Man sentenced to 20 years in prison in Oregon for death of his then-girlfriend in 1980s cold case

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GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — A man was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Oregon for the death of his then-girlfriend in a 1980s cold case that was recently reopened, authorities said Tuesday.

Marcus Sanfratello, 73, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in the death of Teresa Peroni and was sentenced to 20 years in prison with a minimum of 10 years served, the Oregon Attorney General’s office said in a statement.

Sanfratello's defense attorney, Elizabeth Baker, said her client had “strong motivation to resolve the matter” because of the diagnosis of a complex health issue.

“This resolution gives the family closure while allowing my client the treatment he urgently requires,” she said in a text message, adding that he will receive treatment while serving his sentence.

Peroni disappeared in 1983 at age 27 after attending a party in a rural area near the small town of Selma in southern Oregon. Authorities say she was last seen walking into the woods with Sanfratello, her boyfriend at the time. Authorities investigated, but there was not enough evidence to move forward with charges.

In 1997 a human skull was found on a nearby property and sent to the University of North Texas for examination, the Josephine County Sheriff's Office said last year.

The sheriff's office reopened the case in 2024, with investigators collecting new DNA evidence and using modern forensic testing. With the additional DNA, experts at the university were able to confirm that the skull was Peroni’s.

Sanfratello was taken into custody last year in Chico, California, before being extradited to Oregon, where he was initially indicted on a higher charge of second-degree murder.

“For Teresa Peroni’s family, this has been a 43-year wait for an answer they never should have had to wait for,” Oregon Attorney General Rayfield said in a statement. “Cases like this remind us of why we don’t give up."