On a quiet dirt road in Beaufort, South Carolina, a place known to local teenagers as a 'Lovers' Lane,' the life of 18-year-old David Krulewicz was tragically cut short on the night of January 5, 1980. The young man, who had just celebrated his birthday three weeks prior, was on a date with his 15-year-old girlfriend, parked in his van just off Old Salem Point Road.
An unknown assailant emerged from the darkness, shattering the peaceful evening with gunfire.
The attacker fired several shots into the van, striking and killing David Krulewicz. The male perpetrator then turned his attention to David's girlfriend, subjecting her to a harrowing ordeal of robbery and sexual assault before fleeing into the night. The terrified young woman managed to escape and run to her nearby home to call for help. When deputies arrived, they found David deceased. Despite an initial investigation, the case grew cold, leaving the community with unanswered questions and a killer at large for decades.
For 36 years, the case remained unsolved, a painful memory for the families and a lingering mystery for law enforcement. A break finally came in 2016 with the advancement of forensic technology. In 1999, the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office had reopened the case and resubmitted evidence for DNA analysis. A DNA profile of the unknown assailant was developed from the surviving victim's clothing in 2003, but no immediate match was found.
The crucial link was made in August 2016. Isaiah Gadson Jr., a 63-year-old man from Burton, had been arrested in June of that year on an unrelated attempted murder charge. As part of that booking process, a DNA sample was taken from Gadson. This sample was entered into a national database and matched the DNA profile from the 1980 crime scene. Gadson was subsequently charged with the murder of David Krulewicz, as well as the kidnapping, criminal sexual conduct, and armed robbery of his girlfriend.
In May 2018, a Beaufort County jury found Isaiah Gadson, then 65, guilty on all counts. Evidence presented at the trial included the compelling DNA match and the testimony of another woman who had been sexually assaulted by Gadson in 1983 under similar circumstances. The surviving victim of the 1980 attack also bravely testified. The court sentenced Gadson to 50 years in prison for the murder of David Krulewicz and three concurrent 30-year sentences for the other charges, finally bringing a measure of justice to a case that had haunted the Beaufort community for nearly four decades.
