The bar where Ann Woodward was murdered

This is the location where Ann Hammer Woodward was murdered.

It is called Woody's Bar, and it is located at 221 South Main Street in Moab, Utah.

The 46-year-old mother of four owned and operated this bar with her husband, Leslie H. "Woody" Woodward.

Murder

Woodward failed to return home after closing the bar alone in the early hours of March 2, 1973.

Later that morning, at approximately 6:45 a.m., her husband, Leslie, arrived and found her partially nude body lying on the floor between two pool tables. She had been raped and strangled to death with her own pants.

Someone had stolen money from the cash register. A pack of playing cards was also found on one of the tables.

While a news report from the time stated that roughly $50 was taken, others articles described the sum as an "indeterminable amount."

Investigators collected 29 pieces of evidence from the scene, including hair, fingerprints, and the victim's clothing.

Attempts to match these items against suspects failed, as forensic technology was still in its infancy.

Although various leads were followed and polygraph tests were performed, the case hit a brick wall when the main suspects hired attorneys and refused to talk.

Cold case review

In 2006, the police reopened the case in the hope that advances in DNA technology would finally lead to an arrest.

They also tracked down boxes of evidence that were scattered across the Moab City Police Department, the Grand County Sheriff's Office, and the Grand County Attorney's Office.

Despite the renewed effort, the investigation failed to identify the killer.

Douglas Keith Chudomelka

In 2022, funds were made available for additional DNA testing using modern technology.

In the months that followed, Moab City Police Detective Jeremy Drexler retrieved the stored evidence and categorized it.

In May 2024, the State of Utah Crime Lab found a match.

Early in the investigation, detectives had suspected a 35-year-old mine worker named Douglas Keith Chudomelka.

Chudomelka frequented the bar and had a lengthy criminal history. Forensic testing determined that a swab from the inside of Woodward's pants matched his DNA.

Samples collected from cigarette butts also proved he was present at the bar on the night of the murder.

Chudomelka died in Nebraska on October 18, 2002.

After spending time in Moab, he became a truck driver who traveled extensively.

He also spent time in California, Alabama, Nebraska, and Iowa.

Authorities plan to upload his DNA profile to the national database, CODIS. This will allow investigators in other states to cross-reference his DNA against unsolved cold cases.