When a beautiful co-ed is brutally murdered on a popular hiking trail in Prescott National Forest in the summer of 1987, authorities are stumped on who the killer could be. The investigation drags on for decades until finally something breaks. This is the first of two episodes covering the murder of Cathy Sposito.
Cathy Sposito (Photo Source) Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office
Cathy Sposito (Photo Source) Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office
Cathy Sposito Crime Scene Photos (Photo Source) Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office
Cathy Sposito Crime Scene Photos (Photo Source) Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office
Thumb Butte Image from 1980’s (Source) Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office
Prescott National Forest Map (Source) Google Maps
Episode Source Material
- Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office 1987 Cathy Sposito Case File Police Reports requested via public records office March 3rd, 2024. Hard copy only, no direct link.
- Yavapai County 1997 – 2019 Cathy Sposito Case File Police Reports requested via public records office March 3rd, 2024. Hard copy only, no direct link.
- AZ Family: Hikers are on alert after Cathy Sposito was found murdered on a popular hiking trail near Prescott in 1987 via AZ Family Video Vault.
- The Associated Press via Arizona Daily Star: Hikers in Prescott find body of New York woman. By staff via newspapers.com.
- Daily News: Death Notices, Catherine Ann Sposito. By staff via newspapers.com.
- A&E: Cold Case of the Week: The 1987 Murder of Cathy Sposito. By Maria Ricapito.
- Arizona Daily Independent News Network: 30 Year-Anniversary of Yavapai County Homicide, Still Seeking Clues. By staff.
- Great Circle Media: Cold Case Investigators Still Looking For Clues Into The Murder of Cathy Sposito 32 Years Ago. By staff.
- The Daily Courier: Cold Case, Cathy Sposito homicide now 32 years old. By Max Efrein.
- ABC 15 News: Unsolved murder, college student killed by unknown suspect on Prescott hike in 1987. By Ashley Loose.
- Great Circle Media: YCSO Continues To Work On A 33-Year Old Cold Case Of The Murder of A Prescott Woman. By staff.
- Williams-Grand Canyon News: Cold Case, Murder on Prescott’s Thumb Butte trail still a mystery. By staff.
- 12 News: An unsolved murder still haunts Arizona’s high country decades later. By Erica Stapleton.
- Great Circle Media: Yavapai Silent Witness Offering Ten-Thousand Dollars For Information Relating to 35-Year-Old Cold Case. By Paige Daniels.
- All About Arizona News: Arizona Cold Case Investigation Remains Active, Detectives Seeking Information. By staff.
- Medium.com: On the Trail of a Killer: The Murder of Cathy Sposito. By Verity Partington.
- 12 News: DNA could finally solve decades-old Arizona murder. By Erica Stapleton.