Detective: Gum Ruse Killer May Have More Victims

An undercover “gum taste test” cracked two murders that went unsolved for about 40 years. Now a detective says the killer may have more victims.

Mitchell Gaff was sentenced May 13 to a minimum of 50 years and up to life in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in Everett, Washington. His victims were Susan Vesey, 21, a married mother of two killed in 1980, and Judith “Judy” Weaver, 42, a mother killed in her apartment in June 1984. Court documents say a fire was set in Weaver’s apartment to destroy evidence.

The case was reopened in 2020 to retest evidence with updated DNA technology. In 2023, a profile matched Gaff in a national DNA database, where he was already listed for a 1984 rape conviction. To confirm the match, undercover detectives posed as a gum company running a flavor test in January 2024. Gaff spat his gum into a dish, and the DNA matched evidence from Weaver’s case. Months later, DNA from a cord cut from Vesey’s body tied him to her death too.

Gaff’s record goes back decades. In 1984, while on probation for an earlier assault on a woman, he attacked two teenage sisters at knifepoint. After prison, the state civilly committed him as a sexually violent predator, and he admitted to six rapes during evaluations. A judge ended that commitment in 2018, and Gaff later lived in Olympia under an alias.

“I am sorry, not because I was caught, but the consequences,” Gaff said at sentencing. His attorney declined to comment.

Everett police are now reviewing other unsolved homicides, sexual assaults and cold cases for possible links to Gaff, a detective told Fox News Digital. “This is ongoing,” she said. No additional victims have been publicly identified.