to commit the murders.
The investigation remained dormant until February 2021, when authorities first submitted evidence to Parabon Nanolabs, a forensic genetic genealogy firm. That attempt ruled out potential suspects. In August 2025, the Camden County Cold Case Unit resubmitted the evidence to the New Jersey State Police, which coordinated advanced kinship testing. Analysts established that the probability of the match to Schooley was 4.8 million times more likely than an unrelated individual.
The more than four-year gap between attempts coincided with the unit's formation in January 2024 and advances in genetic genealogy technology.
Family Impacts
Welsh's daughter, Melody Beth Welsh, who was just 3 years old when her mother was killed, attended the announcement. "It was very unexpected," she said. "I'm grateful for all their hard work." Welsh's husband, Daniel Welsh, said the family "never expected to hear anything" after 32 years.
Persia's mother, Georgia MacNeir, died in 2009 without learning her daughter's killer's identity. Persia, a sophomore at Sterling High School in Somerdale who loved purple and race cars, was killed in her home, 16 miles from where Welsh's body was found.
In Magnolia, residents gathered Thursday at Albertson Park's gazebo, an informal memorial to Persia since the mid-1990s. Many wore purple ribbons. Sergeant Dennis Convery, who worked the Persia case for 10 years before the Cold Case Unit's formation, and who was present at the 1994 crime scene as a young officer, addressed Persia's father: "It's comforting to be able to go to Mark... it touches me."
Case Status
The cases are closed. Authorities said they are not aware of additional deaths linked to Schooley but remain open to reviewing cases from 1983 to 2000. The Camden County Cold Case Unit, led by Sgt. Convery and Detective Daniel Crawford, continues to review unsolved homicides dating to prior decades.
Related Articles
Sources
• Camden County Prosecutor's Office, "Advances in DNA Technology Link Suspect to Two Cold Case Homicides in Camden County" (April 9, 2026)
• Jim Walsh, Cherry Hill Courier-Post "DNA links deceased man to 2 South Jersey murders" (April 9, 2026)
• FOX 29 Philadelphia, "Camden County Cold Case Murders Solved" (April 9, 2026)
• Erica Bauwens, South Jersey Magazine, "Into Thin Air" (April 2016)
• The Sun Papers, "DNA Solves Two South Jersey Cold Case Murders After 30 Years" (April 10, 2026)
• Oxygen.com, "More Than 30 Years After Woman, Teen Are Brutally Killed, New Jersey Prosecutors Identify Their Suspected Killer" (April 9, 2026)