Pieces Of A Puzzle | DOUBLE EPISODE | The New Detectives

In the heart of the United States, the Miami River acts as a makeshift grave. A severed torso washes ashore. The gruesome discovery leaves researchers with unanswered questions. In San Diego, California, a murderer has left

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of evidence. Detectives must analyze these small clues to prove the murder. Some killers go to great lengths to leave traces of their violence or their victims, but the twisted path that led to murder is often filled with lies. Sometimes the people closest to us can be the most dangerous. The layer of trust may lie in a hidden obsession.

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some of the names have been changed in Hamilton Ohio residents enjoy a peaceful suburban lifestyle.

Cincinnati's inner city crime is miles away, but on April 13, 1998, it didn't seem so far away that a couple had seen a human torso washed ashore along the Miami. River and called the Butler County Sheriff's Office, Major Anthony Dwyer was the lead investigator on the case. He was also the first to closely examine the remains because the body had been in the river, was badly decomposed and barely recognizable when we first discovered Torso I. It was here in the back and there was very little we could determine from it. From that you could tell that it was a white person but you couldn't even tell if it was a man or a woman due to the condition of the body that the investigators were in.

I can't say much about the Torso, but one thing was clear: it was not an accident, the limb was severed. We looked closely at the ties and noted the saw marks. There, the Torso was carefully collected and transported to the morgue for further evaluation. Extensive examination of body parts clues that would help them identify the body found nothing Butler County Chief Coroner Dr. Richard Burkhart performed the autopsy without a head or even fingerprints to guide him, identifying the body would be difficult and There was an additional challenge that we first needed to determine the sex of the victim.

The unusual thing about the Torso was that we could not immediately tell if it was male or female, an examination of the lower abdomen or pelvis was done and we found the presence of a uterus and ovaries, obviously now the Torso. It's a woman from there to the wounds on her arms open the chest, but Dr. Burkhart still didn't know how she died, we x-rayed the body to make sure there was no lead from our bullet and examined the heart and lungs to conditions that could have caused death, such as stab wounds, none were found, the only certainty was that his head and limbs had been cleanly cut off, the tool marks left on the body appeared to have been made with a household saw depending on the temperature from the river. and the level of decomposition of the body Burkhart believed the woman had been dead for at least two weeks at the Butler County Sheriff's Office, Major Dwyer read the autopsy report and began to slowly piece together a case that a woman She was dead, but knew little more each year. an average of 50 people are reported missing in Butler County alone.

Our first priority was to try to identify the body. The next part is obviously a homicide or some kind of abuse of a corpse or someone has been cut up. It's going to be a long time. He even ran to try to identify whether Major Dwyer ever hoped to identify the woman. He needed more information to narrow the search. Investigators turned to Dr. Elizabeth Murray, an anthropologist at the College of Mount St Joseph in Cincinnati, one of 50 certified forensic anthropologists in the country. she is an expert at analyzing skeletal remains after boiling the bones to remove the meat.

Dr. Murray examined them to establish the approximate age of the victim due to the chest of her torso being of a slim build, however she was unable to rule out the possibility that the victim was a teenager. Closer examination of her collarbone, ribcage and pelvis showed otherwise as I came up with the approximate age range of probably between 25 and 45 at the time of death and felt that she was probably somewhere right in the middle of that age range. Murray then began the difficult process of determining the victim's height. Normally you would measure long bones like those in the legs, but in this case we didn't have them.

I had to use some unusual methods. I had to take the collarbone from the torso measurement. and try to get a height based on that and that's not a bone that directly contributes to her height, so that method was a little unusual. Dr. Murray concluded that the victim was taller than average, between five foot six and six foot one, although the physical description was vague, he gave Major Dwyer a definitive lead torso, only to recover and resume his search where I had started it in the river. Major Dwyer searched databases of missing persons reports beginning 20 miles upstream from the Hamilton area north along the Great Miami River. the river runs south, so we think the body was placed somewhere north of Hamilton.

They received a find 14 miles upstream. Missing was a woman from Middletown Ohio, thin and taller than average. Several disappearances from northern Hamilton. We started collecting those reports individually. We located this missing person who was Cheryl Durkin, so we started focusing on her. She fit the bill, she is the best possible missing person to match what we had at the Middletown Police Department. Major Dwyer met with Detective Frank Hensley. Detective Hensley led the missing person investigation. about Cheryl Durkin Cheryl's sister, Carla Edwards, reported her missing on March 20, three weeks before her torso was found. A sister of hers was very worried at the time because he hadn't contacted her and it wasn't like her not to do that.

Carla her sister now needed to confirm that the torso found in the Miami River was Cheryl Durkin two one one I will call her to speak with her and see if neither the dental records nor the fingerprints can be used for identification the investigators turned to DNA For their Confirmation in the laboratory, investigators compared two DNA samples, one from Cheryl's mother and the other from the victim with whom they matched. Cheryl Durkin was no longer a missing person. She was now the victim of a homicide in hopes of locating her killer. Investigators needed to learn as much information as possible about Cheryl's life.

They started by going over the last moments of her life when we started looking for suspects and you usually look at the last one to see. I am the first to find them closest to them. Those are your key factors. in most homicides they hoped that Cheryl's sister Carla could give them the answers they needed. They asked him about her sister's recent activities. Carla said that although her sister had been involved in drugs in the past, she seemed to be putting her life back together. Cheryl had moved there. with Carla despite all the difficulties the two were very close this is for breakfast if you want there he told the police that just before discovering his sister's torso he received a phone call from a man named Scott Rothwell Rothwell asked him if the Cheryl's body had turned up, but he also made comments about her being cut up in a barrel somewhere you think anything else could be this call and I'm sure we'll be in touch with you.

Thanks, this information quickly made him the prime suspect. A criminal background check was indicated. He had been arrested several times and accused of domestic abuse by his ex-wife. He lives near the river. There were other attributes there that began to make us look at him very closely as a possible suspect. Mr. Rothwell lives in the town of Middletown. she was a close friend of Cheryl's, she had spent some time at her house, she called him quite often, she stopped by, take a seat, Major Dwyer took him to the Butler County Sheriff's Office to ask him questions.

I appreciate him coming. Rothwell explained that he had heard rumors that a local drug dealer had killed and dismembered a woman matching the description of his friend Cheryl Durkin. Three years ago he didn't know the man's name, but he agreed to help in any way he could when we first targeted Scott Rothwell as a suspect in one of the The first thing we did was pull his phone records, which allowed us to trace the calls. phone calls she had made to him and isolated them while she was still alive. Then any known calls ended around 2/24/98 and that helped us narrow down the time frame.

As for when he likely disappeared, the last phone call Cheryl made to Rothwell was from a pay phone on Garfield Avenue, he explained that Cheryl frequently called him from that pay phone because he didn't have a car and relied on his friends for rides. . Dwyer believed that his story is correct, he was a pretty serious guy, he showed up, he was cooperative, he helped us a lot with the phone records. I'll tell you what Scott, you know? I appreciate you coming. I know it's been a long day. He says the case developed. became less and less of a potential suspect Investigators were convinced that Scott Rothwell was not a murderer to obtain more information was nothing more than an unsubstantiated rumor that they were no closer to solving the case of Cheryl Durkin than when they began to identify her murderer as a person capable of Extraordinary cruelty still reigned in Ohio.

A ruthless killer had murdered 34-year-old Cheryl Durkin, cutting her body into

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. Her torso had washed up on the banks of the Miami River. The victim's head, as well as her arms and legs, had not been found desperately. Searching for clues, they tried a new approach. Cheryl's remains were sent to Dr. Steven Sims at the University of Tennessee Regional Forensic Center as a tool Dr. Sims, an expert on Mark, needed to determine what was used to dismember Cheryl's body. Sims examined the distinctive markings on the ends of Cheryl's remains. illustrations of bones and determine something about the shape of the blue in this case it is a single cut as these striations are the cut marks on the cut surface of the bone they are not straight in fact they show a fixed radius curvature I saw numerous false starts lo which generally indicates an electric saw because the blade could not penetrate and was thus attacking the bones at different angles the fact that the blade is round and a very high speed a lot of energy given to the blade everything indicates mechanically electric circular saw there would be been difficult to cut bone and tissue with a circular saw Dr.

Sims believed they were dealing with a brutal murderer who would do anything to cover up his crime. The doctor's theory gave researchers new insight into the person they were looking for. As news of the homicide outraged the citizens of Middletown, the police department was inundated with tips from anonymous callers. One woman agreed to meet with investigators, but she was too scared to enter the police department. She had heard rumors of a local thug named James Lawson. was responsible for the death of Cheryl Durkin and that she had hidden parts of her body in her sister's garage and I mean the sister's name was Rachel Zimmer the woman knew both Cheryl and Lawson, she had seen them together on more on one occasion although the story seemed scandalous The police believed the young woman and obtained permission to search Rachel Zimmer's garage.

Investigators scoured the scene looking for clues, although nothing was found, the search blew the case wide open and there was a flurry of activity that began to unfold from there. We were on the same street that Mr. Lawson continued to live in and we were there looking in a garage. He started taking some action, pulling up rugs and painting some walls. He had done several things that began to raise even more suspicions about him. Then we got another phone call from a woman saying there were stains on this carpet that he was trying to remove while investigators were waiting for a search warrant for the loss at Residence.

They ran James Lawson's name through the national crime database. The suspect had been in trouble before his ex-wife charged him with criminal trespassing. Major Anthony Dwyer and Detective Frank Hensley served James Lawson with a search warrant. He agreed to go to the police department for questioning through them. He has Butler County Sheriff's Office forensic technicians collect rugs from the backyard. Let's get out of here. Investigators at the home found blood stains along the baseboard in a hallway. Blood samples were collected for analysis in the dormitory laboratory. The chemical luminol revealed blood stains on both the carpet and baseboards.

Samples were also taken there. Police searched James Lawson's basement. Looking for anythingcould link him to the murder, they noticed that the work area was freshly painted with an unusually heavy industrial-grade paint, but the paint was not enough to prevent investigators from finding an important clue about where they use luminol. They look like a slaughterhouse. When enlightened by the amount of blood that was sprayed by the saw and cutting it, although the circular saw was never found, the amount of blood in the basement convinced investigators that James Lawson had murdered Cheryl Durkin. I want to talk to you. about a homicide job and an entire torso was found.

Maj. Anthony Dwyer interviewed the suspect at the Middletown Police Department. I think I read something about it. Lawson admitted that he had heard about the murder, but said that he did not know Cheryl Durkin. Weathers there told the police that he was renovating the house he said he got hurt while he was cutting drywall the blood on the carpet was his, yeah, yeah. Dwyer believed Lawson was lying, there was a lot of work to be done there, but without more evidence to prove it. Ty Lawson straight into the crime, they would have to let him go.

We had a lot of evidence that we removed from the house, as well as the painted basement. We didn't have DNA to connect the victim to him being in the house, so we didn't do it. have enough probable costs to charge him at that time over the next few weeks blood evidence was analyzed blood samples taken from the house were compared to Cheryl Durkin's DNA profile it was a positive match investigators now had enough evidence to arrest his suspected murderers to anyone here for James Lawson, did he come in with a pick up radio and make sure the boys were on the streets but it was too late and there was nothing to stop him James Lawson had already fled a young woman had been brutally murdered Shepherd's head and limbs were still missing Ohio police were closing in on a suspect although they finally had enough evidence to arrest James Lawsons, he was nowhere to be found, it was a complicated case.

Major Anthony Dwyer needed to find Lawson, but he also needed to find the missing body parts as this investigation was going on and James was on the run, we still didn't have the cause of death. We didn't have the head, arms or legs, we only had the torso, which was causing us a big problem in processing the case without cause of death. Investigators knew that a murder conviction would be difficult to obtain if they didn't find the rest of the body. Find out everything you can about this phone number. They searched the people closest to the suspect for clues that could lead them to the victim's body parts.

One of those people was Rachel Zimmer. James Lawson's older sister, Dwyer, and Detective Frank Hensley had already searched her. garage now they picked her up for questioning we felt very strongly that she was involved in the case we felt that maybe she had even buried some of the body parts Rachel finally admitted that Lawson had hidden Cheryl Durkin's body parts in a barrel in her garage then When things calmed down, she and her mother buried them in another part of the state. Rachel insisted that she had not heard from her brother since he disappeared. Do you think you'll be able to find him if we head there knowing she helped cover it up? the crime she agreed to help them in the hope of a lighter sentence she took the police to the places where she and her mother had buried the body parts we parked in a very secluded area and walked back into the forest there was a trail she looked back on the road and I could tell how far he walked when he buried the parts.

Researchers found a skull buried in a shallow grave. We did a little digging and were able to cover the top of Cheryl's face while brushing her early. You could see it. The enamel on her teeth lit up and then we stopped at that point to bring in forensic anthropologist Dr. Murray to do the full excavation. Yes, I'm Lieutenant Dwyer. Yeah, go ahead and post a full page for the

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. We need something. people here to secure this area supported by a team of anthropologists and police officers Dr. Elizabeth Murray excavated the rest of Cheryl Durkin's body because of my background in archaeology.

I used modified archaeological techniques to excavate the remains. The shallow graves contained the head and neck. and also the right leg and both feet after processing. The remains. Dr. Murray examined the skull to determine the cause of death. There were at least 4 places where there was some damage in the cheek region that extended across the nose and that could have been one, maybe two different bumps on the face and there was a sharp margin here on the edge of the nose that looked as if the weapon had some kind of edge. Also on the side of the skull there was an area of ​​damage here that was blunt force trauma where a large piece of bone had been driven into the skull from a lateral aspect inwards and then a small injury behind the ear here where something had impacted the skull. skull from behind, so obviously the person was hit with something some kind of blunt object and the laboratory tests confirmed the investigators' suspicions the DNA evidence obtained from the torso the skull and limbs matched they all belonged to Cheryl Durkin now the Police increased pressure on one of the people who helped in the loss and disposal of the body.

His mother, Susan Abdall, 46, was arrested at her home on September 1, 1998. Abdow admitted her role in the cover-up, but claimed that he didn't know anything about the murder until after the fact. She told investigators that she was just trying to protect her son. According to Abdul James had left town and had not contacted her again, investigators reached a dead end. Lawson was on the run and the trail on him had gone cold and then Dwyer received a criminal phone call. The profile show got in touch with this and wanted to present him as a suspect who was on the run, so they went in and filmed him a few weeks later on air again.

The clues came in by the hundreds. They received a phone call from an elderly woman in the Indiana detective suction. Hensley, claimed that her granddaughter was living with a man she believed was James Lawson, when did I last see him? Okay, we'll be there. She actually had a video of Lawson's photo at the time. We went to Indiana. She as soon as the videotape was there and immediately identified a man she knew as David Wallace as James Lawson, she said he had been acting suspiciously since the broadcast, he was extremely uncomfortable about having been photographed or videotaped by a arrest team from the Middletown Police Department, as well as officers from four other departments surrounded Lawson's residence what is this?

Blossom was arrested on charges of first-degree murder of Cheryl Durkin during interrogation. Lawson admitted nothing, but the evidence against him was overwhelming based on evidence that investigators believed Cheryl had stayed overnight at Lawson's home. After he picked her on the pay phone, the couple argued. Lawson lost his temper and Cheryl paid a tragic price. He then dumped his body into the Miami River in the hopes that he would disappear forever on December 13, 1999. James Lawson was convicted of the murder and dismemberment of Cheryl Durkin. He was sentenced to 21 years to life in prison for tampering with evidence of murder and gross abuse of a corpse.

James Lawson believed that destroying the identity of his victim would mask his guilt, but a relentless investigation and solid forensic evidence exposed his brutal crime in Southern California. Investigators faced an equally disturbing situation. case to solve the crime they would have to delve into the mind of an obsessed killer in the summer of 2000 the city of San Diego California was the site of a gruesome discovery laughs on August 14 a young man searched a dumpster outside a convenience store pets was looking for cans to recycle inside a paper bag he saw something that startled him it looked like a charred finger investigators with the San Diego Police Department were called to the scene they questioned the man who called in the report who said he was picking up aluminum cans when found what he thought were fingers although they looked like human fingertips

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needed to be sure called in experts to analyze the findings Tom Washington a latent fingerprint expert searched the contents of the dumpster to avoid contamination isolated each piece of potential evidence on white laboratory paper, he knew immediately that they were dealing with something very unusual, from the beginning we could distinguish the tips of our human fingers because they had nails, he found eight fingertips in total, the researchers examined the garbage container carefully not to disturb Any evidence, along with fingertips, they also found a number of other items, including a pair of bolt cutters.

On the cutters, they noticed a barcoded SKU number that police believed could lead them to the store where they purchased them and perhaps most chilling was a page of handwritten notes describing the crime step by step, there were some documents that they had different things written down, a sort of to-do list, things like renting a vehicle big enough to extract a body, time off from work, consoling with grieving victims. family basically a timeline of things the murder had planned to do the evidence in the dumpster pointed to a crime that had been carefully planned and then brutally executed.

Whoever did this wanted to make sure the victim's identity remained intact. San Diego Police Facing A Complex Case Sergeant Bill Holmes knew it wouldn't be easy. Well, initially we didn't have any clues when you have no idea where the crime scene is or where the rest of the body is. It's a tremendous challenge that investigators hope the crime lab will encounter. more answers forensic expert Tom Washington examined the fingertips the main challenge was identifying the victim we had the fingertips but we didn't know who they belonged to but the tips were so charred that it would not be possible to obtain a readable fingerprint the police I knew they would need more information if they ever hoped to find out where these fingertips came from and how they ended up in the dumpster.

Eight human fingertips were found inside a dumpster in San Diego, who they belong to and how they got there. Where can no one guess that the police looked at the articles? Found in the dumpster looking for clues that could lead them to the killer at the San Diego police crime lab, the bolt cutters were examined by forensic specialist Sean Mon Petit. Investigators suspected they had been used to cut off the missing victim's fingers when I looked at the bowl. Cutters I noticed what appeared to be small pieces of apparent tissue on the cut surfaces, these were determined to be human and were saved for DNA analysis, but no fingerprints were found on the item.

Upon further investigation, police hoped the bolt cutters would provide more clues using the detective's SKU number. Bill Holmes set out to see who bought them, so I sent detectives to a few stores in the area and we were able to locate where the bolt cutter was purchased. Hardware store in the area, the bolt cutters were purchased with a credit card, but due to the time of day we obtained the information we were unable to access the computer to find out who that credit card belonged to. We had the number but couldn't find out at the time who it belonged to.

Investigators noticed an additional charge on the credit card. The same person who bought the bolt cutters also rented a carpet cleaner. Upon further checking we discovered that that credit card was used to pay for The Rug Doctor's rental at the same store, but for The Rug Doctor it had a sign that needed to be filled out. and sign a rental agreement the name on the rental agreement was Calvin Parker the police now had a solid lead to trace a background check revealed that Calvin Parker had no criminal record he was a veteran and certainly did not fit the profile of a murderer brutal detectives were Starting to think this case would be solved, they got an important break a few miles north of San Diego in Carlsbad, California, two residents discovered something unusual on their daily walk if we were close to it, although it was a ordinary trash can, the lid had been secured.

I taped it up next to the car and I'm going to go take a look at it. Okay, the trash can gave off an unusually strong unpleasant smell. The officer carefully opened the trash can and discovered the body of awoman on the street at the San Diego County Medical Examiner. Office Dr. Christopher Swalwell examined the victim, a white woman in her 30s. The level of decomposition of the body placed the time of death between one and three days earlier. She was naked except for a scarf around her neck, as her office had been notified of her findings.

In the dumpster, Dr. Swalwell knew what to look for, all of her fingers were missing, so that's when we put two and two together and worked under the assumption that those two were related. Dr. Swalwell determined the cause of death to be a large cut. on the side of her neck that severed her jugular vein, the other major injury she had was a scalp laceration that actually had an underlying skull fracture, so it was a major injury. There was also evidence that the victim had been raped, Dr. Swalwell said. Strange bruises around the victim's wrists, on her face and on her back, indicating that the woman had been beaten before her death in the same laboratory.

Dr. Norman Sperber, a tool. Mark's expert was called in to examine the strange marks on the victim's body and believed she was the killer. He had handcuffed the victim behind her back and that the handcuffs had left deep marks on both wrists and on her back. We took some handcuffs from a property at the San Diego Police Department. I applied those handcuffs to our wrists and placed her body in front of her. on the exam table and the handcuffs just sat right where that horizontal mark was right on the small of his back. Jim was pinned down and subdued before she was murdered.

Investigators went looking for Calvin Parker. He was not at home, but the police took over his house. under surveillance, he had some of our special investigations detectives go and sit at that residence to see if Calvin showed up 20 to 30 red hairs, although investigators were making progress, the victim still remained anonymous. Investigators searched for missing person reports dating back several days in hopes of bringing closure. They found no name on the body that remotely matched the victim's description anywhere in San Diego County or surrounding areas. When news of the grizzly bear homicide hit the streets, people came forward with information about a witness who He lived in an apartment across from the dumpster he had. saw something unusual the night before the fingers were discovered, he said she saw it: a rental truck back to the dumpster, a black man got out of the truck and threw a couple of bags into the dumpster and then left as a foreigner.

The witness also recalled seeing the man shoot. something in the bushes her initial impression was that it was a cigarette but she saw no ashes or sparks coming out of it. Investigators returned to the scene and searched the area, finding the tip of the victim's right thumb, the tip was taken to the San Diego Police Crime Laboratory, Tom Washington, performed the examination; The print had enough detail from Ridge to capture a clear print, but after checking it in the database and coming up empty, they still had no one to compare it to as Sergeant Holmes' detectives were focused on their new lead, the Rental Truck.

Discovered by the witness with that information, he sent a detective to verify the rental agency that handles that brand of trucks. There are several agencies in the San Diego area and they found an agency in the Mission Valley area. The name on the rental agreement was one of them. He had heard before Calvin Parker investigators seized the truck and took it to the impound lot, the chemical luminol revealed a circular blood stain that someone had been bleeding inside the truck and police believed it was their victim after a Frustrating start with nothing to continue with but discarded fingertips.

San Diego police now had enough evidence to arrest a suspect in the murder of a young woman, although they now had a legible fingerprint. To be identified, investigators had found a ring of blood in a vehicle rented by Calvin Parker, a man whose name emerged early in the investigation at the San Diego police crime lab. Sean Montpetit compared the tissue from the bolt cutters to the victim's DNA. the tissue revealed that it was actually the victim's tissue. He then compared the findings to the blood in the truck. Both the blood and flesh from the bolt cutters matched the victim's DNA.

Police now had the direct evidence they needed to obtain a search warrant. For Calvin Parker's apartment, Detective Bill Holmes led the team, we have enough information to believe that Calvin was responsible for this crime and that it likely occurred where he lived, so we obtained a search warrant to search that residence and search his person, the police cautiously. I entered the suspect's residence, there was no sign of him, but when they started searching, investigators found clues that made everything fall into place. When we entered the apartment, we weren't sure who our victim was. We didn't know a name.

We were sure that the Carlsbad body belonged to our fingers, but we had no idea who it was and until we got into Calvin's apartment and then we found her pictures and we found her ID card, her name was Misty Gear and she was the companion of Calvin Parker's room, investigators would spend the next week working. hours shifts to recover over 100 pieces of evidence, well we found a variety of notes and documents in the kitchen, we found some credit card applications, using Misty's name, we found some of her checks that were filled out and made out to Calvin.

I found some notes in both the dumpster and the apartment of a sexual nature pointing directly at Misti that were written by Calvin. The evidence against Calvin Parker was mounting rapidly. Forensic examiners sprayed luminol throughout the apartment to detect blood, although the carpet had recently been massively cleaned. Led blood stains from Misty's bedroom to San Diego Police Department bathroom Tom Washington compared the victim's right thumbprint obtained from the thumb found in the bushes with the thumbprint on Misty's identification card. The foreigners agreed. The victim was positively identified as investigators from Misty's team hope. those who knew Misty best would lead them directly to Parker, they asked his coworkers about the suspect's relationship with Misty.

He and Misty had been roommates for about three months, each with her own bedroom and her bathroom, strictly platonic, although he had desires for her. She wanted nothing to do with him, as the police now had a motive. Calvin Parker was obsessed with his roommate, but they still needed to find the missing suspect. The apartment was still under 24-hour surveillance on the morning of August 15. Calvin Parker was stopped by his apartment to pick up his mail you know why we're here yeah put your hands behind your head stay there put your hands behind your head they arrested him and took him for questioning in the interrogation room the police confronted Calvin Parker with the overwhelming evidence they had compiled against you, please tell me what happened.

Parker told Sergeant Holmes his version of the events that led to Misty's death. Calvin said he was home watching TV in his room when Misty returned from work around 10:30 that night. uh, he was watching TV in his room. About half an hour later, he came into her room, sat on her bed, they watched TV for a while and had consensual sex, as he frowned, Misty agreed to be his girlfriend and then changed her mind, they argued and she insulted him, he He said he could. I didn't take it and he just snapped, lost his temper, grabbed a photo frame that was next to the bed and hit her three times, once in the head, throat and chest, he started bleeding profusely.

The handcuff marks on Misty's wrists told a different story: We found photo frames next to the bed, none of which were damaged, none of which were strong or heavy enough to cause the damage we saw on the body. by Misty. Investigators believe Calvin Parker became attracted to Misty when she did not return his affection, he became dangerously obsessed and attacked her while she slept, then dragged her body to the bathroom where he cut off her fingertips to destroy her foreign identity. July 17, 2002, Calvin Parker was found guilty of first-degree murder. and murderers sentenced to death will do everything possible to prevent prosecution from destroying all traces of the crime and its victims, but even the most careful murderers cannot anticipate the precision with which forensic science will uncover even the most hidden obsessions in New Mexico, a university university. ed is missing the police must assemble a web of evidence to catch those responsible if they ever hope to find her alive in Virginia a murderer uses the interstate as his personal dumping ground a woman's body is found and investigators have little time and few clues to lead they are led to a murderer who could strike again, the perpetrators try to hide their crimes, but smart investigators can take the darkest data and recreate a murderer, although murderers treacherously lure their victims by gaining their trust, science forensic brings to light the crimes committed and the betrayal of a blind man.

Trust this

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, some of the names have been changed. The city of Las Cruces, New Mexico, is located on the Rio Grande, just north of Mexico. A vast desert surrounds the city. The perfect place to hide a crime in January 1998. 911 dispatch received a call about a missing student named Carly Martinez. The 18-year-old freshman was beginning her second semester when campus police arrived at the dorm where her roommate and her parents were waiting, they said it wasn't like Carly to be out of touch. Her father told the police that they hadn't seen Carly, since the day before, he and his wife had taken both girls to dinner and They had then been dropped off in the dormitory around 6:30 p.m.

Since university police began a missing person investigation, her parents and roommate gave police a description and a photograph of Carly, an extremely attractive girl with long dark hair and dark eyes, she was five foot six and was last seen wearing jeans and a brown jacket. Desperate to find her, they posted flyers around campus in the hopes that someone would recognize Carly and contact the police. Officers and volunteers began a massive search effort. On horseback she combed the surrounding desert area. The police gave the dogs a piece of her clothing in the hope that the scent would lead them to their investigators.

They knew that time was running out. If Carly got lost or wandered into the desert, she wouldn't survive long. Time, four days passed before they got the first crack at the case. A fellow student, Samuel Sánchez, saw the missing person posters and contacted the police. He said he saw Carly with Jesse Avalos, one of his coworkers at a off-campus bookstore you're welcome thanks according to Sánchez he saw them at a local skating rink the night she disappeared. Jesse and Carly were skating together and holding hands. Sanchez told police. The couple was later joined by Jason Des Noyers, one of Jesse's friends.

They seemed to be having a good time in Las Cruces. He called the Police Department to assist the university in the investigation. David Cortez was the lead detective. The co-worker said they closed the skating rink early that afternoon on the 14th because he saw the three of them leaving together. The campus police were first. to talk to Jesse Avalos hello. He hoped he could give some answers. How are you? I am an official client. The whereabouts of the University and we were hanging out with Carly Martin's teenagers the other night. Yeah, can you tell me what Avalos said he was with Carly on a date and that his friend Jason Des Neuers had joined them, you know, we went out after skating, they had a few beers at a local bar, he told the police.

Carly asked to be dropped off at a gas station near campus to use a pay phone; she said she had not seen Carly since Detective Cortez found her story strange. He wondered why Carly would use the pay phone at the gas station and not at prayers in her bedroom. The detective now wanted to speak to Jesse's friend, Jason Des Neueres, perhaps he could provide more information. Jason's story began very similar to that of his friends, he said that Jesse Avalos had a date with Carly and met them atthe skating rink, Jesse, me and his girlfriend, but then Jason's story changed and he had a couple of drinks and said no. drop her off at a gas station, he said they took her back to school, so we took her to her dorm room to drop her off and where did they drop her off, guys.

Detective Cortez began to suspect that he knew one or both boys were lying when it came to his story because of the conflicting stories, um, we felt something wasn't right. Detective Cortez asked permission to search Jason Des Neuer's truck in hopes of discovering something that would bring them closer to finding Carly. The police noticed some scratches on the The exterior of the car on both the driver's side and the passenger's side extended along the entire length of the car. Apart from the fact that the car appeared to be spotless, we noticed that the inside of the truck was very clean as if there had been been recently washed several fibers were collected from the floor and seat using the chemical luminol they checked for blood and other body fluids, if any were present they would glow under the light when performing the luminal test we discovered that the central bench area was lighting up This caught our attention along with showing us some indicators that something just wasn't right.

When the researchers examined the seat more closely, they discovered a large reddish-brown stain. A portion of the seat cushion was cut off and sent to the forensic lab for analysis at the New Mexico State Crime Laboratory. Forensic scientist Mark Salvo examined the seat of the truck for human blood. They had removed the foam seat cushion and there was an obvious stain there. I did a presumptive exam to detect the presence of blood on the side of the material, which could not be seen. anything and I got positive results on that as well as the foam where a stain could be seen and I got a positive indication that there might be blood present on those items.

The seat cushion tested positive for human blood, but recent cleaning of the seat had destroyed any DNA. While police gathered evidence, the search for the young woman continued. Carly's disappearance was reported throughout the southwestern states. With short notice here, authorities hoped that media coverage would cause someone with information to come forward, and as the days went by, we had hundreds of leads. of the tips were distributed to the task force and follow-up investigators spoke with an informant who had recently been arrested for a parole violation. He was a neighbor of Jesse Avalos and claimed to have information about a jacket Jesse wore the night Carly disappeared the man.

He said that Jason Desnoyers approached him several days after Carly disappeared and asked him for a favor. This guy told us he took Jason's jacket off and hit it under a rolled up rug right outside the apartment police searched behind the apartment building where the witness said The jacket was located, they found a roll of rug where he said it would be Ravel. The side was a military style jacket. Yes, it seemed to be stained with blood. More stains here. The jacket was packaged and sent to the laboratory for further examination. The police obtained a warrant and searched Jesse Avalos' apartment.

A team of forensic experts arrived and searched each room in the bathroom. Investigators noticed reddish stains that they believed were blood. The shower curtain was collected for testing. Jesse's bed investigators found long, dark hair some of Avalos' clothing was also packaged and sent to the lab If the stains found on the jacket and shower curtain were blood, forensic scientists would need to compare it to the detective's Carly. Cortez asked his family for personal items that could provide them with a DNA sample. They were rebuilding a case that they knew the longer it took them, the hopes of finding the girl alive grew.

They lost weight, hoping the evidence would be the break they needed to lead them to the missing student. For five days, investigators in New Mexico searched for the missing college student. Carly Martinez, so far the search has not turned up anything. The two men last seen with the young woman stated that they went skating to have a few beers and left her. They know that we picked her up at the door, but the investigators did not believe her story. Blood stains found on the van and on the shower curtain inside one of the suspect's apartments cast even more doubt.

Police obtained a warrant to collect DNA samples from Jason Dest and Jesse Avalos. Destinoyers' body standards appeared with his lawyer. A technician took blood and saliva samples from Detective David's hair. Cortez oversaw the proceedings and looked for any sign that the disloyalists had been in a fight. One of the things I noticed at the time was that he had a large cut on his right hand that was in the process of healing and scabbing over, but you can tell that was a very recent search at this point if you just Neuer refused to allow police to take photographs of the severed body.

Jesse Avalos standards were also collected. All samples were sent to the State Crime Laboratory for comparison. Blood stains were found on both the jacket and the shower curtain. Forensic scientist Mark Salvo conducted the examinations. First, Salvo extracted DNA from Carly's personal items to compare it to samples found on the jacket and then applied a chemical solution to the stains on Des Neuer's jacket. It looks like there is some discoloration up here in this area. I'm going to do a presumptive test for blood. I have a colorless solution. It will turn a dark pink color if there is blood.

The jacket tested positive for human blood. Salvo also cleaned the shower curtain found in Jesse's apartment using the same method he discovered there was blood on both sides of the shower curtain, these were collected and marked. Searching for evidence, Salvo then compared the blood found on the jacket and shower curtain and was shocked by the findings: the blood on these items came from three separate individuals and he discovered that the DNA matched not only both suspects but also with the victim. I think it's just unusual in a case like that where you can link three individuals to one piece of evidence to be able to show that these three individuals were injured and bleeding and left their material in this article or that some of the individuals took DNA and left it in That element, the police still did not know if Carly was alive or dead and they believe that the only people who did know were their two suspects, since Jason Des Neueres had cooperated at first.

Detective Cortez was hoping he would speak now when we tried to contact Snowy Jason. I found out from his lawyer and family that his whereabouts were unknown, so we moved in with Jesse Avalos Cortez, hoping that one On The Run suspect would get the other to put in a good word, without wanting to reveal his hand, The detective played it. Great and I just asked Jesse for help on the case, yeah, and we explained to him that we wanted to talk about Carly and if he would help us, he would give us any information that he had or that he knew one of the things that we explained to Jesse.

It was how the family felt not knowing the whereabouts of their daughter, as if their tactic was beginning to bear fruit. With that, Jesse from the Blues told us, let's get in the car, let's go for a drive, the terrain around Las Cruces is so isolated that If a person wanted to hide something out there or someone out there they could do it very easily Jesse Avalos took Detective Cortez to a remote place in the desert Jesse pointed out a place where the desnoyers had burned incriminating items what Cortez found among the ashes was chilling there There were remains of clothing and accessories.

Metal zippers and rivets, glasses, a woman's lipstick, and a compact case. One article was particularly revealing. The main thing that caught our attention was the keys that didn't burn. They were keys that we knew were Carly's bedroom number. task force as if they could contact me Jesse told Detective Cortez that Jason killed Carly and burned her personal items in an attempt to destroy the evidence. This is the first statement from him that he actually links to Jason in terms of trapping Carly and killing her. Jesse tried to retrace Jason's steps the night Carly was killed, but it was dark and they couldn't locate the young woman.

Contact me on my cell phone, but even without a body, Detective Cortez knew they were close to solving the case, at least here we have it. Jesse talked to us and at least we have a place to work with the detectives, then they had a difficult task. They called Carly's parents to identify the items found at the burn site. Mr. and Mrs. Martinez confirmed that the keys and earrings were their daughters' and then the detective. Cortez got an important call behind your head, he takes a step towards me, keeps walking, leaves him over the railing in the early morning hours of March 17th.

I received a call that Jason Destroyers had been located outside of San Diego, California, the officer recognized Jason. from one of the mugshot booklets, only by luck were we able to locate and arrest Jason Des Neuyers was transported back to Las Cruces and formally booked for the murder of Carly Martinez. Once Jason was in custody, Jesse Avalos was arrested for tampering. With evidence, investigators knew that without a body it would be more difficult, but not impossible, to convict them of murder. It's very important to find this body, not just for the family, which was a big concern for us because we still needed to process these guys, the police.

He led an extensive search around the fire scene. Hundreds of search personnel were on hand to try to locate the remains given the immensity of the desert. Authorities knew the search could take weeks. All Detective Cortez continued to pit one suspect against the other convinced that it was just a matter of time before one of them collapsed, we decided to meet with Jesse and tell him, hey, we located Jason and he's blaming you now. Jesse Jesse tells us, well, I'll tell you, I'll come out clean. now and I'll tell you where he is and I'll take you right to his body, we told Jesse, okay, this is your last and last chance and record May with us through canines how we want to do it right.

I will keep you ready to run when we can contact you Jesse Avalos again showed the detective several areas where he thought the body was located, even with the help of University Police border patrol agents and search dogs they found nothing, so that Detective Cortez came up with one more strategy on our way. we made sure that Jesse saw Jason and that this was not forceful after seeing Jesse Avalos helping the police. Jason Disnoyers now began to accuse his friend of the murder; he claimed that he could show the police where Avalos had buried the body.

Jason now led detectives to several locations, but Carly's body was not found. Frustrated officials continued searching on their own. The rescue team made a gruesome discovery not far from the fire scene. We heard over our police radio that one of our civilian search and rescue riders had located what he believed to be a body. confirmed it was the body of a young woman after 67 days of investigation, the police finally found the missing college student when we got there, we knew it was Carly, we finally found her, the body was exposed to the harsh elements of the desert for more Two months old and severely decomposed, she was removed for an autopsy.

Police believe that the forensic evidence obtained at the autopsy would not only reveal how she died but would also secure the conviction of her killers. Police in Las Cruces, New Mexico, had arrested Jason. des noyers and Jesse Avalos in connection with The disappearance and murder of college freshman Carly Martinez during a two-month investigation came to an end after police discovered Carly's body at a remote site in the desert. The body was transported to the coroner's office for an autopsy. Decatur Patricia Mcfeely's first goal was to make a positive identification of the body. The body's dental records easily confirmed that the victim was Carly Martinez.

An initial assessment of the body revealed signs of sexual assault and 27 knife wounds. Well, we were looking for the cause of death. There were multiple areas of injury. She had stab wounds. in her chest and she had stab wounds to the head and blunt force trauma to the head area as well. Dr. Vince Stefan, a specialist in skeletal biology and forensic anthropology, was asked to examine the wounds and determine the type of weapon used at the time. The deceased had been in the desert for a couple ofmonths, so it was in advanced data decomposition, so looking at external wounds on the skin didn't necessarily give a good indication of what actually happened in those areas.

McFeely and Stefan ordered with some other type of object left a clear impression that it was not made by a knife Stefan and McFeely speculated that the other instrument matched the pattern of a set of needle nose pliers two weapons could mean two attackers and any of the wounds could having caused Carly's death, it would suggest that two people were doing something or that one person had an instrument for some reason left that one and took another one investigators knew the second scenario was unlikely with this analysis and the other evidence the police pieced together how The murder occurred that night after skating on the Snowyers and Avalos took Carly to the desert to continue drinking and then raped her desert.

We believe that when they took Carly with them in the van sitting between them, they were in control and thought they could have them. They could get away with what they did, which you know, was to rape her for what they had done to her. At that time, they couldn't let him target her, then they killed her and left her body in a remote place in the hope that she would never do it. Being found, coming here, was not the ending Detective Cortez had hoped for. Here we had an 18-year-old college girl who was just starting her life away from home before the first time and she just said, "You know how this could happen to anyone's daughter, anyone's son, Jesse." Avalos was convicted of first degree murder and received a life sentence.

Jason Des Neueres was also convicted and is currently serving a life sentence. Some murderers take advantage of those they know, gain their trust, and make crimes easier to commit. Others depend on the vulnerability of strangers Virginia highways offer panoramic views of the surrounding countryside, but on the morning of January 23, 1995, on a remote stretch, a gruesome discovery was made shortly before Dawn 911 operators in Virginia County Washington received a call about a dead body near Interstate 81 Central 835. Respond to northbound I-81 just before Exit 10. The responding officer found a half-naked woman lying in the middle of the road. The Washington County Crime Scene Unit processed the area.

Prime technicians photographed the site and searched for evidence that investigators were unable to identify. They did not find a purse or any identification on the victim at the scene. Police also recovered a plastic bag that had been partially wrapped around the victim's head. More evidence was found near a pair of pets believed to be the victims. Three pieces in your pocket. There was a piece of paper on which were written two phone numbers, both out of state 304. I believe in Florida the pieces of evidence were packaged and sent to the state crime lab. Investigators also found another important piece of evidence: a set of bloody tire tracks, Detective Kenneth.

Wilson investigated the case, there were some obvious tire track marks leading from the woman's body towards the northbound ramp of I-81 North and upon going down the ramp it became apparent that the vehicle had run over the woman's legs. Forensic technicians photographed the footprints. It was evident that they were made by a very large truck. Detective Ross Sheets also worked the case. The footprints left in the road when the victim's right leg was run over left marks that appeared to be those of a tractor and trailer on the diameter and revolution of the tire led us to believe that it was actually a tractor and trailer removed and After a while detectives canvassed the rural area to see if anyone had heard anything unusual.

Police found a man who remembered hearing a truck around 3 a.m. and he told police that he heard the truck idling for several minutes, then heard it turn and return to the Interstate and was a mechanic who worked on tractor trailers. He did not see the vehicle, but he was sure the engine was a Peterbilt engine and thought the trucker might still be there. In the area, police moved quickly and alerted weigh stations along the interstate that a possible murder suspect may be traveling north in a Peterbilt-powered truck. We also notified the Virginia State Police, West Virginia State Police, Maryland State Police, and North Carolina State Police.

You should also keep an eye out for any tractors and trailers, there may be signs of blood, hair or human tissue on that vehicle. Those attending the weigh stations took a close look at each trailer. The search found nothing unusual. The Washington County Coroner's Office performed an autopsy on the body officially identified as Jane Doe. The medical examiner determined that the victim was between 40 and 50 years old. There were marks on her neck that indicated she was strangled. X-rays revealed that the victim's neck was broken. I also suspected sexual assault, but no foreign DNA. She recovered well, the medical examiner concluded that due to the presence of insects and the level of decomposition, the victim had been dead for approximately 12 hours before being abandoned on the road.

Forensic specialists took the victim's fingerprints and palm prints in hopes of identifying them both. Sets of prints were analyzed through several national databases. A match was located in Bloomington, Indiana. The victim was identified as Wanda Jean Turner, 45 years old. Police learned that her fingerprints were in the system due to a previous arrest on a trespassing charge. Authorities now needed to locate Wanda. family and notify them of her death when they spoke with them, they also hoped to gather additional information about her background to assist in the investigation. She was known to frequent various truck stops and travel from various parts of the country simply traveling. with Truckers, but her family didn't give detectives much to go on, they hadn't seen or heard from her in months with very little to guide them, investigators would have to track Wanda's movements in the days and hours leading up to his death that they observed.

The phone numbers found in her pocket, one of the numbers was that of a taxi company in Gainesville, Florida. Investigators contacted the Gainesville Police Department and asked for assistance. They hoped someone at the taxi company would remember Wanda. Gainesville police showed photos of Wanda to taxi drivers. The man recognized her, the taxi driver told the police that he took her to the bus station around 11 a.m. m. on January 22. He remembered that she was only carrying a plastic bag, but Wanda didn't mention where she was going. We lost our trail and everything went cold, but in the end.

The place where we were able to locate her alive was in Gainesville, Florida, getting on a bus. Detectives sheets believed the victim's body was dumped in Virginia approximately 16 hours later, the investigation expanded to five states, strained the resources of the Washington County Sheriff's Office and sent detectives to different addresses all stops. of trucks basically from Roanoke Virginia to Gainesville Florida Distributing these posters and requesting all the information, they hoped that someone had seen Wanda Turner with a truck driver, but no one remembered seeing her and the case went cold little by little, less than a month later .

The murder of Wanda Turner, the body of a woman was found on an interstate highway near Greensboro, North Carolina, the crime scenes were eerily similar once again, the victim was partially naked and her body had been run over by a truck if the same killer was responsible for both crimes, he couldn't Police knew they needed to work quickly before more women turned up dead as Virginia detectives pieced together the murder investigation of Wanda Jean Turner, 45, another body was found in North Carolina. The newly discovered victim was found partially naked. abandoned near an interstate, both crime scenes were similar and investigators believed they were looking for a killer.

The medical examiner determined that this victim was strangled. The first victim's fingerprints were processed through the national database. Like the first victim, she also had a record of a misdemeanor. Georgia police positively identified her as Cindy Buckley. They located Cindy's family. They said that Cindy lived in Florida and did not keep in constant contact, although the last time she called she said she was going to visit relatives in Maryland about two months ago. Earlier when she called, she was at a truck stop and said she was fine. I'm going to be like you know, yes you know, a couple of weeks and then I have to go.

Actually yes, 13. Since phone calls home were very infrequent. No one reported her missing and there were no more leads exactly one month later in Kingsport Tennessee another woman was found dead near the Interstate she was discovered 30 miles from the first victim to the detectives leaves there was no doubt that all the murders were related to crime scenes. Similarly, the girls appeared to be placed on a road and had their clothes pulled down. The victim's fingerprints were processed. She was identified as Tina Madsen and, like the previous two victims, Tina had been strangled. Police in five states organized a task force to compare the evidence.

By working together they hope to speed up the search that leads them to a suspect. We have the address, but until now they had nothing. Although investigators believe the killer drove a truck with a Peterbilt engine, they had no idea who he was or how to find him. Extremely difficult. To identify a suspect in this case, those millions of truck drivers in this country and millions of trucks and, as a long shot, to find a suspect at the Virginia State Crime Laboratory in Roanoke, forensic scientists analyzed the only evidence physical that they had, a receipt. a piece of paper and a plastic bag Fingerprint specialist Andrew Johnson examined the evidence but could not reveal any fingerprints on the receipt or the piece of paper.

He then looked at the plastic bag found wrapped around the victim's head. In reality, a plastic bag is a very favorable surface for latent prints, it is quite slippery, it is not porous and if the individual who touches it has perspiration or an oily substrate on their hand, it will leave a very good latent print. Johnson placed the bag in a chamber sealed and then put cyanoacrylate or super glue in a small can and placed it inside a chamber to heat and release the fumes, the glue evaporates and adheres to the oily fingerprints that glow under an alternative light source after three long months or so victims, Andrew Johnson made the discovery he believed would change lives. case, after photographing the latent print, I took the photograph and made a five-fold enlargement of the latent print and then the details of the latent print were traced and transferred to a piece of acetate.

Investigators ran the prince through Virginia's fingerprint identification system. To their surprise, the database found nothing Missouri Alabama fingerprints were their only link to the suspect police believe they were looking for a trucker and now needed to find another way to track him well, we have developed a press release They made copies of the fingerprints taken from the plastic bag and sent them to jurisdictions around the country with this particular evidence, we have a lot of it and just when they were losing hope of finding the Killer all over the country, in Arkansas, investigators got a result. a serial killer was on the loose three murders were linked to the same perpetrator who traveled the interstates in search of unsuspecting women the only clue related to the crimes was a fingerprint found on a shopping bag and after months of finding empty things , investigators finally got a match that the suspect had been arrested in Arkansas on a minor charge several years earlier.

The print belonged to Sean Goble of Asheboro, North Carolina, the Washington County Virginia Sheriff's Office investigator leaves She was optimistic that he was her killer, he was a tractor and trailer truck driver, so we thought we had her man. Hey, Charlie, listen, I have some things to take care of. I will be back. Detective Kenneth Wilson went to North Carolina and questioned the suspected supervisor. Goble was traveling and had toreturn at any time. The supervisor confirmed that not only was Global driving a tractor-trailer, he was driving one with a Peterbilt engine, but Goble's co-workers couldn't believe he was a cold-blooded killer.

Goble was known throughout his department as a quiet, friendly but somewhat reclusive truck driver. but he had a good reputation. Investigators obtained the trucker's trip logs to see if there was any correlation between the location of the bodies and the whereabouts of the suspect. We determined that he was in the obscenity of many murders that occurred across the country, especially the ones that We were looking here locally when Global came out, the detectives were there to meet him. He didn't seem surprised, there was very little reaction from him, but once we told him that he was under arrest and the charge he was being arrested for, he was a little surprised.

Global denied any involvement in the murders. He told police he never knew any of the victims. I don't think I saw her before while Gobel was detained at the Winston-Salem Police Department. Investigators processed his truck inside and found a purse containing the driver's license of the final victim, Tina Madsen. They also collected numerous strands of hair and found what appeared to be blood when detectives confronted Global with the evidence found in his truck and in the plastic bag, he admitted that he had picked up the women, but claimed that they were alive when he dropped them off, police obtained a search warrant for his home inside his bedroom closet.

They made a gruesome discovery. Police found purses, women's shoes and underwear and other personal items. Investigators believed Goebel was collecting memories from each victim and evidence was accumulating against him. -gobel finally confessed to the three murders there was a plastic bag he looked at us for a moment or two and admitted it was him his reaction from then on was somewhat subtle he was very cooperative his response was really I'm glad this is over, But I'd like to leave it behind and get back on the road, yes, but Detective Wilson knew I wasn't going anywhere. Global told police what happened the night he picked up Wanda Turner near Virginia Wanda. she asked the truck driver to take her he said he agreed and killed her then he put the plastic bag over her head to prevent blood from staining the seats the confession gave investigators more than they needed to lead to the killer in court we started a crime scene with three pieces of paper and two phone numbers and a plastic bag like a million and one shots trying to locate this individual his confessions allowed Global to avoid the death penalty he received three consecutive life sentences Murderers may lure unwitting victims by blindly gaining their trust to commit murder, but coroners can piece together the details of their crimes, gather the evidence needed to convict, expose the perpetrator's lies, and bring them to justice in Northern California. , a car crashes into an embankment in the dead of night, rescue workers rush to save a couple are trapped inside, but the routine investigation takes an unexpected turn when details about the victims are revealed, Not far away in Palo Alto, a woman is found dead at the bottom of the basement stairs.

The assets investigate the accident and begin to question. Sometimes first impressions mask the truth. a tragic accident a happy marriage a solid alibi for a murder all of this is under scrutiny solve the demanding cases investigators must sift through the debris of broken foreign votes some of the names have been changed El Dorado County California the Golden Country where trafficking is light, barely lit roads are the norm October 27, 1992 one such road offered a deadly curve around 8 p.m. a man driving alone noticed the headlights drifting in his rearview mirror she a Crunch when he looked back the car was gone fearing someone was seriously injured he turned around and stopped on the side of the road foreigner ran to help the woman sat motionless her partner sat stunned and in pain fire emergency a car went over the embankment there are people injured yes there are two people inside and I think the driver is dead the other boys are very injured units of the Folsom fire department California Highway Patrol officers and other emergency personnel rushed to the scene rescue workers carrying equipment help each other down the Steep embankment paramedics confirmed the woman was dead the passenger identified himself as Mitch McClees said she couldn't move her legs the paramedics suspected internal injuries when they asked her about the accident she said she didn't remember much I told her I was a friend of the woman driving her driver's license identified her as Susan Moyer A 52-year-old woman from El Dorado said He must have fallen asleep when he woke up.

They were in the ditch. Paramedics took the passenger to Sacramento Medical Center for treatment. An El Dorado Sheriff's Department deputy arrived at Susan Moyer's home around 11 pm. He told Ken Moyer that his wife had died in a car accident. The deputy asked questions gathering information about Ken's wife, Susan. and his passenger Mitch Mclease Moyer said that Mclees was one of his employees and also told him that Mclees helped them move to California from Sarasota. Florida and today, so tomorrow I'll start cooking. Ken and Susan were newlyweds and McLean stayed to work on his new house that night.

Moyer had to leave for an appointment around 7:15 and was unable to take Mclees back to his hotel. Susan offered to take him when he finished. Moyer said that when he returned home around 8:30, Susan was still not home and He began to worry, he drove around her looking for her. Moyer told the officer that he blamed himself for the accident. He said that if he had taken me to McLean's house. Susan would still be alive. No. I left the next day. An autopsy was performed. X-rays revealed that the victim's fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae had been fractured and dislocated.

Susan Moyer had broken her neck. The victim's eyes were black and swollen, indicating Susan's head hit the steering wheel on impact, according to police reports, the car had rolled down the steep embankment, the coroner determined that her injuries were consistent with the accounts, the death was considered accidental. Susan's body was given to her husband, she was cremated and remained sent to her hometown of Sarasota, Florida, for burial, the police must investigate all traffic accident deaths and went to the hospital to follow up with the passenger Mitch McClees. The nurse informed the officer that Mclees would not let doctors perform any tests and had examined himself hours earlier.

Against doctor's orders at the El Dorado Sheriff's Office, tenant Jim Roloff had questions. The only witness to the accident had left town and seemed suspicious. The victim was seriously injured and was reportedly in the hospital dying. He left and went to his house in Washington, Washington state. So you know, at that point things started to not look very good. Lieutenant Roll-off reviewed the autopsy report looking for anything out of the ordinary. He found nothing, but all that was about to change in Sarasota, Florida. A detective from the special investigations unit relayed information to the lieutenant. Roloff, of Susan Moyer's family, said they did not believe her death was an accident.

Florida investigators told Roloff that they conducted a preliminary background check on Moyers Construction and discovered that Susan recently received a $3.7 million settlement when her first husband was murdered. In a small plane accident, according to family members, Ken Moyer entered her life shortly after receiving the money. This information raised suspicions. Yes, Roloff and her team decided to reexamine the accident. The first thing that had to be established was how this woman died and in fact it was as a result of the injury suffered in the accident or was it due to other memes. The California Highway Patrol's major crash investigation team, known as Mate, was called in to help find an answer at the scene.

Investigators reconstructed the crash and measured the slope of the embankment and the length of the tracks. tires to how the car ended up in the ditch Paul Whiting finished the investigation, we get an approximate speed of the vehicle, the amount of time it took for it to stop from that moment you can calculate the forces the approximate forces the vehicle experienced as it dissipated its energy to stop The broken branches would also help measure the force of the car's descent the greater the damage the harder and faster the car fell although the trees showed scars from the accident Whiting and his team found that the damage was minimal.

We determined that there simply was not enough force generated on the vehicle and therefore on the vehicle's occupants to produce the fatal injuries that she received. We received that the investigation team now needed to closely examine the car that had been towed to the impounded parking lot the night of the accident. Paul Whiting was baffled. He found the condition of the car to be particularly unusual. He found no significant damage to the interior of the car. We check the steering wheel. It was not bent in any direction. There were no marks on the dashboard. The pedals were all intact.

There was nothing inside the car that would have suggested significant human impact with any of those structures. Investigators looked for blood or fibers to determine if Susan Moyer or her passenger had hit the windshield; no evidence was found on the glass. Whiting concluded that the glass broke from the stress of the collision and not because one of the passengers hit his head on the windshield; the exterior of the car also showed a minor impact. The damage to the left front is the only damage that is significant at most it would represent a speed change of 10 miles per hour.

Now the forces on a 10 mile per hour speed change would be comparable to, I hope, backing into a light pole. from a parked position, so not the type of forces we would expect to see with neck fractures or fatal injuries Whiting and his team found no evidence that the car had overturned that it was involved in a serious accident. Lieutenant Roloff read the companion. report and became more skeptical you start down this path everything you are developing says this accident is not what it appears to be the authorities now believed that Susan Moyer's death was not an accident but proving that would not be easy Susan's body had been cremated and all physical evidence of her death destroyed in El Dorado California Susan Moyer was found dead at the scene of a car accident after reconstructing the accident, investigators now believed she had been murdered and discovered there was a possible motive through of suspicion after learning that the victim's new husband was on his way. to inherit nearly four million dollars after her death, Detective Sergeant Hal Lamb of the homicide division discussed his partner's findings with Lieutenant Jim Roloff.

They were telling us that the forces involved in this accident were enough to cause her neck to be broken because Susan Moyers had been cremated. Detective Sergeant Lamb had to rely on the original autopsy report and the details observed at the scene. Fortunately, on the night of the incident we had an investigator from Sheriff's Corner come out and take a series of photographs of Susan inside the vehicle, so we had those who worked with the photographs reveal the position of the body's blood patterns on the face. of the victim and bruises around the eyes. Armed with this new information, investigators turned to the Sacramento Department of Forensic Services and Chief Medical Examiner Gregory Schmunk reviewed reports, photographs and eyewitness accounts. from the emergency personnel at the scene the description that there were bruises around both eyes seconds or minutes after the accident, as described by the paramedic at the scene, would be very unusual, bruises take some time to appear because the blood has to be filtered through those soft tissues that indicated to me that the death had occurred before she ran off the road.

The photographs also showed patterns of dried blood on the victim's face. These blood stains ran down the side of the victim's face. victim toward his ear, but the effects of gravity after the accident should have caused blood to drip down the front of his face. The pattern of blood on the body was not consistent with the way she was positioned in the vehicle. He closely examined the autopsy report in light of the police's analysis of the accident.California Highway Patrol. There was a fracture in the middle of her neck that was not consistent with any type of fracture she had seen in a car accident like the type Susan was in.

There was no rollover. There was no significant impact, so the location of the fracture. It was unusual for that type of incident. I concluded that Susan Moyer's broken neck and therefore cause of death was not due to a car accident. Now they needed to find out exactly how this woman died and who wanted her dead. Although it was worth it, I think they turned to her husband Ken Moyer and the sole survivor of the accident, Mitch McClees, but Mclees had abruptly left town after the accident. Ken Moyer had returned to his home in Florida, where he owned a sporting goods store.

The police spoke to them. Those closest to the couple hoped to know more about their relationship. His close friend Kyle Dallinger lived nearby. Kyle told police that Ken Moyer was distraught the day after the accident. Moyer asked him if he would take him to the hospital to pick up his friend Mitch McClees. who was checking on the neighbors said he saw Ken Moyer and Mcclees a foreign plane ticket he was not going home but was moving to a small town outside of Seattle given this new information the police were beginning to uncover a really murderous plot we felt that Ken Moyer was The brains behind all of this we thought it was a homicide on our money at the time and we felt that Mitch McClease was just a hired hand and he went to Washington to interview McLees when the detectives identified themselves, I was shocked .

Yes, actually. were detected by the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department I'm Detective Hal Land, this is Detective Bill Wilton, we're here to talk about the accidents you were involved in with Susan Moyer McLean stuck to the story that Susan was driving and he had fallen asleep. He said he woke up just as the car was hurtling down the embankment. They know what caused the accident because of everything they had discovered. The detectives knew they weren't getting the whole story. The decision cannot tell us what happened. He was lying. That's not the question. He was lying, but we didn't really have enough physical evidence to arrest him at that time.

They needed more, so Lt. Roloff sent detectives to Sarasota, Moyer's hometown, to talk to the people who knew them best. While collecting information on the Moyers and their employee Mitch McClees, detectives learned of an affair Ken Moyer was having with a woman named Betty Ann Brown. Detectives interviewed Brown, who admitted that she had been dating Ken for the past two years and she was shocked. When she found out he was getting married, but he assured her that his marriage would not interfere with their relationship, Ken Moyer continued to see Betty Anne regularly once I believe she admitted that they had had an intimate encounter just before the wedding. the day of the funeral they had on the counter after the funeral and even gave us the location and time of the motel where they met him the detectives began interviewing the employees at Ken's sporting goods store and it seemed like If everyone had a similar story.

According to everyone who knew him, Ken's marriage to Susan was not about love. We learned it from everyone we had interviewed. It was evident that Ken Moyer had married Susan for her money and didn't really care about Susan. Asked. He had told one of his employees that it was a question and answer question, hey, Eddie, do you know why someone gets married? and Eddie says for love and Ken says no, it's for money. The police now had a clear motive, but the crime and crime scene were still unclear. He now believed that the accident was staged to cover up Susan's murder, but linking Ken Moyer and Mitch McClees to The Killing would require more than a motive for the government.

California detectives began investigating an accident but ended up uncovering a murder they believed Ken Moyer had paid one of his employees to kill his wife Susan, although the circumstantial evidence was compelling, they had no physical evidence. Investigators Lamb and Roloff now believed they knew how Susan had died, but they still had no direct evidence to prove that Moyer or McKees had killed her, four months after her murder. An accident, a newspaper article caused a local handyman to contact the police, the worker told detectives that Ken Moyer had hired him to re-grout some tiles in the first layer of his hallway, it wouldn't be a problem and I would just stream everything, but I wanted to get out and everything. taken out completely redone, okay, Chuck, here's the place.

Warrior explained that he had spilled cherry-colored cough medicine and it had penetrated the grout. The worker told Moyer that he did not need to replace the grout, just scrape and reapply the grout to the stained areas. Mr. Moyer. insisted that he remove all the dirt and replace it all and told us that while he was removing the grout, Mr. Moyer was sitting there with a vacuum cleaner sucking up the state grout and described precisely where the tiles were located as the tiles were porous . I felt sure there were still some red spots left. This is the area by the door that we're in and we're really worried about the type of tile.

The stage where he came in and pointed us to an area right here. Police obtained a warrant to search Moyer Faye and Springer's home, a Sacramento County criminalist examined the tiles for blood stains, a preliminary examination revealed no external signs of blood, okay, I think what we'll do is spray this area first and then work with our Way to the door, the Springer work system sprayed the area with a chemical called fluorescein that glows in the presence of minute amounts of blood, it doesn't identify the blood, it just gives you areas of interest and There are at least two areas of interest at the gate.

At the entrance, what we then did was request that those tiles be physically removed because the amount of blood was not visible to the naked eye, so we wanted to look at the sides of the tiles to see if blood could have leaked between the tiles. Actual ceramics and tiles that came in through the grout were taken to the lab and indeed the blood test came back positive. Springer then had to determine whether or not this was Susan Moyers and was not sure this could be done, the amount of material was marginal for the test, it is very difficult to analyze the blood stains found in the grout or the cement, but I thought there might be enough presence on the tiles that they could get enough DNA material.

Springer was right, the sample contained enough DNA for comparison testing with the victim's DNA. he proved that the blood on the tiles was Susan Moyers on March 27, 1993. Ken Moyer was arrested in Sarasota, Florida and returned to California. Investigators reconstructed the events that led to Susan's murder. Ken Moyer had courted and married her for money after the wedding he moved her to. California, away from loved ones who would ask too many questions, okay? Moyer recruited Mitch Mcclees and gave him money to help him carry out the murder on the night of October 27, 1992. Mclees sneaked up behind the unsuspecting victim and broke his neck with the force of the break causing him to bleed. nose and blood splattered on the ground her death was instantaneous detectives believe Ken Moyer helped mclees put his wife's body in the car and I think that's what Mitch Mcclees said in the passenger seat and he walked over and steered the vehicle and probably operated the gas with his left foot Ken Moyer was found guilty of the first degree murder of Susan Moyer was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Mitch McClees was also found guilty of first degree murder and received a sentence identical to the that some murderers will go Great efforts are made to hide their true nature and hide their crimes, but in Palo Alto, California, it is the secret itself that unmasks a murderer.

Palo Alto is an affluent San Francisco bedroom community in the heart of Silicon Valley that can offer a sense of security and refuge. far from urban life, but sometimes danger is closer than it seems Emergency 9-1-1 on May 5, 2000 the police dispatch received a 9-1-1 call a woman had fallen through the stairs and was not breathing, the dispatcher alerted the Palo Alto police and the rescue team that rushed to the scene arrived at the residence of Marianne and William Slater. Despite all the rescue efforts, it was too late. Marianne Slater could not be revived. and send me to a corner and spot this place two classes today there's one at 10 20.

Detective Mike Denson spoke with the victim's husband, William Slater, he told the investigator that nothing unusual happened that day, he said, after After a morning run, Marianne left around 10 o'clock to teach a piano lesson and left the house an hour later to inspect a new construction site. She stayed at the site until 1:00 p.m. m. to work when she left for lunch with some friends Williams said he got a call from work from her wife she came home didn't show up for her second class she was home when I left, did you try the phone her cell phone?

She became worried and called home several times. There was no answer. William also told Detective Denson that it was not unusual for Marianne to return home between classes when she returned home. Iran discovered the tragic accident. She said she looked up the stairs and she was lying on the stairs and she was unresponsive. She told me that she believed she had fallen down the stairs and noticed that she was wearing these particular shoes and she knew that she had fallen in those shoes before. He then speculated that she was carrying something down the stairs and tripped over her shoes and fell down the stairs, by all accounts it looked like a terrible accident.

Marianne Home Alone had tripped, hit her head and died. An initial assessment of the scene indicated that the Victim appeared to have been doing laundry when she fell, like all unattended deaths. Marianne Slater's body was sent to the forensic laboratory for an autopsy. Medical examiner's assistant Diane Vertis performed the examination and quickly became suspicious of the nap. Well, initially we looked for injuries consistent with the story that she fell down a flight of stairs, which we found was very different than what we were led to believe. Examination of the diary revealed seven separate wounds on all different parts of the head.

What's very important about this is that these lacerations were not consistent with a single event they were much more consistent with multiple blows to the head, you can feel that fracture in the crosswalk, what about the neck? We also found some hand injuries and the hand injuries were more consistent with what we call defensive movements, well we have a quarter inch laceration there, the evidence suggested that Marianne Slater was beaten to death while trying to defend herself from her attacker. An internal examination revealed additional injuries to Marianne's neck that refer to a simple fall down the stairs, something we saw some signs of externally and became more evident on internal examination.

Dr. Vertis called Dr. Gregory Schmunk, the chief medical examiner of Santa Clara County. I first became involved in research on a Friday afternoon when I received a phone call from one of my investigators saying that a woman had fallen down stairs. I told him that I proceeded as usual with his investigation and the next thing I heard about the case was when I heard the autopsy findings that those findings were not consistent with a fall down the stairs after reviewing crime scene photographs. Dr. Schmunk agreed with Dr. Vertis's findings that Marianne's injuries did not occur from falls;

That examination led me to conclude that most of the hits to the back of her head were not with a conspicuous object, but rather that her head was more likely impacted against a straight surface or possibly a right-angled surface. The death was not an accident, this was a murder, yes, in Palo Alto. Marianne Slater was found dead in her home from what appeared to be an accidental fall, but an autopsy revealed injuries that were inconsistent with this initial assessment. Now it seemed that Marianne was beaten and strangled. Mike Denson of the Palo Alto Police Department believed that a recent series of robberies in the neighborhood could provide a possible scenario.

Over the past six months there have been several residential burglaries in the South Gate neighborhood, which was a consideration of mine when I began this investigation. He verified previous reports. Denson theorized that the robber might have been surprised by Marianne and killed her to prove her theory. Investigators obtained a search warrant and returned to the home. They checked the outer perimeter looking for signsof a raid. There were no signs of forced entry inside. the house forensic examiners needed to determine the exact location of her death they started with the basement steps forensic technicians use the chemical luminol to locate the presence of blood if Marianne had really fallen and hit her head there would be a definite pattern of blood There was no splash on the stairs from the basement, they went back and examined other parts of the house since the basement door opened into the kitchen, they started there, we found the kitchen of the house, we knew at that point we were going to have to make luminol to recover a clean crime scene and that was our next course of action was to bring in the luminol experts to spray liminal and detect blood stains if a room hid a damn secret luminol would find it and in this case it did exactly that someone had tried to cover up a violent act the medical examiner Gregory idiot the luminol test revealed that there was a lot of blood throughout the house, especially in the kitchen and adjacent bathroom, it seemed that there had been a main crime scene in the kitchen where she He had been assaulted and then the attacker had gone to the bathroom and probably washed himself.

A large amount of blood was discovered and no amount of cleaning could hide it. The kitchen floor glowed with the telltale signs of murder upon closer inspection of the glow patterns. A partial imprint of the left shoe appeared. Marianne Slater had been murdered in the kitchen and her body was moved to the bottom of the stairs afterwards. A thief would have no reason to clean up a crime scene and stage a murder to make it look like an accident. Marianne probably knew her. murderer As a matter of routine the police needed to rule out Marianne's husband, William, as a suspect.

They first verified his alibi starting with his phone calls. Thank you. Waiting for anything that could lead to a break in the case. Investigators collected the caller ID chart from Slater's phone along with Marianne's address book at the State Crime Laboratory and a DNA profile was made from blood found in Slater's kitchen. The profile was then compared to DNA extracted from Marianne's body during the autopsy, to no one's surprise, they matched. Police canvassed Slater's neighborhood. To see if anyone had witnessed anything suspicious on the day of the murder, a neighbor told Sergeant Denson that a silver truck blocked the alley behind the Slater house around 12:30 that day, pay attention to that vehicle because It was wide enough and the street was narrow enough that it was easy for him to get around it, so he noticed it and took note of the middle.

At that point he couldn't go anywhere for half an hour. Police knew William Slater was driving a silver pickup truck. This would indicate that William was actually in the neighborhood at the time of the murder, not at the workplace, as he had previously told detectives. An officer searched the construction area for any evidence or anyone who could corroborate William's story. He found nothing across the street. The officer noticed a driving range. Since he had a pretty good view of the vacant lot, he questioned the golf club employee to see if she had seen anyone there on the day in question.

The employee said she knew William and, although he was working that afternoon, she had not. She saw him or anyone else there. Detective Denson took a closer look at the rest of William's story. Slater's caller ID recorded a call from Marianne's work and several calls from William's cell phone. Denson tracked the location of the calls or pressed soon to make a call. The phone will look for the strongest signal or nearest cell site to call since it was telling me it was on 101 on Woodside Road, in theory it should have been at a cell site near that location, in fact it was at a cell site which was close to his house.

It seemed as if the police couldn't eliminate William Slater as a murder suspect, his alibi was falling apart. Police believed the man who just days ago looked like the grieving widower was actually a stairwell killer, but to prove it, investigators knew they needed physically. link it to the accident. Well, Palo Alto investigators believed that William Slater had staged an accident to cover up the murder of his wife. Now they had to prove it. The autopsy revealed that Marianne had been beaten and strangled. Ium's alibi had collapsed, but he had not. seems to have a reason from all reports the Slaters were happy because they recently celebrated their 25th anniversary and had two children together to find out more Detective Denson called Marianne's friends and family my intention was to call all the friends I could discover in the address book and to see if I could find a possible motive and I was just calling to ask if they could think of anything that could help in the investigation and I finally found a friend who was aware of an affair that occurred about 20 years ago.

Edward Dale had been a friend of Marianne. for most of her life Hello, how are you doing sir, I'm Sergeant Mike Denson with the Palo Alto Police Department. Denson interviewed Dale about his relationship with Marianne and William told the detective that he had an affair with Marianne during the time of the affair from which Marianne became pregnant. Dale's son, William Slater, raised the child as his own, not suspecting that he was not the child's father. The last time Dale saw Marianne, she told him that she planned to reveal her secret to her son on her graduation day.

Dale said he was relieved that the secret was out. After too long, the family's secret provided police with a possible motive and Detective Denson investigated some more. I did a thorough investigation using the FBI's financial analyst unit in Virginia and had them do a full check of the financial records. He found out that the Slaters had money. The problems and their finances were decreasing. He was doing his own business, but it wasn't generating much income, so we basically found that they were bankrupt. Denson learned through friends that Marianne was unaware of his financial problems. William Slater seemed to have a lot of secrets. but investigators still had no physical evidence linking him to the murder.

Police obtained a search warrant to examine the vehicle he was driving the day his wife was killed. The truck was impounded and forensic technicians searched the interior for evidence hidden under the front seat. -shirt a stain was discovered that appeared to be blood the shirt was packaged and marked as evidence a search of the back seat revealed a pair of athletic shoes the technician noticed several red stains on them they were sent to the State Crime Laboratory to analyze samples of The stains on both the shoes and the shirt tested positive for human blood to determine whose blood it was.

DNA was extracted from the samples following a careful procedure to avoid contamination of the evidence. A computer-assisted comparison was made between the samples and the DNA of the victim Marianne Slater matched, but a small amount of blood might not hold up in court and could possibly be explained. An impression expert examined the left shoe found in the Williams van to see if it matched the tread pattern found on the footprint in Slater's kitchen after the shoe was inked, a sample impression was carefully made and created. On a slide, a comparison revealed that both impressions had identical tread and matching wear patterns.

The impressions were made by the shoes on the truck. It was the break the police needed on May 19, 2000, two weeks later. the murder of his wife the police arrested William Slater t-shirt although he initially denied any involvement after several hours of interrogation William confessed to killing his wife he became enraged after his wife revealed his infidelity he first tried to strangle her but when she fought back When the he kicked her to death, then placed her body at the foot of the basement stairs to stage the accident and returned to clean up the blood in the kitchen.

Life was shaken to the max and I believe he killed her as a result of the fact that they were also financially unstable at the time and his whole life was about to change or change William Slater was found guilty of second degree murder and sentenced to life in prison life. Killers closest to their victims often believe they can cover up their crimes. and deceive investigators, but more often than not, forensic evidence is discovered that unmasks the deception and brings the perpetrators to justice.