EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — A 58-year-old Seattle man whose arrest for a 1979 killing was prompted by a tip from a deck of playing cards has pleaded guilty to the murder.
A prison inmate reported the tip last year after reading about the killing Susan Schwarz on a playing card deck distributed by the Snohomish County Sheriff’s cold case team. The cards, first circulated in 2008, offer rewards for information that helps solve the cold cases. Schwarz was featured as the queen of hearts.
Schwarz was killed in her home near Lynnwood.
Detectives arrested Gregory Johnson last year after receiving the inmate’s tip and tracking down a witness to the murder.
Johnson pleaded guilty in Snohomish County Superior Court Friday. His sentencing is set for March 23.
