5 Cases that were solved in 2020 | Part 2

[Music] you born April 6th 1958 Helen pristine ski was a senior at the all-woman's Wheaton College in Norton Massachusetts the 21 year old aspiring journalist had landed an internship with the Denver Colorado based radio station KHOW a.m. and had just moved in with her aunt in the nearby municipality of Englewood in January of 1980 all seemed well for Helens first two weeks at khow and by all accounts she was performing her duties excellently riding the bus to and from her workplace she valued punctuality and was never late to work or late getting back to her aunt's house it was for this reason that Helens aunt initially became concerned when On January 16th her niece still hadn't arrived back by 10:30 p.m. she quickly contacted the local police department hoping they could find Helen anxiously awaiting any news Helens family prayed for her safe return but the night passed with no sign of her the following morning a passerby alerted police to the presence of a body spotted in an empty field about 20 minutes south of Englewood tragically the worst fears of Helens family were confirmed when police positively identified the body as that of the 21 year old an autopsy revealed that she had been savagely stabbed nine times in the back causing her lungs to collapse her hands were tied and she was found undressed from the waist down with additional physical evidence confirming that she had been raped by her assailant douglas county detectives searched for any possible leads as to the identity of Helens vicious killer but could find no reliable information or witness accounts it was a daunting task for investigators especially as they had to deal with not one but two separate men who falsely confessed of their own volition to the murder of Helen and were eliminated as suspects after investigators found no evidence linking either to her murder without any other suspects or leads the case went cold after a few years investigators never stopped looking however and revisited the case multiple times over the decades to come using evidence collected from the crime scene douglas county police created a DNA profile for the killer in 1998 but they found no matter as in either state nor federal criminal databases in 2017 detectives revisited the case once again this time employing the use of forensic or genetic genealogy to search public DNA databases for near matches with that of the DNA profile constructed from the evidence working with United Data connect a company specializing in forensic genealogy investigators identified possible distant relatives to the suspect after receiving permission from those possible relatives detectives spent months searching for family trees to locate persons of interest who would have resided near the location of the crime using this method investigators were able to identify 62 year-old curtis allen white now known as James Curtis Clanton as a possible match for the DNA profile shockingly investigators discovered that Clanton had pleaded guilty to first degree rape in 1975 and despite being sentenced to 30 years in prison Clanton was released on parole in 1979 to live with the former counselor who offered to help Clanton quote get back on his feet as a result Clanton was behind bars for only four years and lived in Inglewood during the time of Helens rape and murder by late November of 2019 douglas county detectives had tracked Clanton down to the City of Lake Butler Florida after a few days of tailing Clanton detectives were able to obtain a sample of his DNA from a beer mug the sample matched exactly with that of the DNA profile created from the evidence collected at the crime scene on December 4th 2019 detectives arrested Clanton and charged him with first-degree murder and second-degree kidnapping unable to charge him for the rape due to the statute of limitations on such crimes in Colorado after being extradited to Douglas County Clanton pleaded guilty to both charges on February 21st 2020 he was sentenced to life in prison on July 1st 2020 under Colorado law Clanton will be eligible for parole hearing twenty years into his life sentence while this case has demonstrated some disturbing oversights in the legal system such as Clanton only serving four years of his 30-year sentence in 1975 the case is yet another success for friends of genealogy and for Helens sister I told The Washington Post quote there's not been a day that goes by that we haven't missed her the detectives and everyone else who helped make this day happen are my heroes Carolyn Cox Rose was somewhat of a local real estate tycoon in her hometown of Pensacola Florida the 47 year old Escambia County resident was well respected within the Florida real estate business serving as the vice president for Better Homes Realty incorporated a mother sister and aunt Carolyn juggled many responsibilities in both her personal and professional life Sherri Mulholland Carolyn's niece described her aunt as a force within herself never a woman to back down in the face of adversity it was this independent and assertive attitude that propelled Carolyn to her respected status within the community also allowing her to be a rock for her son sister and niece it was also for these reasons that the events of April 7th 1978 shook Carolyn's real estate piers her family and the entire Escambia County community so deeply at around 8:30 in the morning on this particular Friday Carolyn left her office informing her assistant that she had an appointment with the prospective buyer at a property in cantonment a city that was about 25 minute drive from Pensacola this was a ranch-style property listed for $65,000 which is a little over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in today's money adjusting for inflation as such the house itself was much more isolated than it would have been in a typical residential area placed considerably back from the main road to afford privacy to its occupants a meeting like this could go on for a few hours depending on what a prospective buyer is looking for out of such a visit but anything longer than that would be highly unusual as the hours ticked by two of Carolyn's co-workers began to grow concerned about Carolyn's extended absence especially given the relative geographic proximity between the office and the Cantonment property when Carolyn had still not returned by 2:00 p.m. that afternoon five and a half hours after she had left the office that morning her increasingly concerned co-workers decided to visit the property and find out if there had been any issues that Carolyn had encountered when the two co-workers arrived at twos six six eight highway 297 a they immediately noticed Carolyn's 1977 Chevrolet Caprice Classic parked outside the house likely untouched since early that morning now sure that something was amiss the two entered the house hoping against hope that Carolyn was alright nothing could have prepared them for the grisly scene they found in the bedroom however Carolyn's lifeless body lay in the middle of the otherwise empty room her arms and legs bound was ripped off pieces of her blouse that she had left the office and just that morning her underwear and bra had likely been used to strangle her to death as they were still knotted tightly around her neck when she was discovered the unexpected and brutal nature of Carolyn's rape and murder horrified those she knew in real estate as well as the Pensacola community as a whole local realtor's came together to offer a $5,000 reward to anyone who had information that could lead to an arrest in the case for many within the local real estate business it was a horrifying wake-up call to how close any of them could have been to meeting the same fate as Carolyn well police exhausted every possible lead they could there was very little to go on in fact detectives on the case were divided about the motive and level of premeditation with some investigators believing that the fact pattern indicated that it was a spur-of-the-moment slaying with others on the case feeling that the nature of the murder pointed towards extensive premeditation and planning as with Helen prescience Keyes case detectives were able to collect DNA evidence but most DNA technology was barely in its infancy by the late 1970s a significant factor in why the investigation went with very few opportunities for witness accounts or other forms of evidence for decades later Escambia County Sheriff's Office investigators partnered with a friends at genealogy company to research the cold case after significant investigative foot work detectives finally got what they were looking for a DNA match and a name Julius William Hill jr. was a match for the DNA recovered at the scene making him the primary suspect in Carolyn's death unfortunately Hill died at a California prison in 2007 while serving a 30 year sentence for two bank robberies while the discovery came too late to bring Hill to justice it also came too late for care son who had taken the news of his mother's death extremely hard and had hoped for years that there would be some resolution he died just a few months ago in the spring of 2020 due to complications with the current virus he is survived by his wife and daughter both of whom are very glad to get closure on the case Carolyn's niece sherry told the Pensacola News Journal quote it's a long time to hold your breath but it's a good ending in the early morning hours of June 10th 1978 two people were found in the bed of a pickup truck in Phoenix Arizona one an 18 year old woman had been severely beaten sexually assaulted and tied up despite her injuries the woman thankfully survived the attack the other victim was not so lucky 23 year-old Fernando kaitos had been beaten to death and left with the unnamed woman in the truck unlike some of the previously discussed cases this crime did produce a primary suspect within the investigations first year Glenn Edward Williams was 21 years old in 1978 and police eventually identified him as the likely culprit after matching fingerprints at the crime scene to Williams who lived and worked nearby Phoenix Police arrested Williams in January of 1979 and charged him eventually however prosecutors were forced to drop the charges and let William walk free before the case could even make it to trial there was not enough evidence outside of fingerprints that could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Williams was the killer without further evidence or suspects the case quickly hit a dead end and detectives stored what limited physical evidence they had retrieved while the case was never fully closed there was not much that could be done without new leads or information it remained this way for almost four decades in 2019 the Phoenix Police cold-case homicide squad re-examined the evidence and circumstances of the case in an effort to utilize modern forensic tools to solve cold cases now armed with much more advanced DNA technology there was finally a breakthrough in the case through the testing of DNA found at the crime scene and preserved by investigators in 1978 detectives were able to positively identify the DNA of the presumed attacker as a match with Williams Glen Williams was finally arrested on April 9th 2020 and charged with first-degree murder and sexual assault now 62 years old Williams continues to deny involvement in either the murder of Fernando Kai eros or the assault on the unnamed woman his trial is set to begin August 8th 2020 whether or not Williams has found guilty the case will likely be closed in lieu of evidence incriminating possible other suspects hopefully the arrest of Glenn Williams can bring comfort to the family and friends of Fernando Pettis as well as the unnamed victim who survived the attack if Williams has found guilty this will be a unique example of how DNA can be used to convict individuals who were primary suspects many years ago but could not be convicted at that time savanah Hoskins disappeared 35 years ago in 1985 a 34 year old mother of five savanna lived in Ogden Utah and was employed as a sex worker along with her children she lived with her husband Joe Hoskins as those around her recall it the marriage was very negative with Jo Hoskins being a violent person fights between the two often turned physical and Savannah was looking for any opportunity to get her and her children safely away from Jo shortly before her disappearance on the 3rd of July 1985 she had managed to scrape together some money to finance a move to Idaho with her children sadly she would never get the chance to take that major life step Savannah disappeared suddenly and without a choice those close to Savannah were immediately worried that her husband may have been involved without a body or any other evidence confirming that Savannah was dead police were unable to charge Jo Hoskins despite being the primary suspect and having well-documented violent tendencies 11 days after Savannah was reported missing residents walking along the Webber River were disturbed to see what appeared to be two human legs floating downstream police arrived at the scene and removed the legs taking note of the light purple nail polish that was still left on the toes after examination detectives were unable to identify who the lake's could have belonged to when first recovered the legs had been assumed to belong to a white female so Savannah a person of color was not even in consideration for identification as Ogden detectives continue to investigate realize that the legs most likely did not belong to a white female and had actually become pale both due to the dismemberment and being in the river for such an extended period of time with this information police began to suspect that the legs belong to savanah still without advanced forensic technology that wouldn't be available for years detectives couldn't confirm their theory savanna remains labeled as a missing person for more than three decades and despite their best efforts police were unable to link Joao Hoskins to her presumed death in 1989 Joe was arrested and sentenced for drug dealing as a result the five children were raised by their grandparents Joe died soon thereafter leaving investigators with no possible leads in August of 2019 however an Ogden detective reviewed the case and decided to attempt a DNA test with the only available remains of the leg a moldy toenail the tests finally confirmed what police had suspected for over three decades that the legs did belong to savanah on March 2nd 2020 Weber County attorney Chris already announced based on previously recorded incriminating statements witness statements and the DNA confirmation that if Joe Hoskins were still alive he would be charged with murder Allred continued saying quote we are confident based on all the evidence that if Joe were alive today we would be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Joe Hoskins murdered his wife savanah son Joe Hoskins jr. does not believe the police conclusion skeptical that his father was truly behind the murder this is an unfortunate side effect of getting closure for families of those involved as it can sometimes reopen old wounds and bring back bad memories for the rest of Savannah's children and grandchildren however this was a bittersweet moment that brought some amount of closure to the pain that they had experienced some of her grandchildren had been the biggest proponents of reexamining Savannah's case so this conclusion will hopefully bring them some peace of mind John Anthony Muncie was a typical high school student who lived in East Columbus Ohio the fifteen-year-old enjoyed rock music with a particular affinity for the legendary rock groups like kiss and ac/dc his younger brother described John as being incredibly full of life an extrovert who was well-liked by his classmates and had tremendous potential it was a Saturday night in October of 1983 when John left his family to visit a friend who lived nearby when his family discovered that John never arrived at his friend's house panic took hold the next day October 16th a local man a few miles outside of Galena Ohio about a 30-minute drive from Columbus spotted a few garbage bags near a roadway one of which had something that looked disturbingly like a human body part he immediately notified the Delaware County Sheriff's Department who arrived to investigate shortly thereafter inside the bags investigators found John's body horribly mutilated with his arm severed and his head nearly decapitated investigators were able to obtain a blood sample from the presumed killer and hoped that it could provide possible leads unfortunately technological limitations prevented detectives from gleaning much from the results the case went cold and was closed shortly after with no evidence or leads found the case was reopened in 2010 as investigators hoped that advances in DNA technology could help identify the killer in the brutal murder decades ago while no new leads were initially discovered the reopening put the case back on detectives radars in 2018 detectives in Delaware County heard about the solving of a case that had long been cold with the use of forensic genealogy this was exactly what they had been looking for and they quickly began to examine the case to see if they could use the same method with the help of private genetic genealogy company periban nano Labs investigators set to work searching for possible DNA matches that could produce a suspect in the case through this technology they found some matches and were able to narrow down their search to a set of three brothers two of which were eliminated as suspects the final brother and primary suspect Alan Anderson would have been 30 years old in 1983 and had a violent criminal history involving teenage boys meaning that John's murder fit his MO DNA testing revealed the Andersons DNA matched that the DNA recovered from the crime scene unfortunately justice came too late as Anderson died in 2013 while he is unable to be punished for his heinous actions the breakthrough was a welcome relief for John's younger brother who is glad to finally have all the details surrounding his brother's tragic murder clear as police departments around the u.s. learn about these sorts of cases we can only hope that forensic genealogy will become more widespread so that even more cold cases can be solved and justice can be brought to both the living and the dead you

Channel: Merc Docs

Views: 2,173,610

Rating: 4.9182286 out of 5

Keywords: Merc, dateline, 48 hours, forensic files, famous cases, real story, top 5, top 10, documentary, list, missing persons, jane doe, john doe, disappearance, unsolved, mysterious, unsolved mystery, mystery, mysteries, unsolved mysteries

Id: iP3qdTSpl5U

Length: 19min 0sec (1140 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 11 2020