Chisolm man convicted in 1986 cold-case murder

August 18, 2022

DULUTH, Minn. — Editor's note: The video above first aired on June 29, 2022.

A Chisolm man will serve a mandatory life sentence in prison following his conviction for first-degree murder in the death of a woman back in July of 1986.

Michael Allen Carbo, Jr. is currently 54 years old, but was just 18 when investigators say he attacked, raped and murdered Nancy Daugherty inside her Chisolm home. The 38-year-old victim and mother of two was discovered when police were called to do a welfare check. At the time Carbo lived less than a mile from Daugherty, and went to school with her children. 

Carbo was convicted Tuesday by a St. Louis County jury.

"Today, the jury's verdicts affirmed what those agencies discovered in their dogged investigation – that Michael Allen Carbo, Jr. raped and murdered Nancy Daugherty in the early morning hours of July 16, 1986," the St. Louis County Attorney's Office said in a press release. "The County Attorney's Office is pleased with the courage and commitment to justice shown by the jury, despite the age of the case."

The case went unsolved from 1986 until early in 2020, when the BCA submitted DNA from the crime scene to a company that analyzes genetic databases. The results identified Carbo as a potential suspect, and local police who had him under surveillance were able to acquire DNA evidence from a bag of garbage. The samples matched those taken from the crime scene, and Carbo was arrested.

"This case illustrates why no case is ever cold for us," Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) Superintendent Drew Evans said at the time of the arrest. "Every time we hit a dead end, investigators and scientists go back to the drawing board. Solving this case is proof of the value of tenacious work – even when it's over a span of decades."

Following Carbo's conviction, the St. Louis County Attorney's Office credited an "exhaustive" investigation carried out by current and retired agents from the BCA, Chisolm police and the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office.

Carbo is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 30.