Judge hears evidence in '76 rape case

By Merrill Balassone
mbalassone@modbee.com

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It's been more than three decades since the crime, but a judge began hearing evidence Tuesday in Stanislaus County Superior Court on whether a 58-year-old man should face trial in the rape and murder of an 81-year-old woman in 1976.

It was one of the county's oldest cold cases, but a DNA search of nearly 980,000 felons in January 2008 found a match — Buddy Ray Gary, a 10-time convicted felon whose DNA had been submitted to the state's database of felony offenders after his last conviction, a prosecutor said.

Deputy District Attorney Annette Rees said semen was found in a rug in Florence Millard's house and was tested against Gary's DNA in January. It was a match.

(Stanilaus County Jail) - Buddy Ray Gary

"The semen stain from the rug is the same as Buddy Ray Gary's genetic profile," Rees said.

Testimony in the preliminary hearing continues Friday.

Millard died in a hospital 12 days after she was brutally attacked and raped inside her west Modesto home.

The investigation into her death sat cold with hardly any leads and no suspects for more than three decades. That changed in January, when the DNA evidence led police to Gary, a Modesto man convicted of rape twice before who is serving 25 years to life in prison for felony assault, authorities said.

About 1 a.m. Aug. 30, 1976, Millard was alone when an intruder tore open a screen door and entered her home, according to a story published in The Bee on Sept. 12, 1976.

Millard spoke to police about the attack, but the interviews were cut short because of the severity of her injuries. She told police she confronted the intruder, who hit her in the face with his fist and knocked her to the ground.

The intruder then began ransacking her dressers. She followed him down the hallway, and he hit her again before she fell unconscious, she told police. Millard suffered eight broken ribs, a swollen eye and a large cut on her face.

Millard was found on the floor in her small home by a cleaning woman about 8:40 a.m.

A medical examination at Scenic General Hospital indicated Millard has been raped while unconscious, according to The Bee's 1976 story. She was blind in one eye and had failing vision in the other, which prevented her from giving police an adequate description of her assailant.

She died at the hospital on Sept. 11, 1976.

Bee staff writer Merrill Balassone can be reached at mbalassone@modbee.com or 578-2337.