1962 Oberlin murder remains unsolved after yearlong hunt for new leads

OBERLIN — Small steps have been made toward solving the murder of Windom Durham as its 59th anniversary nears, but investigators also have run into new dead ends. Durham, 77, was bound, gagged and severely beaten in his Lincoln Street home Nov. 2, 1962. After assailants robbed his home, they left him to suffocate to death. Experts at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation's Cold Case Unit have spent the past year combing over the evidence and using new technology to find the killer's identity. "We haven't given up. We're still working it," Officer Bashshar Wiley of the Oberlin Police Department said in an interview Thursday. Last year, he found the original evidence box in storage at the police station. It hadn't been touched since the 1960s, when leads ran dry. In October 2020, state investigators agreed to conduct a case and evidence review. "Several items of investigative interest were identified for further consideration," said Special Agent Lindsay Mussell of the Cold Case Unit. Hard copy case files have been digitized for preservation, and Durham's birthdate was discovered by cross-referencing archived information. It was previously unknown because he was born in the late 1800s, before birth certificates came into use. Family trees were created to try to track down any of Durham's living relatives. Durham and his wife did not have any children, and both his wife and brother preceded him in death. He was the last member of the Durham family and is buried in Oberlin in an unmarked plot. BCI experts examined fingerprints again — with no helpful hits — and its lab tested DNA evidence. "Back in the '60s, there wasn't any DNA testing," Wiley said. "That wasn't a thing. It was all fingerprints." A gun was stolen from Durham's home during the murder. Investigators were able to find a paperwork trail and serial number and trace it to the last owner, who died in the 1990s. "Unfortunately, with a case like this, so much time has passed. It's really going to take somebody coming forward," Wiley said. He is hoping against hope tips will provide the break needed to finally solve Durham's murder. It doesn't have to be an eyewitness — family rumors, gossip or innuendo, even faint memories of the case being mentioned at the dinner table 50 years ago could provide a valuable clue, Wiley said. The case now rests in the public's hands, he said. Members of the Lorain County Sheriff's Office, Cleveland Police Department and Bureau of Criminal Investigation who helped process the crime scene back in 1962, administer polygraph tests, conduct interviews and analyze fingerprints are all gone. Yet there is no statute of limitations on bringing murder charges in Ohio. "We're not treating this any differently because this is a 59-year-old case," Wiley said. "If someone were to come forward, we'd treat it like it happened yesterday. We'd take it very seriously." Prosecution would be another matter. Taking the cold case to a conviction would be tremendously difficult because the original investigators are no longer alive to testify. Wiley said Oberlin, especially the once tight-knit residents of Lincoln Street, deserves to know what happened to Durham. Any information can be reported to Wiley at (440) 774-1061 or bwiley@oberlinpd.com. Tips can also be left at tinyurl.com/DurhamMurder. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.