Top 10 Cold Cases That Were Finally Solved

better late than never welcome to watchmojo.com and today we're counting down our picks for the top ten cold cases that were finally solved he then tied their hands behind their backs and forced three of them into the back seat of the car before we begin we publish new videos every day so be sure to subscribe for more great content for this list we're ranking the most long-standing or infamous cold cases which years later we're finally solved by authorities will be omitting serial killers and terrorists from this list and are also going to hold off on including recent research into the disappearance of Amelia Earhart as her case still isn't 100% confirmed to be solved Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific in 1937 while trying to circle the world neither they nor their aircraft were ever found number 10 Jessica Lynne Keene Jessica Lynne Keene was a promising young student and cheerleader whose life was cut short in the spring of 1991 at first investigators suspected Keens then boyfriend a young man who Keens mother believed was a negative influence on her daughter's life her grades started dropping under she had skipped school a couple times to be with Sean 17 years later an accused sexual predator named Marvin Smith was arrested by officials thanks to DNA evidence linking him to Keens rape and murder Smith had been out on bail when he abducted Jessica assaulted her and eventually beat her to death with a tombstone when she attempted to escape through a cemetery and I can feel her heartbeat running through the cemetery I can feel the deep breathing she was probably doing when she knelt behind the tombstone number nine many and Edward Maori Christmas is supposed to be a time of peace and goodwill towards our neighbors but this tragically wasn't the case for many and Edie Maori whose bodies were discovered back on Christmas Eve 1985 you know most everybody was trying to think the best but figuring that the worst was about to come the couple had been shot and then moved to a secluded area in the woods initially police had their suspicions placed firmly on a pair of brothers Rick and John Ripa who they surmised had abducted the Maori pnes from their home at gunpoint had driven to the local bank and made them withdraw money John Ruth had died before he could be brought to justice but authorities eventually arrested Rick riffin in 2012 over 30 years after the initial crime Grandma and Grandpa are live in my heart and in my fondest memories but without them here the family hasn't been together again number 8 Diane Maxwell advances in forensic technology have done wonders for solving crimes previously thought to have gone cold one such case was that of Diane Maxwell a telephone operator who was taken from her workplace parking lot raped strangled and stabbed to death by an unknown assailant and he found this young girl lying on her back with her hands tied behind her back and he asked her if she'd been assaulted she said yes this occurred back in 1969 yet it wasn't until 2000 three years after the case was reopened that a latent print technician for the FBI was able to match fingerprints taken from Maxwell's vehicle the prints matched those of James ray Davis a convicted felon who had just left prison nine days prior to Diane's murder James ray Davis spent the majority of his adult life incarcerated auto theft forgery assaults Davis confessed and was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes number 7 Richard Phillips and Milton Curtis he was a little bit irritated and it was almost like you're here for that that happened so long ago I can't believe you're here bothering me with that Gerald Mason had become an average family man when he was convicted in 2003 for the 1957 murder of two California police officers Mason was actually leaving the scene of another crime back when he was stopped for running a red light by officers Richard Phillips and Milton Curtis Mason had attacked a pair of couples at a local Lovers Lane robbing them and raping one of the teenage girls in a panic he then shot both officers to death out of fear that his earlier crime would be discovered fingerprint evidence and a scar on Mason's back from a bullet fired by Phillips eventually put him away for two consecutive life sentences he traded the lives of two on-duty police officers to avoid capture number 6 Roy McCaleb Chris and Wilson is now 71 years old she admitted to killing Roy McCaleb 28 years ago carolyn Creason Wilson was a convicted bigamist who stuck to the same story for almost 30 years that a crazed barefoot man broke into the home she shared with her husband Roy McCaleb and shot him to death this was in 1985 but it wasn't until 2013 that Wilson now suffering from the early stages of dementia and Alzheimer's disease confessed to the killing Wilson who had been married a total of seven times only received six months for the murder but forma Caleb's remaining family there was at least a semblance of closure for their lost loved ones but some of her friends oh she couldn't do that but she said I did it now and that's what we really wanted to hear number five Susan Schwarz the cards feature victims of open murder cases along with a police tip line our next cold case was actually solved by a set of playing cards olive blazing with the facts and figures behind some of the most long-standing unsolved murders these cold-case cards led to a trip that closed the 1979 murder of Susan Schwarz who was shot while taking a shower in her home gregory johnson was arrested in 2011 for Schwartz's murder with the motive being that he felt Schwartz a friend of Johnson's abused wife was interfering in his marriage Johnson's wife perhaps out of fear kept secret but it eventually caught up to him and he received a sentence of 24 years in prison was everything that there never been a a girl in the Swartz side of the family and I got it when once she came along she was she was the greatest thing that was imaginable number four John lists family the popular television program America's Most Wanted has been responsible for bringing many criminals to justice over the years one of these men was John list a notorious New Jersey murderer who slaughtered his wife mother and children in their home and lived on the lam from 1971 to 1989 America's Most Wanted asked Frank bender to add 18 years to the face of John list it was the recreation of the murders on America's Most Wanted that played a vital role in eventually bringing lists who had moved to Virginia and since remarried to justice he received five consecutive life sentences for first-degree murder and died of complications from pneumonia while in prison I truly believe if it wasn't for Frank bender John list would still be at large but finally we brought John list to justice number three Dalbert opposed Ian it took over 70 years for the murder of seven year old Dalbert opposed Ian to be solved the young boy's body was found floating in the San Diego Bay back in 1933 with multiple body parts missing the media at the time attributed the crime to quote a sex maniac an opinion echoed by a local forensic pathologist police were inclined to believe testimony from one of opponent's friends who claimed that he accidentally drowned the San Diego cold-case squad made an official ruling in 2005 saying that opposed Ian's wounds were caused by oceanic crustaceans and fish and were not premeditated it was after all a horrible and tragic accident number two Amanda berry Michelle Knight and Georgina DeJesus the most recent cold case on our list originally occurred back in the early 2000s when Ariel Castro kidnapped three women and held them prisoner in his Ohio home for over a decade during this time all three women were viciously beaten tortured and sexually assaulted by Castro until finally Amanda Berry was able to make contact with the outside world Castro was arraigned on nearly a thousand separate counts including rape kidnapping felonious assault and more he received a life sentence but hung himself in prison only a month into serving his time Knight has told police she was pregnant at least five times but was starved and punched until she eventually miscarried number one Etan Patz Etan Patz was six years old in 1979 when he disappeared while walking to his school bus in Manhattan's Soho Bates was declared legally dead in 2001 after all leads into his disappearance failed to land an indictment the case was reopened in 2010 but a tonn's family would have to wait until spring of 2012 to hear the tad Roe Hernandez who had worked at a local bodega in a town's neighborhood confessed to the crime Hernandez stated that he strangled the child and tossed his body in the garbage this confession was backed up by certain members of Hernandez's family and he was sentenced to life in prison on April 18 2017 the pates family has waited a long time but we finally have from some measure of justice for our wonderful little boy a ton do you agree with our picks check out these other great clips from WatchMojo and subscribe for new videos every day [Music]

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Keywords: unsolved murders, unsolved mysteries, cold cases, cold murder cases, mysterious murder, unsolved cases, unsolved murder, murder mystery, serial killers, murder stories, unsolved, cold case, unresolved murder, WatchMojo, top 10, top 5, list, best, worst

Id: p6M0QeZhcog

Length: 10min 4sec (604 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 24 2018