Fingerprint technology identifies 1988 John Doe murder victim as conman

KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Investigators in Kenosha County say they've got some closure after a John Doe from a decades-old murder has been identified. 

The outcome of the cold case was unique. According to investigators, the identified man was a convict. 

According to investigators, the man positively identified as Robert Lyle Schwartz was killed by strangulation. In 1988, his body was discovered in a shallow grave by a highway survey crew near Interstate 94. 

However, through new fingerprint technology, detectives were able to solve the decades-old case. They say Schwartz isn't from Wisconsin. He's from the west coast and spent time in prison for fraud in California. The day he was released, he flew to O'Hare Airport and is believed to have been killed the same day. 

"Every John Doe case that we have and that we have had over the years is different, every single one has been different. They're all unique. You never know when you have a cold case or a John Doe what the outcome is gonna be or where they're from," Kenosha County Medical Examiner Patrice Hall said. 

Once authorities ID'd the body, they contacted Schwartz' family but were told they weren't looking for him. As for the person who killed him, investigators say that person died in prison on unrelated charges.