Yale professor’s father charged in mother’s decades-old murder, says he ‘used me as bait’: report

Fox News Flash top headlines for December 19 Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on FoxNews.com. A Yale professor is speaking publicly for the first time since her 81-year-old father was arrested in connection with the 1982 killing of her mother, a case that remained unsolved for more than four decades. According to a Nov. 24 press release from the Foster City Police Department in California, Patrick Galvani was taken into custody in San Francisco and booked in the San Mateo County Jail on a murder charge tied to the death of his wife, Nancy Galvani. Alison Galvani, an epidemiology professor at Yale who was around 5 years old when her mother was killed, told the Los Angeles Times in a Dec. 3 interview that she is grateful to investigators and prosecutors for "pursuing justice for my mom." "With an extraordinary combination of compassion and resolve, they are working tirelessly to ensure that light is shone upon even the darkest of cases," she said in a text message to the outlet. NEW HAMPSHIRE COLD CASE SOLVED 50 YEARS AFTER FBI FORENSIC LAB REPORT LET KILLER ESCAPE JUSTICE The Foster City Police Department arrested Patrick Galvani in connection to a 1982 cold case for the murder of his wife, Nancy. (San Mateo County Sheriff's Office) Nancy’s body was found in August 1982 "floating inside a sleeping bag near the San Mateo Bridge" in Foster City, police said. Although the case was reviewed several times over the years, authorities said it "remained unsolved until recent developments allowed investigators to move forward." Officials did not specify what those developments were. Patrick had been considered a suspect early in the investigation, the L.A. Times reported, but charges were dropped due to a lack of witnesses and usable evidence. His attorney at the time said he had passed a polygraph test, and Patrick said in court filings that his wife was experiencing a "mental illness." Following Patrick's arrest, his current attorney, Douglas Horngrad, told the L.A. Times that his client is innocent. MANHATTAN DA TO RETRY PEDRO HERNANDEZ AFTER CONVICTION IN 1979 KIDNAPPING, KILLING WAS OVERTURNED Patrick Galvani was booked in the San Mateo County Jail. (San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office) "This murder charge was filed against him years ago and the case was dismissed for lack of evidence," Horngrad said. "As I understand it, the evidence is the same, and we believe the outcome will be the same. Mr. Galvani will be exonerated again." Prosecutors expressed a different view. San Mateo County District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe told the L.A. Times, "We think we have enough to convict and we have an ambitious prosecutor who can accomplish that." PENNSYLVANIA GIRL’S CHURCH MURDER SOLVED AFTER FAMILY CONFESSION HELPS IDENTIFY KILLER The moon rises over San Francisco Bay behind the San Mateo Bridge in Foster City, California, on Dec. 15, 2024. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images) At the time of Nancy's death, she and Patrick were separated. She had filed for divorce,...

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