(suspenseful music) - When my grandmother
passed away, I inherited a metal box. It contains original
newspaper articles, Yleen and Lillie's
death certificates, it was her collection of any
kind of investigative material. (ominous music) This crime was
extremely horrific. It's just doesn't even seem
like another human being would be capable of this. My family was ripped apart. On her death bed, my grandmother told me never
to forget what happened. To keep fighting for the family and getting justice for my
two aunts, Yleen and Lillie. (dramatic music) (birds chirping) - [Narrator] It's morning
in the Heights, a neighborhood known for
its artists and musicians. - Back in the '80s, the Heights was known for an
area that had a lot of shops, restaurants, live music. It really brought in
artists, musicians. The Heights was a
very vibrant scene. - It was an art environment. Most of the people that
lived in the Heights and that's what they
did for their career and what they loved to do. - [Narrator] The Heights is
right where sisters Lillie, 23 and Yleen Kennedy,
33, want to be. - Yleen was a
stained glass artist and interested in
arts and music. So it was a perfect
place for her to move. She could walk to a club
and listen to live music. - [Narrator] Yleen and
Lillie's father, Jack Kennedy, also lives nearby
in the Heights. This morning he's
waiting for them to take him to a doctor's
appointment, but they're late. - My grandfather
decided to go ahead and just walk over to the house, which was right
around the corner. Something did not appear right, because the front door was open. Yleen was laying on the
ground at the entry way, and Lillie was laying
at Yleen's feet. He found both of
his daughters dead. - He called 911, asking for medical assistance. Each victim had different injuries. Lillie, the younger one, appeared to have a single gunshot wound to the head. There was not much blood on
the carpet underneath her, and there were no wounds
on her hands or her feet. I immediately presumed
that she was shot first. Yleen had much more obvious, much more severe injuries. She had a gag in her mouth, her undergarments
were pulled down. There was more blood
under Yleen's body, she had knife wounds
on her throat. There was a wound on her arm
that appeared to be a gunshot. For a father like Jack to
walk in and find his children, that's beyond imagination. - My uncle was
shaking uncontrollably and crying uncontrollably, Ugh, I don't know how he even
stood up seeing that scene. - I imagined how I might've felt if I had found my daughter. No question, I was affected. I've never had
anything to match this. - [Narrator] Right away, investigators can tell
the killer targeted Yleen. - Whoever had taken her life had spent some significant
time harming Yleen. She was abused, if not
tortured, prior to her death. - This crime is
extremely horrific. You could tell that
this was personal. Whoever did this was
definitely concentrated on harming Yleen while her
dead sister laid next to her. - I feel like Yleen
was the target, and that Lillie was
just used as another way to torture Yleen by
killing her first. - [Narrator] While detectives
searched for a motive, 11 year Jackie, and the rest
of Yleen and Lillie's family confronts this horrible loss. - I used to spend the
night at that house. My mom was crying because she
knew I could have been there. Yleen and Lillie are my aunts. Yleen loved dancing
and was very social. She had a vintage clothing
store in the Heights area. - The vintage clothing
store was Yleen's passion. That was her goal, to find the most unique
pieces of clothing she could. - I loved going to
visit my aunt Yleen and spending the
weekend with her. I remember her taking
me clothing shopping because we would go
to unusual places. So some of the clothes
I would wear to school, no one else had them. Yleen was always very
energetic, outgoing, she accepted
absolutely everybody. She was a great
person to look up to. - Lillie was a little
more subdued, more calm. And very honest and say,
within herself. - Lillie was more like
your girl next door, quieter, soft-spoken,
but very goofy. She's the type that would go
and play pool with the boys at the bar. My first footsteps were from
my grandmother to Lillie. She was a big sister to me, then all of a sudden
my aunts aren't there. They're just taken away from me. - It was unbelievable. It was probably the most horrific day of my whole life. - It was like a horror movie for Yleen being tortured the last hour of her life. - [Narrator] A CSI team
goes over every inch of the crime scene. And they start to get a
picture of what happened the morning of
this double murder. - There's no sign
of forced entry. It seems to speak to the idea
that they knew the person and were comfortable
enough to let him in, and then things escalated out
of control from that point. (upbeat music) There were bloody footprints
throughout the house. The footprints that we saw had a distinctive wavy
kind of design to them, sort of like an athletic shoe. We found that wavy
pattern around the corner and just a little bit down
the street from the house. - What was interesting was
that one of the couch cushions was missing from Yleen's couch. I'm not sure why the
couch cushion was taken. - There've been a
couple of rumors. Yleen is said to have
told an associate that she had hidden some
cocaine from her boyfriend in a cushion on the couch, but there was no evidence
whatsoever of any kind of dope, anything of that nature. - She was very
neat, tidy person, but the house was ransacked
and things were missing. - That would indicate somebody
looking for something, but there was $500 cash and there was jewelry
left in the house. But the amount of
energy expended on Yleen led me to believe that somebody that wanted
something from her or she had really,
really made somebody mad. (soft music) The murder of two sisters, a
very vicious, vicious attack, really horrific
torturous behavior that ups the game. We're going to have
to find this guy. This was beyond the pale. (soft music) - [Narrator] Police
canvas the Heights looking for anyone who'd seen
or heard anything unusual the night of the murders. - A neighbor reported
that around 11:00 PM, Lillie knocked on her door
and asked for ACE bandage. Lillie explained she had
just sprained her ankle. Everything seemed fine. - Another neighbor, she heard some loud noise and
some shouting and whatnot. And then what she thought
were very loud thumps that might well have
been the two gunshots since there were two
shots fired in the house. That was about 6:00
to 6:30 that morning. - [Narrator] A third witness
gives police part of a timeline and what could be a
description of the killer. - At 6:30 or so, he had gone out to
get in his truck to get ready to go to work, then he sees a guy
come around the corner and he's carrying a
multicolor blanket and some clothing inside
and he's stumbling around and dropping stuff. "What are you doing here?" "Why? Do I look like a burglar?" "Yes, you do." "Well, I'm really embarrassed. "My girlfriend and I
just had a big argument "and she threw me out. "And this is the stuff I've got
and I'm just heading on out. That was the extent
of that exchange. The person that was seen by
the witness was rather clumsy and he dropped a cushion
from a love seat. Dai had documented a cushion
missing from a full love seat from the house. And lo and behold it's discovered around the corner. We found it, it had blood on it. It was torn open, but
there was nothing in it. - [Narrator] The
telltale cushion confirms that the suspect had
at least been in Yleen's house and investigators
now have a witness. - And that witness helped
prepare a composite sketch, which sometimes opens
dozens of potential leads. - The first time I saw
the composite drawing was in the local
Houston newspaper, puts a face out there, but it could be anybody. It just looked like a man to me. I mean, there was
no one...(sighs) It was nobody I recognized. - Most people like to think of, oh, this is going to
take me to the person. And then whatnot, those
aren't photographs. The fact that we didn't
get an exact match early on was to me quite the norm. (soft music) - [Narrator] While
police continue their neighborhood canvas, the medical examiner conducts
autopsies on the victims. (soft music) - In terms of the
autopsy results, we learned that
Lillie had been shot in the back of the head, that the bullet had not exited her head. That was the cause of death. Yleen's injuries, there were multiple
knife strokes, I think there were
four cuts to her neck, gaping wounds on her neck, that was ruled the
cause of death. - At autopsy, sexual
assault kits were collected by the medical examiner in both Yleen and Lillie's examination. The testing was
performed in our lab. Results for Lillie was negative. So there was no seminal
fluid identified, the sexual assault kit that
was collected from Yleen, the results for semen
tested positive, in 1984 types of testing
that could be performed was very limited. There was really no DNA
testing as we know today. (soft music) - [Narrator] The autopsy
leads them nowhere. So investigators turned to
Lillie and Yleen's father Jack to see if he knows
anyone who had a grudge against his daughters. - Jack had some
reservations immediately about Yleen's former boyfriend and Jack doesn't shy away
from having some thoughts, not positive about
Lillie's ex-husband. - Unfortunately Yleen
and Lillie both, I guess you would say
weren't good at picking men. - Jack said that
Lillie's ex husband had recently made threats. Yleen's ex-boyfriend was
involved in some drug use, right off the bat, we had
two very viable suspects, an ex-boyfriend
and an ex-husband. There's every likelihood
it's one of them. (soft music) - After the murders happen, it became clear that
Yleen's boyfriend had been involved
in drug dealing. My family was
convinced it was him. (soft music) - At the time of this tragedy,
they were not together. They were considered broken up, but they were still in contact. - As a child, I knew Yleen's
boyfriend as an uncle. He to me was a
part of my family. I have a lot of great memories
spending time with him. He was outgoing, made
a lot of people laugh. So it was very hurtful
for me to think that he had harmed my aunt. - We interviewed
Yleen's ex-boyfriend and as might be expected,
we got our hopes up. He apparently had a
free flowing lifestyle and there were a
number of conversations about his involvement
in the sale of drugs. He didn't ask for counsel, we put him in a lineup, the neighbor, our witness in the lineup situation, was very, very helpful, but he did not in any way fit the person that our witness had seen leaving the house. - And the ex-boyfriend does
agree to take a polygraph test and he passes with flying
colors, no problem. - [Narrator] With Yleen's
ex-boyfriend in the clear, police turned their attention
to Lillie's ex-husband. (soft music) - My aunt Lillie was
staying with Yleen to escape her husband. Lillie had just divorced
on the Friday before, by Monday morning she's gone. At 23 years old. - The information came
from the family members that he had made
threats to harm her. Certainly the overwhelming
number of victims know their assailants
in the first place, but now we've got an ex-husband. They interviewed him
in Pasadena, which is a suburb city. We found that he was big
and strong and strapping and not anything
resembling the drawing. Also he was on crutches. We found that he had had surgery and had to have disks removed. - They confirm the hospital, there was no way that he would
have been physically capable of committing this crime. - But I will say that did
take the wind out of our sails because here's a good viable
lead, but now it's gone. - And it also makes no sense
that he would have spent time on Yleen, if it was Lillie
that he had the issue with. - [Narrator] With
the ex's cleared, detectives widened their scope and look into Yleen's
friends and associates. - She was just a
young, beautiful woman, wanting to have fun in many ways and experimenting in many ways. - Being in the
partying atmosphere, you are exposed to being
around all sorts of people. - Some of the people in the
vintage clothing business were really, really into
some cocaine dealing, not to imply that she
was a part of that, but had some associates
that gave us pause. We spent some time
pursuing leads that Yleen's ex-boyfriend
had been involved with stealing some
drugs from some people. We spent a lot of time
searching for people that might've been
seeking revenge on him through the girls. There was a lot of dead ends. (soft music) - [Narrator] For two
weeks, the case stalls, but then a tipster
calls Crime Stoppers and claims he'd seen shoe treads similar to those reported
in Yleen's house. (dramatic music) - We were alerted to the fact that there was a small
apartment around the corner, down an alley, that someone noticed
similar style footprints. - The footprints
were very suspicious around a drug dealers
house that lived close by. - And I went down and
went to that location and we saw wavy footprints
in front of the door. We had a good positive blip
on the radar and a good vibe. The occupant did
not speak English. I speak Spanish, so I was
able to converse with him. He granted us
entrance to his house and immediately we found
24 marijuana cigarettes. And we found LSD in the freezer and found a big pistol
that he had wrapped up. It turned out he was
unlawfully in this country. We took him into custody and we immediately submitted
the shoes to the crime lab. This offered hope and promise, but his shoes did not match
the pattern from the house. The gun was tested, it was obvious that it
had not fired the bullets. Our joy was short-lived. He was not our guy. We were back to square one. We were striking out. It's definitely disappointing. - It made me realize that
maybe we will never find out what happened to
Yleen and Lillie. - The thoughts never
leave your mind. How can this person get by with murdering two young women and then there's no
word, no evidence. Nobody says anything. The murderer is never
going to be found. (soft music) - At such a young
age in fifth grade, all I could think about if
that happened to my aunts, anybody could break into
the house and kill me. I had difficulty sleeping,
walking around the house, locking doors, locking windows. (soft music) - [Narrator] Police
search for the killer. But the victim's family is
mired in a state of grief and despair. - Every adult around me was
completely falling apart. I felt like I had to, even
though I was so young, I had to be strong. My grandfather, as a father, finding his daughters like that, he had PTSD, he had nightmares. - Uncle Jack blamed himself
for not being there. The father is supposed to
protect their children. (ominous music) - My mom went down
a very bad path. She didn't know how
to live after this. - [Narrator] The leads dwindle, months pass, and there's nothing new. After two years, the case of the murdered sisters goes as cold as the
darkness before dawn. (soft music) - We found that within
the second year mark, that the case had
really slowed down and then it truly stopped. - I can tell you from
someone who's worked with homicide survivors now
for just about 30 years, to have a case
like that go cold, it's got to gnaw at you. - It scares you because you think the same
thing is going to happen to you or to your child. Like my only daughter, could somebody come
back and do that to her? It's so hard to think
that a murderer got away. - [Narrator] The
case might be cold, but Yleen and
Lillie's mother, Rose, refuses to let her
daughters be forgotten. - Over time. My grandmother, Rose,
made it her life to make sure that her
daughter's stories were never forgotten. - On the anniversaries
of the killing, she would go to the grave sites. There were some times that I
would even go to grave sites with her. She would make sure that
she contacted newspapers, TV shows, so that it
would not be forgotten. - [Narrator] Jackie Elliot, carries on her grandmother's
fight to find justice for Yleen and Lillie, but decades pass
without a decent lead. - When my grandmother
passed away, most people inherit a jewelry
box, I inherited a metal box. It contains original
newspaper articles. It has a newspaper clipping
of the composite drawing. It was her collection of any
kind of investigative material. On her death bed, my grandmother told
me never to forget and try to make sure
I continue the effort of getting the story out there. - Jackie spent her
life looking for ways that the case would get known and that the murderer
could be found. (soft music) - On the 30th year anniversary, I decided to pick up the phone and call the Houston
police department. I was nervous. They connected me to
the cold case detective. I was able to find
out some great news. - There was a cold case unit in the Houston
police department. When the cold case
detective assumed this case, he checked it and they found that there was
still a viable sample of fluids that had been gathered by the medical examiner at the autopsy. - They had actually developed
a DNA profile on it. It turns out we had
something substantial, physical evidence to connect
someone to the crime. (dramatic music) (soft music) - In a case like this, where we've run out of leads,
but suddenly we discover that we have viable
physical evidence, which the courts
love and juries love, especially DNA. That's great news. (soft music) They added that DNA to
a national database, unfortunately we
never got any matches. - Okay, we have someone's DNA, but we still don't
know who it belongs to, but hopefully they will be
incarcerated at one point. And then bam, we have a match. I mean, that's all
you can hope for. - [Narrator] Then the case
that was cold for 30 years, heats up with a
single phone call. - I got a phone
call early morning, maybe 12:30, 1:00
o'clock in the morning, from someone who was in
jail in our community in Lake County, Indiana. This person whom
I had met before, had an important
matter to discuss about a cold case
in Houston, Texas. - A defendant who had earned
a very, very long sentence said, "I've got something to
barter with for my freedom. - He mentioned the
Kennedy sisters, but he right away mentioned who
had committed these murders. The name of the murderer
was Edmond Degan. (phone ringing) That morning, I called the
Houston police department. The cold case
investigator at the time actually went several
states away and visited. - [Narrator] The informant,
says Edmond Degan, came to him back in 1984
in Houston asking for help. - So my client and Edmond
Degan, were associates, Degan came over
with a duffle bag with stuff in there, Degan told my client that he
had just killed two people and that he needed to
get rid of this evidence. He asked my client
for a sledgehammer, cause he'd also had
a gun and a knife, that he broke into pieces. He had the purse and
some personal belongings that belonged to
the Kennedy sisters. They went in the back
and they started a fire and he threw the items in there. - The cold case investigator began checking that
information out. It turned out Degan
was associated to varying degrees of
activity with Yleen and her vintage
clothing business. He was actually a
competitor of hers. - My uncle, the brother of Yleen and Lillie, immediately recognized
the name, Edmond Degan, being one of Yleen's
business associates and had met Edmond Degan. So it was a little startling
that it was someone that Yleen actually knew. (soft music) - Houston police tracked down
Degan and questioned him. (soft music) - To deny taking a swab would mean that all the
other answers were false. So he had no choice. - And the detective
got what he needed. - [Narrator] For the first time, Jackie Elliott may be able
to put a name to the sketch from 30 years ago. - I believe that the composite
drawing from the neighbor was Degan. If you compare a
picture of Degan at that time of his life
to the composite drawing, you will see how similar
both look to each other. - [Narrator] A few weeks later, Degan's DNA swab results
are back from the lab. - It took about two weeks for
us to process the buccal swab, do the comparison. We have a very rigorous and
thorough review process. On December 26 of 2014,
we issued a DNA report. The conclusion was Edmond
Degan cannot be excluded. The most conservative statistic
is you'd need to sample or test 1.4 billion people in order to potentially
see that DNA profile again. - And when we do get
that hit, it is elation. It is, oh my
goodness, we got you. (dramatic music) Never give up. (dramatic music) - It's very sad
that my grandmother, my grandfather and my mother, did not live long enough
to see the arrest. (dramatic music) - Now we have a
chance to go to trial. You have done your part and now you have to
sit back and wait and see what will
happen with Degan. It's out of your hands. (soft music) - Edmond Degan was arrested for the murders of
Yleen and Lillie, but the prosecutor
was very clear to me that this case was
going to be hard, just because someone
raped someone doesn't automatically mean
they have murdered them. Unfortunately,
other than the DNA, there's no other
tangible evidence. (soft music) - [Narrator] Because prosecutors
don't have a strong hand to play, they're forced to make a
devil's bargain with a killer. - The prosecutor was not able to connect Edmond Degan
physically to Lillie's death. Whereas Yleen had the
DNA evidence on her body from that rape kit. - Sometimes prosecutors have
to enter into negotiations because of the evidence. Not because they want to. - [Narrator] Prosecutors
make their deal. And it leaves a bitter taste
with the victims family. - The plea bargain was
only pleading guilt to the murder of Yleen Kennedy. It dropped the rape charges and it did not list
Lillie Kennedy. My aunt Lillie is the unnamed
victim in all of this. - I get it. You needed to plead it out. Over 90% of these cases,
they're going to end up with a plea bargain, I get it. But I was kind of thrown aback by the amount of sentence
that he received. (dramatic music) - It's very difficult. A 15 year sentence. (soft music) - 15 years is not enough. My cousins were young and
didn't get to live their life. And he had all of this time. - For Edmond Degan, that was the deal of a lifetime. - Was I happy with that? No. A human's life, to steal
one, and deprive one is worth more than that. And it wouldn't hurt to
know precisely what happened that morning. I believe that he
went to find cocaine, according to the story
that she had some hidden from her ex-boyfriend. And things did not proceed
the way he anticipated, but he did have a
weapon with him, he had two weapons with him. And when things went south, he ended up using those weapons. - [Narrator] The news has
Jackie and her family reeling. And there is one
final injustice ahead. (soft music) - The murderer, Degan's
back on the streets. He's out whether I like
it or anyone likes it. A Texas law led him
out after serving less than 7 years of
a 15 year sentence. I had such a difficult time, but Andy has been a
major support to me. He was the one that helped me
learn and understand the law and why all these
things were happening. - This quirky law that
Texas enacted in 1977 to alleviate prison
overcrowding, it's called a
mandatory release law. Basically stated any inmate, it didn't matter if
you murdered somebody, if you raped somebody, even if you were
a serial killer, who committed a crime in Texas, between 1977 and 1987, was
eligible for automatic release, as long as they maintain
good behavior in prison. I guess they never thought
that the after effects will haunt this state forever. - Six years? Really? For such a violent,
disgusting act. The only place he
belongs is behind bars or in a grave. I've been told he's not
allowed to be in Harris county, here in Houston, for
the next 10 years. You're asking for a
criminal to follow rules when they've broken
so many already. Honestly, the only way I'm
ever going to feel safe in this world is going
to be either me dying, or him dying. (soft music) - I miss them. And I want to hold them, and I want them back. I want to see their
smiling faces. - I love them, Yleen and Lillie. Even though they're not
physically here with me to help me through this,
they're still around me. They're like my angels.
