Another Cold Case Solved, by jay7777

[almagata]

Nov 5, 2022 15:15:10 GMT Jay7777 said:

Oregon man arrested in 1974 cold case murders of 2 teens

www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/oregon-man-arrested-in-1974-cold-case-murders-of-2-teens/ar-AA13KIWJ?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=c238f3ffedea4e6b8480bc297513c87d


An Oregon man was arrested this week after being linked to the 1974 cold case homicides of two teenagers, authorities said.

Steven Paul Criss, 65, of Aloha, was a teenager himself when he allegedly used a .22 caliber gun to fatally shoot teens Donald Bartron and Peter Zito Jr. in the parking lot of a recreation center on Oct. 3, 1974, according to a statement from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.

The bodies of Bartron, 16, and Zito Jr., 18, were found on the ground next to a 1956 Oldsmobile that had its hood popped open as the teens worked on it. Bartron and Zito were shot in the head, according to the sheriff’s office.

Det. Mark Povolny said Friday during a news conference that Criss was an early suspect in the case, after he was arrested in December of 1974 for theft and a deputy found a .22 caliber gun. The weapon was tested to see if it matched evidence in the teens’ slayings, Povolny said.

After there was no match, the gun was returned to Criss, who joined the Army and was assigned to Fort Lewis in Washington in 1976. He used the same .22 caliber gun to kill his commanding officer Sgt. Jacob “Kim” Brown, officials said.

Criss had damaged Brown’s car and owed him a few hundred dollars, Povolny said.

“Instead of paying his debt, he shot Sgt. Brown five times in the head," he said.

Criss was sentenced to 35 years in Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, but only served a dozen years and was paroled in 1988, according to the sheriff’s office.

Newspaper accounts in 1976 confirmed Criss was accused of killing Brown and then pleaded guilty in the slaying.

Detectives this year sent the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives evidence for testing, which showed Criss’ .22 caliber gun was used in the teens' 1974 slaying and matched the weapon used to kill Brown only two years later, authorities said.

“The gun Steve Criss used to murder Sgt. Brown was in fact the same gun he used to murder Donny Bartron and Pete Zito Jr.,” Povolny said Friday.Detectives decided to take a second look at the ballistic evidence because testing hadn’t been done in nearly 50 years, Povolny said.

After the ATF determined Criss' gun was used in the separate slaying cases, the Oregon State Police Crime Lab confirmed the match, officials said.

Authorities did not disclose what motive Criss had for allegedly fatally shooting Bartron and Zito Jr.

Barbara Zito, of Kent, Washington, was 26 years old when her brother was killed.

She told NBC News on Friday, "I'm glad there is a shot at justice here."

Zito recalls her younger brother's death was a "profound loss" and not knowing why he was killed was devastating.

Investigators have told her that her sibling might have just been unlucky.

"It looks as though Peter was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," she said. “He was there when his friend was shot and the killer shot my brother because he was an eyewitness.”

Relatives of Bartron were not immediately reached Friday.

A grand jury indicted Criss on two counts of second-degree murder and he was arrested Wednesday. Criss was arraigned on the charges Thursday and was held on no bail, according to officials with the sheriff’s office and district attorney’s office.

A county prosecutor said a defense attorney had not been provided for Criss as of Friday afternoon. Relatives for Criss were not reached Friday.

The sheriff’s office also apologized in its statement and during the Friday news conference for arresting an innocent man for the teens’ slayings in 1974. The charges against that man, Joseph Amir Wilson, were dropped in January 1975, officials said.

“I am extremely thankful the charges were dropped before prosecution,” Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett said Friday. “But that does not change the fact that he spent several months in jail, charged with two murders he did not commit.”

Wilson died in 2000, officials said.

Garrett also praised investigators in the 1974 case, including then-deputy Jim Spinden, who arrested Criss for theft and preserved evidence that led to his arrest 48 years after the teens were slaying.

Well, it will be interesting to see how the ballistics results hold up in court.  A defense attorney is going to have some fun with that evidence. 

[Jay7777]

It is a long one, so I don't have time to post the text like I normally do, just the weblink this time:

www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/how-a-dna-detective-helped-solve-unsolvable-cold-case/ar-AA142Ymk?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=c8f2dbf51cca40ee81e0e34ef032b7d7

[Jay7777]

'Bondi beast' breakthrough: Police link suspect to 31 unsolved sexual assaults

www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/bondi-beast-breakthrough-police-link-suspect-to-31-unsolved-sexual-assaults/ar-AA14llXN

Police believe they have identified a serial rapist known as the "Bondi Beast" after renewed investigations linked a man to dozens of historic attacks committed in Sydney's east.

Advances in DNA technology led Sex Crimes Squad detectives to suspect Keith Simms, 66, preyed on women over the course of 16 years, and was behind 31 unsolved incidents.

Mr Simms, however, will never be charged as he died earlier this year.

NSW Police formed Strike Force Doreen in 2005 to investigate five sexual assaults in the city's eastern suburbs in 2000.

It was later expanded to probe 31 attempted or actual assaults after referrals from the Cold Case Justice Review Project.

Investigators linked 12 offences through DNA and another 19 by modus operandi.

NSW Police Minister Paul Toole congratulated the force's ongoing detective work.

"I think it's a classic example of how committed our police are. I mean here they are, nearly four decades [later], being able to now identify who this individual was," he said.

"Let me put it on the record that this "Bondi Beast" was an animal. This person was a low-life. This person was somebody who doesn't deserve to be even walking in our community.

"Today there will be sense of comfort of knowing who it is, but they will also feel as though this person hasn't done his time."

The first assault happened in Clovelly in 1985 and the last took place at Waverley cemetery in 2001.

The attacks occurred across suburbs including Bondi, Bronte, Randwick, Pagewood, Coogee and Centennial Park.

In 2016, then-Acting Detective Superintendent Mick Haddow told media a global manhunt had been launched to find the culprit.

"Some of these matters involved breaking into people's homes but the majority were committed in public areas, blitz-style attacks," he said.

The unknown assailant targeted woman aged 14 to 55, either by abducting women who were out jogging or breaking into their homes at night.

Police said the earliest incident Mr Simms was linked to via DNA evidence was on September 29, 1987, when a 23-year-old woman was raped in her Randwick unit.

She awoke to a man armed with a knife who put his hand over her mouth and sexually assaulted her.

The last was in a cemetery in October 2000, where a 17-year-old girl was grabbed from behind and sexually assaulted while she was walking home.

Those incidents linked by method began with the assault of a 38-year-old woman who was running at Thompson's Bay in March 1985 and ended at Waverley Cemetery in October 2001.

In total, 13 of the incidents took place in the mid to late 1980s, 13 were spread across in the 1990s and five of them in, or after, the year 2000.

Survivors gave similar descriptions of their attacker — 160 to 180cm tall, dark complexion, wavy hair, brown eyes and a wide nose.

His physique changed from being of "thin build" to "athletic or muscular" as the years went by.

The man always kept his face covered and wore casual clothes, tracksuits, hoodies or footy shorts.

He either threatened his victims with a knife or made them believe he had one on him.

Over the years, the mystery predator was variously labelled the "Centennial Park rapist", the "Bondi rapist", the "tracksuit rapist" and, finally, the "Bondi Beast" in the media.

The fact they were all the same person, as police now believe, would not be known for decades.

All incidents were investigated at the time but police were unable to make any breakthroughs.

It wasn't until new technology became available that police could identify several men linked to a DNA train associated with the victims.

In September this year, it was confirmed Mr Simms' DNA matched the suspect's.

"Strike Force Doreen investigators have since contacted the survivors and advised the man has been identified, but due to the circumstances, no further legal action can be taken," police said in a statement.

Police say the investigation shows survivors of sexual assault should report matters at the earliest opportunity.

[johnnyhands1]

Nov 23, 2022 3:25:31 GMT Jay7777 said:

'Bondi beast' breakthrough: Police link suspect to 31 unsolved sexual assaults

www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/bondi-beast-breakthrough-police-link-suspect-to-31-unsolved-sexual-assaults/ar-AA14llXN

Police believe they have identified a serial rapist known as the "Bondi Beast" after renewed investigations linked a man to dozens of historic attacks committed in Sydney's east.

Advances in DNA technology led Sex Crimes Squad detectives to suspect Keith Simms, 66, preyed on women over the course of 16 years, and was behind 31 unsolved incidents.

Mr Simms, however, will never be charged as he died earlier this year.

NSW Police formed Strike Force Doreen in 2005 to investigate five sexual assaults in the city's eastern suburbs in 2000.

It was later expanded to probe 31 attempted or actual assaults after referrals from the Cold Case Justice Review Project.

Investigators linked 12 offences through DNA and another 19 by modus operandi.

NSW Police Minister Paul Toole congratulated the force's ongoing detective work.

"I think it's a classic example of how committed our police are. I mean here they are, nearly four decades [later], being able to now identify who this individual was," he said.

"Let me put it on the record that this "Bondi Beast" was an animal. This person was a low-life. This person was somebody who doesn't deserve to be even walking in our community.

"Today there will be sense of comfort of knowing who it is, but they will also feel as though this person hasn't done his time."

The first assault happened in Clovelly in 1985 and the last took place at Waverley cemetery in 2001.

The attacks occurred across suburbs including Bondi, Bronte, Randwick, Pagewood, Coogee and Centennial Park.

In 2016, then-Acting Detective Superintendent Mick Haddow told media a global manhunt had been launched to find the culprit.

"Some of these matters involved breaking into people's homes but the majority were committed in public areas, blitz-style attacks," he said.

The unknown assailant targeted woman aged 14 to 55, either by abducting women who were out jogging or breaking into their homes at night.

Police said the earliest incident Mr Simms was linked to via DNA evidence was on September 29, 1987, when a 23-year-old woman was raped in her Randwick unit.

She awoke to a man armed with a knife who put his hand over her mouth and sexually assaulted her.

The last was in a cemetery in October 2000, where a 17-year-old girl was grabbed from behind and sexually assaulted while she was walking home.

Those incidents linked by method began with the assault of a 38-year-old woman who was running at Thompson's Bay in March 1985 and ended at Waverley Cemetery in October 2001.

In total, 13 of the incidents took place in the mid to late 1980s, 13 were spread across in the 1990s and five of them in, or after, the year 2000.

Survivors gave similar descriptions of their attacker — 160 to 180cm tall, dark complexion, wavy hair, brown eyes and a wide nose.

His physique changed from being of "thin build" to "athletic or muscular" as the years went by.

The man always kept his face covered and wore casual clothes, tracksuits, hoodies or footy shorts.

He either threatened his victims with a knife or made them believe he had one on him.

Over the years, the mystery predator was variously labelled the "Centennial Park rapist", the "Bondi rapist", the "tracksuit rapist" and, finally, the "Bondi Beast" in the media.

The fact they were all the same person, as police now believe, would not be known for decades.

All incidents were investigated at the time but police were unable to make any breakthroughs.

It wasn't until new technology became available that police could identify several men linked to a DNA train associated with the victims.

In September this year, it was confirmed Mr Simms' DNA matched the suspect's.

"Strike Force Doreen investigators have since contacted the survivors and advised the man has been identified, but due to the circumstances, no further legal action can be taken," police said in a statement.

Police say the investigation shows survivors of sexual assault should report matters at the earliest opportunity.

From the article:  "Investigators linked 12 offences through DNA and another 19 by modus operandi."

I'd like to know if that means the "19 linked by modus operandi" means there was no DNA to test in all 19 cases (I think it's a question that should be asked, because there have been exonerations based on DNA police had, but did not test until a judge intervened years later after the conviction.) 

Since they tested DNA in 12 cases, I'm guessing they would have tested the other 19 if they had DNA, but still, I'd like the question explicitly asked and answered.

[Jay7777]

Sense he died before they found his identity, they might not bother.

[Jay7777]

DNASolves


Toronto Police Service Uses Othram’s Genetic Testing Platform to Solve the 1983 Murders of Susan Tice and Erin Gilmour
Joseph George Sutherland, 61, of Moosonee, has been arrested for the 1983 assaults and murders of Susan Tice and Erin Gilmour
Solved



In August 1983, a relative of Susan Tice, 45, went to her home on Grace Street to check on her, where he discovered her body in an upstairs bedroom. She had been sexually assaulted and stabbed numerous times. Four months later, in December 1983, a friend went to the home of Erin Gilmour, 22, on Hazelton Avenue and located Erin’s body in a bedroom. She had also been sexually assaulted and stabbed numerous times. The women were not known to one another.

The Toronto Police Homicide and Missing Persons Unit, Cold Case section, has been actively investigating the sexual assaults and murders of these two women since 1983. In 2007, DNA obtained at the crime scenes linked the cases and investigators determined the same man was responsible for both homicides.

Toronto Police made an appeal to the media and the public in November 2008, announcing a reward for information about the homicides, and in March 2016, investigators sent out a YouTube video appealing for any information leading to the identification of a suspect.

In 2019, investigators began an investigation that included the use of forensic genetic genealogy, with the assistance of Othram. The Toronto Police Service and Othram have collaborated on multiple cases, including the 1984 sexual assault and murder of Christine Jessop.

Othram used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile from the remaining trace DNA evidence in the crime. The profile was delivered to the Toronto Police Service and through the use of genetic genealogy, the TPS homicide team was able to identify a suspect in these murders, residing in Moosonee, Ontario. The investigation was led by TPS Detective Steve Smith.

On Friday November 25, 2022, Joseph George Sutherland, 61, of Moosonee, was arrested with the assistance of the O.P.P. He is charged with two counts of First Degree Murder.

“As pleased as we are to bring this individual to justice, it will never bring Erin or Susan back, and on behalf of the Toronto Police Service, I want to express my condolences to their families,” said Chief James Ramer. “After 39 years of dogged police work, our investigators have brought the perpetrator of these terrible crimes to justice. The Toronto Police Service will never give up on finding people who commit crimes in our city and who show a flagrant disregard for people’s lives.”

Toronto Police would like to thank members of our Homicide & Missing Persons Unit, and in particular, our Cold Case team and Forensic Identification team, past and present, for their commitment to bringing this person to justice. TPS would also like to acknowledge the O.P.P for assisting with the investigation.

[johnnyhands1]

Nov 23, 2022 19:52:14 GMT Jay7777 said:

Sense he died before they found his identity, they might not bother.

And some or all of the 19 cases that weren't tested for DNA, may have had DNA that was more difficult to work with (more expensive) than the 12 that were DNA tested.  Still I'd like to know the reason the 19 were not tested.

[vivazapata]

Suspect identified in unsolved 1972 murder, rape case
Investigators seek information on second suspect

VERNAL, Utah – The Uintah County Sheriff’s Office, with help from state investigators and forensic scientists, has identified a suspect in the unsolved 1972 Thanksgiving weekend murder of an Army veteran and rape of the woman who was with the veteran when he was killed.
Daniel Arthur Bell, who died in 2019, has been identified through extensive DNA testing as one of two men suspected of killing Gregory Dahl Nickell nearly 50 years ago at a scenic overlook west of Vernal. Immediately after the killing, Bell and the other man abducted Nickell’s date and later raped her. The identity of the second suspect remains unknown; however, forensic testing is ongoing.
“This case remains open and active,” Uintah County Sheriff Steve Labrum said. “Our investigators continue to develop and follow leads in the pursuit of justice for everyone who has been impacted by this heinous crime.”
Detectives are optimistic that Bell’s identification might bring forth additional information that will lead them to the second suspect, who is believed to be younger than Bell by several years. They want to talk to anyone who might recall the people Bell associated with in 1972, or anyone with any possible information about the case.
“Greg’s family deserves answers. The woman who was sexually assaulted that night deserves answers,” Labrum said. “If you’re the person who can help us give them answers, please come forward now and talk with our investigators.”
On Nov. 26, 1972, Nickell and his date were parked at the scenic overlook sometime after 1 a.m. when a man knocked on Nickell’s car window. Nickell, who had recently returned to Vernal after being honorably discharged from the Army, rolled the window down. The man said there had been a crash. He asked Nickell, 21, to drive into Vernal to report it. Nickell agreed to help. As he turned from the window, the man shot him with a .22-caliber pistol.
The man fired at least three more shots into Nickell’s body before shoving him on top of the 18-year-old woman in the passenger seat, getting into the car and driving onto US-40. The woman told investigators the man pointed a gun at her head and threatened her as he drove. Then a second vehicle pulled up behind them, flashed its headlights and pulled around them. The kidnapper followed the second vehicle and the woman said she realized he had a partner.
The two men, whom the woman referred to as “Tex” and “Johnny” during interviews with investigators, drove to a remote area near current day Brough Reservoir. The woman said she was moved to the backseat of the second vehicle and her head was covered with a coat or blanket. The two men used gas from Nickell’s car to set his vehicle on fire with his body inside.
The men then drove around for several hours with the woman. She told investigators each man raped her once before they left her on the side of the highway near Duchesne, about 60 miles from where she had been abducted. The woman walked to a nearby farmhouse for help and law enforcement was notified.
The woman was unable to provide investigators with a good description of her attackers. She also couldn’t say where they had taken her between the time they killed Nickell and released her. The men kept her head covered for most of her ordeal, she said, so she wasn’t able to see much.
A police officer in Rangely, Colorado, reported encountering a car occupied by two men and a woman that night. It made a U-turn when the driver spotted the officer. The driver sped away, headed toward the Book Cliffs, and the officer was unable to catch him. The sheriff’s office set up roadblocks and conducted a four-day air and ground search of the Book Cliffs, but had no luck finding the men or their vehicle.
Sheriff’s investigators in 1972 also sent more than 30 pieces of evidence to the FBI Crime Lab for analysis. Nothing came of it. The case went cold.
Forensic evidence collected from the woman at the hospital in Vernal shortly after her kidnappers released her, however, turned out to be the key to identifying Bell as a suspect; even though it took almost five decades for science and technology to make it possible.
In January 2020, sheriff’s investigators resubmitted the evidence collected at the hospital in 1972 to the Utah Bureau of Forensic Services – the state crime lab – for testing. Two “unknown male” DNA profiles were found and submitted to state and national databases. In September 2020, sheriff’s detectives were notified that one of the two unknown DNA profiles matched Bell. They also learned Bell died in March 2019 in Yakima, Washington, and was cremated.
Undeterred, detectives Vance Norton and Chase Hall began researching Bell to see if there was additional evidence that would link him to the murder and rape; evidence that might also lead them to the second suspect. They learned that Bell lived in the Uintah Basin at the time of the crime. He worked on a ranch in the Book Cliffs south of Vernal and was familiar with the area’s backroads.
Bell moved away from Utah at some point after 1972. He was convicted of rape in Oregon in 1988, was paroled in 1999 and moved to Washington state, where he remarried.
Bell’s widow in Washington has cooperated with sheriff’s investigators, as have members of his family in the Uintah Basin. Norton and Hall obtained samples from two of Bell’s adult children in Utah and submitted them to the crime lab for comparison. When tested against the DNA profiles from the evidence collected in 1972, the samples from Bell’s children were consistent with a parent/child relationship, according to the lab.
Sheriff Labrum thanked the Utah Bureau of Forensic Services and Statewide Intelligence Analysis Center for their tireless work and ongoing support in the case.
“Without them, we wouldn’t be at this point and I know they’re committed to seeing this case through to a final resolution,” the sheriff said.
“I’m grateful as well to the State Bureau of Investigation for the support and advanced DNA testing resources they’ve provided via the national Sexual Assault Kit Initiative,” he said.
Labrum also praised Norton, Hall and the other sheriff’s detectives and crime scene technicians who continue to work to solve the case.
“We are committed to finding the truth, committed to finding the other person responsible for taking Greg from his family and forever changing the life of the woman who was with Greg that night,” Labrum said.
“It’s a tragedy that it’s taken 50 years to identify one suspect,” the sheriff added. “It’s my hope that, with the public’s help, we will identify the other suspect much, much sooner.”
Anyone with information about this case should call 435-781-6700 or email [e-mail]. Individuals providing information can choose to remain anonymous.

[vivazapata]

Genetic Genealogy Leads to Suspect in 1997 Rape of 9-Year-Old Boy


CLEVELAND – Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley announced that the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office’s (CCPO) G.O.L.D. Unit (Genetic Operations Linking DNA) has identified suspect John Doe #147, Dennis Gribble, 72, for the 1997 sexual assault of a nine-year-old boy in Brooklyn.

“I would like to thank our G.O.L.D. Unit and all of our agency partners that assisted in finally bringing justice to the victim in this truly horrific case,” said Prosecutor O’Malley. “I would especially like to thank Dr. Lewis Maddox and his team at the Ohio BCI’s DNA lab in Richfield led by Kristen Slaper for working tirelessly to solve these cases. This case hits especially close to home as I was a long-time resident of this neighborhood. I look forward to continuing to bring justice and closure to the victims of all of these cold cases.”

In 2019 and 2020, the CCPO’s Sexual Assault Kit Task Force (SAKTF)* was awarded grants from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance SAKI program. Part of that funding helped launch the office’s G.O.L.D. Unit in October 2020. The G.O.L.D. Unit contracted with genealogy vendor Gene by Gene for a pilot project that included genealogical searches for 20 DNA profiles connected to cold case sexual assaults. In 2021 and 2022, the G.O.L.D. Unit was awarded additional BJA SAKI grants to continue genealogical testing of sexual assault cold cases and additional profiles were submitted.

John Doe #147

On August 8, 1997, the 9-year-old male victim was walking alone around the woods near North Amber Drive and Plainfield Avenue in Brooklyn. The victim saw Dennis Gribble and Gribble said his son was riding around on a dirt bike and that he needed help finding a gas can. Gribble led the victim further into the woods and told the victim to lie down on his stomach. He then climbed on top of the victim and sexually assaulted him. Brooklyn Police Department responded to the scene and the victim was transported to a nearby hospital where sexual assault kit evidence was collected.

Dennis Gribble’s DNA did not produce any matches in CODIS. Gribble’s DNA profile – unknown at the time – was then indicted as “John Doe #147” to ensure that the statute of limitations did not expire. John Doe #147 was charged with the following:

One count of Rape
The CCPO and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s DNA lab (BCI), reviewed the DNA evidence in 2021 for potential forensic genetic genealogy. The DNA profile for John Doe #147 was submitted to Gene by Gene, where investigative genetic genealogists were able to connect John Doe #147’s DNA profile to that of Dennis Gribble.

Investigators then obtained Gribble’s DNA and sent it to BCI to be tested. The tests confirmed that the DNA in the victim’s sexual assault kit evidence matched that of Gribble. The original John Doe #147 indictment was amended to reflect his true name as the defendant.



*SAKTF / G.O.L.D. Unit History

Since its inception, the Task Force has completed over 7,200 investigations that have resulted in over 850 defendants indicted, the highest number of any SAKTF in the country. The number of indictments includes over 900 victims as several defendants are convicted or alleged serial offenders. Of those cases, the Task Force has secured over a 93% conviction rate with offenders’ average prison sentence being approximately 10 years.

As the original 7,026 investigations neared completion, the CCPO contacted the Cleveland Division of Police (CPD) Sex Crimes Unit who indicated there was a need for further investigation on sexual assault kits that have been tested by the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office (CCMEO) between 2012 and 2019. The G.O.L.D. Unit was formed to conduct follow-up investigations and review unknown DNA profiles to determine if they may be eligible for additional testing with new technology. The Unit’s work includes the cold case sexual assault project, potential genealogical testing of cold case sexually motivated homicides, and continuing the Lawfully Owed DNA project. To date, 29 DNA profiles of indicted rapists have been submitted and we have now solved five cases using genealogy.

[Jay7777]

Florida cops link serial killer to 43-year-old cold case rape and murder of young nurse

www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/florida-cops-link-serial-killer-to-43-year-old-cold-case-rape-and-murder-of-young-nurse/ar-AA14WyuN?ocid=EMMX&cvid=3d5890ee41dc43d79a566d62c3c89424


Florida police say they’ve cracked the 43-year-old slaying of a nurse who was brutally raped and murdered inside her home in 1980, pinning the grisly crime on a jailed convict and repeat killer.

Advances in DNA technology led cops to Ronald Eugene Richards, who was indicted last week in the cold case slaying of Evelyn Fisher-Bamforth, 32, cops said.

“I think this is a serial killer,” Miramar police Det. John Zeller said at a press conference announcing the arrest on Friday, according to WSVN. “There could potentially be other cases out there.

Zeller declined to offer details on the DNA trail to solved the case, but said their probe into Richards in continuing.

Cops said the psychiatric nurse was home alone in bed when he broke into her trailer, raped and then bludgeoned her to death.

Convicted killer Ronald Eugene Richards, who had reportedly been released from prison in 1979 after being convicted of killing a girlfriend in Ohio in 1975, soon became a suspect as he had recently moved to Fisher-Bamforth’s neighborhood. Miramar Police

Her husband, John Bamforth, now 77, told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that he recalled rushing past police when he returned home on that night more than four decades ago.

“That’s when I saw what I saw,” he told the paper. “Furniture disturbed, cushions disturbed. Then I walked into the back bedroom and we had a California king…half of the bed at least was soaked with blood.”

Cops, however, could never prove he was the killer, and several months later he was also eyed for a similar rape and attempted murder in nearby Volusia County.

Miramar Det. John Zeller.Tania Rues/Miramar Police Department
Richards, now 75, was eventually convicted of that attempted murder in 1982 and released from prison in May of 2020.

He was indicted last Friday for the slaying of Fisher-Bamforth, and is being held in jail in Ohio awaiting extradition to Broward County, Fla.

The victim’s now elderly husband said the development provided some measure of relief, but also revived difficult memories.

“But for Evelyn, justice is the most important thing,” he said.

[Jay7777]

Kansas man charged in 1980 killing of nursing student

www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/kansas-man-charged-in-1980-killing-of-nursing-student/ar-AA158akY?cvid=2986c3b068614047b9973e8208a915d5

GREAT BEND, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has been charged in the 1980 shooting death of a 23-year-old neighbor after investigators who reexamined her death turned up new evidence, authorities said.

Kansas Bureau of Investigation officers arrested 68-year-old Steven Hanks, of Burden, on Thursday on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Mary Robin Walter, who was a wife, mother and nursing school student when she was killed, Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir said at a news conference Friday. He is jailed on $500,000 bond and doesn’t have an attorney, according to court records.

Bellendir said Detective Sgt. Adam Hales decided in April to reopen the investigation into the Jan. 24, 1980, killing, which happened at a trailer park near the airport in Great Bend, a city of about 15,000 residents in central Kansas.

“After taking a fresh look at the case, it became evident that some of the information had been initially overlooked and some had been added at a later date,” the sheriff said. “This was unknown to the original investigators.”

Bellendir directed two additional officers to join the investigation. In October, new evidence was discovered, though authorities declined to disclose it.

Bellendir said Hanks was investigated as a suspect immediately after the shooting, “but the case went cold." He didn't disclose a possible motive for the killing.

Hanks spent time in prison for another crime. He was arrested in 1981 and charged with rape, battery, robbery and burglary. He was sentenced in 1983 and discharged in 1993, according to online records from the Kansas Department of Corrections.

[Jay7777]

www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/pensioner-convicted-of-1975-rape-and-murder-of-teenager-after-one-in-a-billion-dna-match/vi-AA15uC8t?ocid=EMMX&cvid=5fdbbbe23ef0442a80e0a84d8a30cfd1&category=foryou

Pensioner convicted of 1975 rape and murder of teenager after 'one-in-a-billion DNA match'

A pensioner has been found guilty of the vicious rape and murder of a teenager nearly 50 years ago in the oldest double jeopardy case in England and Wales.Dennis McGrory was 28 when he sexually assaulted, stabbed and strangled 15-year-old Jacqui Montgomery in her home in Islington, north London, in 1975.The next year, he was tried on a circumstantial case and cleared of murder on the directions of a judge.Justice finally caught up with McGrory after swabs from Ms Montgomery’s body produced a one-in-a-billion DNA match decades later

[Jay7777]

With the Idaho murders and the Maggie Long case and others, this folder is being neglected! Hopefully more cases will be solved soon.

[Jay7777]

A man took his own life after police questioned him about a 1994 murder. He was just identified as the alleged killer.

www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/a-man-took-his-own-life-after-police-questioned-him-about-a-1994-murder-he-was-just-identified-as-the-alleged-killer/ar-AA16y02h?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=3cda9897b412481a8cdbf873716997e3

ANew York school bus driver who took his own life in 2019 after authorities questioned him about the 1994 killing of an 81-year-old woman was identified Thursday as her alleged killer.

A fingerprint match and a recent tip identified Jeremiah Guyette as the alleged suspect in the death of Wilomeana “Violet” Filkins, police in East Greenbush, south of Albany, said.

She was found bludgeoned to death in the living room of her apartment on Aug. 19, 1994, NBC affiliate WNYT of Albany reported.

Guyette, who served in the Air Force in Florida and also drove a bus for elderly people, was interviewed after the killing but never considered a person of interest, East Greenbush Police Detective Sgt. Michael Guadagnino told reporters.

An ex-girlfriend later tipped authorities off to Guyette, saying he began crying when he told her he'd robbed a woman and hit her, Guadagnino said.

"This can't be true," the ex-girlfriend recalled him saying, according to Guadagnino. "I'm sure she's fine."

On Oct. 1, 2019, when Guadagnino and a New York State Police investigator tried to talk to Guyette about the killing, he became defensive and visibly upset, Guadagnino said.

Guyette declined to talk with authorities without a lawyer, Guadagnino said.

The next morning, authorities found him dead in the garage of his home in Rosendale, nearly 70 miles south of East Greenbush, Guadagnino said. An autopsy found Guyette took his own life, he said.

Investigators then resubmitted all the physical evidence from the original case, including a wooden coffee table with an unknown fingerprint, not knowing if anything would match Guyette, Guadagnino said.

Three years later, after Covid strained the state crime lab and delayed forensic findings, the fingerprint was determined to match Guyette's left thumb, Guadagnino said.

A tip from a family member last year confirmed Guyette's involvement, Guadagnino said: On Oct. 1, 2019, the same day authorities approached Guyette, he called her in a panic and said he didn't want to go to prison.

Guyette told the relative that when he was younger, he planned to rob a bank and steal a car to get money for college, the family member told authorities, Guadagnino said.

"Someone had died but he didn't want to talk anymore over the phone," Guadagnino said.

The relative made arrangements for Guyette to meet with a lawyer, a fact authorities confirmed with the attorney, Guadagnino said.

During the news conference, Filkins' niece, Carole Filkins, thanked authorities and recalled her aunt as a simple woman who lived quietly and "never would have envisioned anything like this happening."

"We're all very thankful it has been resolved," she said.

[Jay7777]

Too bad they didn't catch this guy while he was alive. 



www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/police-name-suspect-in-murder-of-boy-found-strangled-with-belt-50-years-ago/ar-AA16JjyR?cvid=774e6dbd5f96465d8b1e8f1939660158

Police Name Suspect in Murder of Boy Found Strangled With Belt 50 Years Ago

Ohio police have identified the suspected killer who they believe is responsible for the murder of a 12-year-old boy who died in 1972.



Boardman Township Police Department chief Todd Werth named Jospeh Norman Hill, a former resident, as the person they believe is responsible for the death of Bradley Bellino.



Hill, who lived on Shadyside Drive in Boardman at the time of the murder, died in Yucaipa, California, in 2019, according to NBC affiliate WFMJ 21.



On Tuesday, Werth praised the efforts of former chief Jeffrey Patterson, who reopened the case in 2001, and sent Bellino's clothing that did not have DNA that belonged to him to the state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.



Following a series of tests that took several years and went through numerous private firms, Werth said there was a 98.2 percent probability that Hill's DNA was that found on Bellino.



According to WKBN 27, Werth added: "We believe there is sufficient evidence that if he were still alive, we would present his case to a grand jury."



Project: Cold Case, an organization that aims to publicize all unsolved homicides in the U.S., said there had been 29,753 homicides in Ohio between 1972 and 2021.

Of those, 18,788 had been cleared, representing 63.15 percent of all homicides being solved in the state between those dates.

Mahoning County Prosecutor Gina DeGenova said her office looked over the file and believes the case could end up before a grand jury, according to the network.



She then praised investigators for sticking with the case over the years as DNA technology advanced and added: "Over the 50 years and they did not let go, they did not stop."



Werth said he wanted to go public with the findings as police hope to find people in the area who had been in contact with Hill.



He added police in California are looking into cold cases in the state to uncover if there is any link to Hill. The suspected killer's name had never come up in during the investigation and was not considered a suspect.



Anyone with any information about Hill is asked to call detectives at 330 726-4144.



Bellino's body was found in a large trash container on Boardman-Canfield Road on April 4, 1972. A belt was wrapped around his neck and investigators said he had been sexually assaulted before he was killed, according to WKBN 27.



Police said they would reexamine other cold cases in the area, particularly when Hill was residing in the township.


www.wkbn.com/news/local-news/local-news-conference-to-discuss-50-year-old-cold-case/



Police identify suspected killer in 50-year-old cold case of 12-year-old’s murder

OARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) — Boardman Township police announced Tuesday they believe they know who is responsible for the 1972 murder of a 12-year-old boy.



In a press conference, Chief Todd Werth said they believe Joseph Norman Hill, a former township resident who died in 2019 in California, is responsible for the April 1972 strangulation death of 12-year-old Brad Lee Bellino.

Werth credited former Chief Jeffrey Patterson, who reopened the case in 2001 and sent clothing of Brad’s to the state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation that had DNA on them that did not belong to him.



After a series of tests that took years through several private firms and BCI, investigators were able to link Hill to the crime.



Werth said BCI says there is 98.2% probability that Hill’s DNA is the DNA that was found on Brad.



“We believe there is sufficient evidence that if he were still alive, we would present his case to a grand jury,” Werth said.

Mahoning County Prosecutor Gina DeGenova said her office reviewed the file and also believes the case could be taken to a grand jury.



DeGenova praised the work of investigators, saying they never abandoned the case and stuck with it over the years as DNA technology advanced.



“Over 50 years and they did not let go,” she said. “They didn’t stop.”



One of the reasons Werth said he went public Tuesday because police want to know if any other people in the township ever had contact with Hill. He said law enforcement in California are also looking into other cases to see if there is any link to Hill.

Kakascik said Hill’s name never came up in the investigation and he was never considered a suspect.



Anyone who has any information about Hill is asked to call detectives at 330 726-4144.



The boy’s body was found about 8 a.m. Tuesday, April 4, 1972, in a large trash container behind an Isalys on Boardman-Canfield Road. A tan belt was wrapped around his neck and his clothing was in disarray. Investigators said he was sexually assaulted before he was killed.



The Mahoning County Coroner at the time, Dr. David Belinky, said in news reports the boy’s death was “the act of a degenerate.”





Good to see this solved after 50 years. Too bad the suspect is dead!