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Shrewsbury Murder Victim's Husband Speaks Out After Man Acquitted In Cold Case

SHREWSBURY (CBS) -- The husband of a Shrewsbury woman who was murdered more than 40 years ago is speaking out after her accused killer was acquitted on Friday.

After just a few hours of deliberation, a jury found Lonzo Guthrie, 70, not guilty of the murder of 21-year-old Eileen Ferro.

Lonzo Guthrie
Lonzo Guthrie (WBZ-TV)

"What happened at this trial was a travesty of justice. I can't even say how bad it was," Tony Ferro said.

Shrewsbury Murder Victim's Husband
Tony Ferro (WBZ-TV)

In 1974, Eileen was found in her Shrewsbury home with her neck slit from ear-to-ear. 40 years later, new DNA technology linked a penny-sized dot of blood found at the crime scene to Guthrie.

Eileen Ferro
Eileen Ferro was murdered in Shrewsbury in 1974. (WBZ-TV)

The Georgia man's DNA was in a database from a previous rape conviction.

At trial, Judge Janet Kenton-Walker wouldn't allow testimony on that rape conviction. Tony Ferro maintains the verdict would have been different if she had.

"She didn't feel it was a similar enough crime, even though it occurred 54 days after my wife's murder," he said.

The jury found plausibility in the defense's argument that Guthrie could have cut himself while moving furniture into the Ferro home the day before the crime.

DNA evidence underneath Ferro's fingernails fit a profile matching Guthrie's DNA but did not rule out other individuals as well.

"There was enough doubt that just said to us, 'There's not enough to say guilty,'" juror Jim Vacca said.

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