$100,000 reward offered for info in 1973 murders

BILLINGS, Mont. - An anonymous donor has offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of whoever is responsible for a double murder 40 years ago in Billings, Yellowstone County officials said.

Sheriff Mike Linder announced the reward Wednesday in the deaths of Linda and Clifford Bernhardt. Both were 24. Officials say Clifford Bernhardt had been hit on the back of the head, both were strangled, and Linda Bernhardt was sexually assaulted.

"The investigators working the case have made progress," Linder said. "We're hoping that this offer, this reward will bring people forward that have information."

He declined to elaborate on the investigation or say if there were any suspects.

The mother of Linda Bernhardt found the victims early on Nov. 7, 1973. The Billings Gazette reported the heat had been turned off in the house and the windows were left open as temperatures dropped to 6 degrees.

A suitcase, along with underwear and shoes of Linda Bernhardt were among the items missing from the house they had moved into just weeks earlier.

The double murder is the oldest cold case in Yellowstone County, officials said.

In 2005, a sheriff's detective announced that authorities had been able to extract DNA from the pants Linda Bernhardt wore the night she was killed. It was entered into a national database. At that time, family members of the victims offered a $10,000 reward for information in the case.

Anyone with information was asked to call the sheriff's office cold case unit at (406) 869-3530. Tips can be given anonymously, officials said.