Wife found man dead in their home 40 years ago, WA cops say. An arrest was just made

A man was found dead in his Washington home in 1982, police said.

But no arrests were made until 40 years later.

Tracy Sabron Pruitt, 62, was arrested on Oct. 27 in Los Angeles and faces a first-degree murder charge in the death of Archie Rutherford, the Spokane Police Department said.

Rutherford’s wife found him dead in their home on May 25, 1982, with stab wounds, a skull fracture and an electrical cord wrapped around his neck, police said.

Though police investigated the murder, they never made an arrest.

Then investigators working the cold case decades later “developed probable cause” to arrest Pruitt.

Authorities traveled to California and arrested him, police said.

He is awaiting extradition to Washington, which could take months, police said.

Before Pruitt’s arrest this year, he had been convicted on rape and robbery charges in Ohio and was in prison for 27 years.

Pruitt was arrested the same year Rutherford was killed, police said.

This story was originally published November 10, 2022 at 11:15 AM with the headline "Wife found man dead in their home 40 years ago, WA cops say. An arrest was just made."

Helena Wegner

McClatchy DC

Helena Wegner is a McClatchy National Real-Time Reporter covering the state of Washington and the western region. She’s a journalism graduate from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She’s based in Phoenix.