FROM WGRZ TV (Channel 2)

Spit on Sidewalk Leads Police to Suspect In 33 Year Old Murder

Posted by: Sally Durwald, Producer
Created: 2/1/2007 1:41:05 PM
Updated: 2/1/2007 6:19:51 PM

Galan Lloyd has wonderful memories of his wife Barbara.

"Barbara, she was a very loveable person. She loved life," said Lloyd, "She was the perfect mother with both of them, and she was a great wife. And that was taken from us."

33 years ago, Buffalo Police say Barbara Lloyd was murdered in her own home.
Joseph Lloyd was just three years old when it happened. His sister, Kimberly, was one and a half.

"We talk about it daily. It's something we didn't have growing up. Which made it difficult for us, without having a mother," said Joseph.
"The kids were sound asleep both of them...when it happened," said Galen Lloyd.

On March 15, 1974, Galan says he came home to find his wife dead.

"I went to our room, and I found my wife on the bed, and uh...she was murdered. She was stabbed."

Police say Barbara Lloyd had been stabbed 20 times. The report states she'd also been raped. Galan says police interviewed him for 23 hours, "because right away they thought it was me."

But Thursday, Police arrested 60 year old Leon "Rusty" Chatt. At the time of the murder, he was married to Barbara Lloyd's step-sister. After her death, Galan says, Chatt gave him and his children a place to stay.
"How can a person live all this time 33 years with this on their conscience?" he asked.

Three years ago, members of the Buffalo Police Department's cold case squad re-opened the case. They were looking for a DNA match. Three police sources tell us they followed Chatt for weeks. When he spit on the sidewalk they collected and tested it. Police say, his DNA matched DNA preserved from the crime.

"Thank God for DNA," said Joe.
"He will be brought to justice," said Barbara’s daughter, Kimberly Crowell.
"I never thought this day would come that I would see this day," said Galen, "It's about time, to put her to sleep, put her to rest."

Leon Chatt is charged with second degree murder.