Two sets of cigarette butts and bar glasses showed where Ann Woodward, the co-owner of Woody’s Tavern, sat next to someone around closing time on a Friday night in 1973.
On the morning of March 3, 1973, the 46-year-old mother was discovered robbed, assaulted and strangled on the floor of her bar by her husband. While police and sheriff’s officials at the time collected evidence and identified men who had been at the bar, they were never able to firmly identify her killer.
Moab Police Detective Jeremy Drexler took on the case after he joined the department and sent evidence, including cigarette butts and Woodward’s clothing, to be tested for DNA with advanced techniques at the state crime lab.
This morning, the Moab City Police Department was able to confidently identify Douglas K. Chudomelka, a local mine worker who had been at the bar that night, as the man who attacked and murdered Ann.
“I truly believe that had this case been presented to jury, he would have been found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt for the murder of Ann Woodward,” Grand County Attorney Stephen Stocks said at a press conference on June 28, 2024.
Chudomelka passed away in 2002 after working as a truck driver. Officials said they will enter Chudomelka’s DNA into the CODIS system after the case is officially closed, allowing law enforcement agencies across the country to check to see his involvement in any open cold cases.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more facts emerge.
