Oregon man John Michael Irmer confesses to 1979 cold case murder of Susan Marcia Rose who was bludgeoned to death with a hammer inside abandoned Boston apartment building

A 68-year-old Oregon man has confessed to the 1979 cold case murder of Susan Marcia Rose, a 24-year-old who was bludgeoned to death with a hammer inside an abandoned building in Boston the night before Halloween. 

John Michael Irmer walked into an FBI office in Portland last month and told agents he wanted to confess to several murders. He couldn’t remember Rose’s name, he said, but described details of the grisly crime in an abandoned Back Bay building. 

Irmer, who was 25 at the time of the killing, described meeting flame-haired Rose at an ice rink then going to ‘explore’ the building with her. 

John Michael Irmer walked into an FBI office in Portland last month and told agents he wanted to confess to several murders. He hid behind a wall yesterday as he was arraigned for murder and rape in a Boston courtroom 

Susan Marcia Rose, 24, was bludgeoned to death in an abandoned apartment building in Boston in October 1979. Her murder remained unsolved until Irmer’s confession last month

Once inside, he raped her, then struck her with a hammer, he said, killing her instantly. 

DNA evidence corroborated his confession. On Monday, he was arraigned in a courtroom in Boston and held without bail. 

Investigators continue to probe his claim that Rose was not his only victim. He previously served 30 years in prison for another murder in California. 

Irmer hid from news cameras as he was arraigned in Boston yesterday, standing behind a wall with only one side of his face visible. 

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The Back Bay building where Rose was murdered in 1979

In 1983, Irmer was convicted of the armed robbery and murder of a drug dealer who was killed with a hammer and a firearm. 

He had been free for 10 years when he walked into the FBI office last month, something his attorney claims should be taken into consideration in his treatment in court.  

The case had been cold for decades after the 1981 acquittal of another man who had been charged with the murder. 

In 2005, investigators compared DNA samples found at the scene to those of several persons of interest, but Irmer was not one of them. 

He appears to have traveled to the West Coast shortly after the crime. 

Rose’s body was found during renovation of the Back Bay apartment building. 

There was blood spatter and brain matter found on the stairs of the building, and she had been struck multiple times in the head. 

Announcing his arraignment, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden said: ‘Nearly 44 years after losing her at such a young age, the family and friends of Susan Marcia Rose will finally have some answers. 

‘This was a brutal, ice-blooded murder made worse by the fact that a person was charged and tried — and fortunately, found not guilty — while the real murderer remained silent until now.’ 

Irmer will return to court on October 17.