SAXONBURG — County and state law enforcement officials released details Thursday of how the case surrounding the killing of Saxonburg Police Chief Greg Adams was wrapped up, calling the case's resolution a bittersweet victory for family members and investigators.

State police Cpl. Chris Birckbichler, a patrol supervisor and cold case investigator based in Mercer County, said investigators could only release certain details surrounding the case because of an ongoing investigation by state police in Massachusetts. But he said it was statements given by Webb's wife, Lillian, which led state police and FBI agents to Webb's grave, which was found in the yard of his wife's home in Dartmouth, Mass.

Those statements were possible, authorities said, because Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger's office agreed to grant Lillian Webb immunity in exchange for information. Goldinger called the deal a “no-brainer” considering that authorities in Pennsylvania didn't have any means to charge the woman with any crimes.

“Without her statement, I don't think we would be here right now,” Goldinger said. “I'm not sure if we would ever have found his body.”

Birckbichler said the remainder of Webb's life — he died on Dec. 30, 1999, according to his wife — was lived in seclusion at the home. Investigators believe the fatal encounter with Adams in 1980, which made Webb one of America's most-wanted fugitives for nearly 40 years, effectively ended Webb's criminal career as a small-town jewelry thief with mob connections.

“He (Webb) pretty much lived like a dog, cowering in a basement like a coward for the rest of his life,” said Birckbichler.

No members of Adams' family attended the event, but Goldinger reached out to them, saying he hoped that the resolution of the 37-year-old investigation into the police chief's killing would give the family some level of peace.

“I offer solemn congratulations to (Adams' family),” he said, “and I hope that they can gain some closure and move on from this tragedy.”

News broke last week that state police cold case investigators were close to locating Donald Eugene Webb, who killed Adams during a struggle after a traffic stop in Saxonburg on Dec. 4, 1980.

Goldinger, at Thursday's news conference, said that Webb lived with permanent pain and disfigurement after his encounter with Adams, who kicked him hard enough to shatter his ankle and also bit his bottom lip almost entirely off before being fatally shot in the chest by Webb.

Goldinger said that closing-out the Webb investigation was a relief for both investigators and the family, but stopped short of proclaiming that justice had been served.

“If there was any justice in this case, Adams inflicted it himself,” Goldinger said.

Former Saxonburg Police Chief Gordon Mainhart, who retired from the department in 2000 and was on the scene in 1980, said his reaction to the news of Webb's recovery was “a mad rush of emotions, and somewhat comfort.”

Mainhart, who was working as a volunteer firefighter on the night Adams was killed, said he wasn't surprised to learn that the chief had inflicted serious injuries on Webb before being fatally shot.

“They always called Greg a (Bantam) rooster, and he proved it,” Mainhart said.

The case, which was officially taken off the Pennsylvania State Police books last week, is widely thought to have been the nation's longest-running cold case investigation involving the death of a police chief, but Birckbichler said the department could not confirm that on Thursday.

He said it was “extremely satisfying” to be able to tell Adams' family that Webb had been found, and to dispel rumors that someone from Saxonburg might have helped Webb flee after killing Adams.

Investigators say it was Lillian Webb herself who helped her husband make his way home after the killing — something Birckbichler said was in line with his assessment of her character and high level of devotion to Webb.

“She was the wife of a career criminal, and she knew how to act the part,” he said.