Cases Old and Cold

[HairOfTheDog]

Any ideas on who the perp is, HotD?

None whatsoever, MS. If I ever heard about this case as a kid, I don't remember it.

But, I imagine Bill Medley offered up his DNA when the case was re-opened in 2009 and he's not a suspect.

And, I did just read that witnesses described a shaggy-haired man running from the home around the time of the murder.

Usually, "the shaggy-haired man did it" is just bullshit, but maybe it's true this time? I think we'll find out on Monday.

Here's the suspect composite LE developed based on witnesses descriptions back in the day.

[BigMark]

It's a dead ringer for sum young ho.

[HairOfTheDog]

It's a dead ringer for sum young ho.

The shaggy-haired man does look a little bit Asian.

[BigMark]

Never trust a dude with a neck beard.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

Wow, I remember this case, it was a pretty big deal back then, what? 75, 76?

[HairOfTheDog]

Wow, I remember this case, it was a pretty big deal back then, what? 75, 76?

It was 1976.Tomorrow marks the 41^st anniversary of Karen's murder and the day L.A.P.D. will reveal the killer at a press conference. Members of Karen's family are expected to attend.

Here's a little more about the case:
Karen Klaas was attacked early in the day on Jan. 30, 1976 as she returned home from dropping off her 4-year-old child at day care. The attacker strangled, beat, and raped her.

Neighbors found her in her home after she was late for their breakfast date and they could not contact her. She died several days later. Klaas was 32.

Two witnesses described a shaggy-haired, bearded man in a trench coat and blue jeans leaving Klaas’ house — but the suspect was never found.

The case was re-opened in 2009 and Bill Medley helped LE by appealing to the public to call in tips and leads.

With advancements in technology, forensic investigators were able to develop a DNA profile based on evidence collected at the crime scene. Investigators have since matched DNA collected at the crime scene to a male family member of the perpetrator. That lead enabled investigators to solve the case.

[HairOfTheDog]

The killer of Bill Medley's ex-wife Karen Klaas was a stranger to her, but no stranger to sexually assaulting women. He's also dead as a door-nail and has been for years.


Kenneth Troyer ^ was identified today as the killer of Karen Klaas.

Troyer was named by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on the anniversary of Klaas’ death. Investigators said last week they had identified the suspected killer but declined to release his name until a Monday news conference.

Troyer was killed in a shoot-out with police in March 1982, after escaping from a California prison, L.A. County Sheriff Jim McDonnell said. At the time, Troyer was a suspect in multiple sexual assaults and had been behind bars for burglary.

Medley and his son with Klaas, Darrin, appeared alongside law enforcement Monday as Klaas’ killer was announced. Medley said he was very happy with the news — after making peace with never having a solution.

“It has been a long road, and we are just thrilled we can close the book,” he said. “From the bottom of my heart, I thank everyone.” He continued, “It was something you were hoping for for 40 years, and all of a sudden they said, ‘We got him.’ ”

Full story: http://people.com/crime/karen-klaas-righ...dentified/

[SIXFOOTERsez]

Wow, I really expected it was going to be someone she knew/
Glad that dirtbag is already taking a dirt nap

[HairOfTheDog]

Follow-up to Post 18 (and beyond) -- Etan Patz Case



Pedro Hernandez has been found guilty for the murder and kidnapping of Etan Patz.

The verdict was handed down by a jury today, nine days after the began deliberations in the case.

Hernandez, 55, was convicted of felony murder and acquitted of second-degree murder by the jury, suggesting they believed that he did not mean to kill the boy.

The convicted killer showed no signs of emotion as the jury read out their verdict on Tuesday.

Etan, 6, vanished while walking alone to school for the very first time on May 25, 1979 and his face was one of the first on milk cartons.

His body has never been found.


Full story: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...urder.html
=============================

Mr. Katz was in the courtroom today. He wept as the verdict was read. Hoping this brings him and the rest of Etan's family peace and some bit of closure after all these years.

[Duchess]

Oh my gosh. 1979. Such a long time to wait for justice but I guess it's way more than loved ones who never get to have it.

[HairOfTheDog]

GEORGIA -- ARREST MADE


Tara Grinstead's father had her legally declared dead in 2010. Her body hasn't been found, but maybe that will change soon now that LE has a suspect in custody. I've followed Tara's case for nearly 12 years and was really surprised by the arrest news.

Police initially got a slew of tips and interviewed several potential suspects when Tara vanished from her home, but could never build a case against anyone.

(continued)

[HairOfTheDog]

Those questioned included her ex-fiancee who was serving in the military, her close male friend who is a police officer in a nearby city and had left a note on her door, and a male student of Tara's who she sometimes tutored at her home.

The man arrested for the murder of Tara Grinstead late last week is none of those men. He's 33-year-old Ryan Alexander Duke, a former student of the high school school where Tara taught. Duke was never questioned by LE and never on their radar before someone handed them a new tip early last week.


Duke ^ burglarized the teacher’s home, and used his hands to kill her inside the residence, according to warrants. He then removed her body from the home with the intent of concealing her death, the warrants state.

During an arraignment soon after the announcement, Duke was charged with murder, aggravated assault and burglary. He was appointed an attorney by the court and waived his right to a preliminary hearing.

Story: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/tara-grinste...rant-says/

[SIXFOOTERsez]

Wow, that came out of nowhere. Glad they think they have the right guy, hope he fesses up to where she is

[HairOfTheDog]

Wow, that came out of nowhere. Glad they think they have the right guy, hope he fesses up to where she is

Me too, Six.

Seems as though LE has gotten some information about the location of Tara's remains from the suspect and/or "people involved".

Dozens of Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents searched a pecan farm in a south Georgia town for Tara Grinstead’s remains Tuesday.



A crew of more than 40 people were involved in the massive dig that lasted all day in Ben Hill County.

"There are agents from eight different GBI offices. I have five crime scene specialists here. We actually enlisted the services of two anthropologists in case we find any skeletal remains."

"Agents stood shoulder to shoulder and walked off some area. They then went to their hands and knees and crawled that same area. We identified some specific areas that we gridded off so we can do a grid search," GBI Special Agent in Charge J.T. Ricketson said.

"This is a possible site where she may have been disposed of," Ricketson said. "We are finding some things and we are collecting some evidence. We are hopeful that we can find her remains and that's why we're there."

Story: http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/dozens-d.../498308864

[koko]

I searched her name but didn't find any posts. She's only a few weeks younger than me. I don't remember ever hearing about her before. Thought I'd see if anybody here remembers her case, or has a theory about wtf happened? I've got an idea of what I think happened... but there's still so many questions.

Links to info
Wikipedia: Disappearance of Asha Degree
Finding Asha Degree blog **
Archive of articles by the Shelby Star
Reddit thread (where I first learned of her)
** (regarding the Finding Asha blog) While Iquilla Degree (Asha's mother) characterized the blog as containing "half truths" and said she did not take it too seriously, she allowed that it might prove to be of assistance in ending the mystery of Asha's fate. Local law enforcement were more welcoming. "People wanting to help doesn't burden the case whatsoever," said county sheriff Alan Norman.

Asha Degree

It's worth noting, it was reported that the father checked on the kids before going to bed at 2:30 AM and says they were both there. The rest of this time line came from the FindingAshaDegree blog.

• Happy, shy, quiet, obedient and fearful of dogs, the dark, and storms, 9-year-old basketball star, Asha Jaquilla Degree is discovered missing from her bed at 6:30 a.m. where she lives with her mom, dad and 10-year-old brother.
  
• Cleveland County Law Enforcement, along with the SBI and FBI, volunteer search and rescue teams as well as K-9 teams turned up nothing
  
• When the 5:00 nightly news hits the airways, two motorists call investigators and report seeing Asha in the wee hours of the morning walking alone in a near-freezing, raging rainstorm on dark, dark Hwy 18. One witness reports a 3:45 sighting and the other a 4:15 sighting.
  
• Asha is seen wearing only a white t-shirt, white jeans and white sneakers, carrying her bookbag
  
• She has no hat or coat and no flashlight. There are no highway lights in this rural community.
  
• One witness reported a ‘torrential downpour’ at the time of his seeing Asha. He turns around three times only to see Asha run into a patch of woods
  
• Despite ground, K-9 and heat-sensor air searches, not one scent was picked up. Nothing.
  
• On Thursday, several items confirmed to be Asha’s, were reported found in an open storage shed/barn
  
• Eighteen months later, Asha’s bookbag/backpack was unearthed 27 miles north by a worker grading a site for development
  
• The family had no internet, nor did either child have a cell phone or private land line; both children were adequately monitored with other close family living on the same street.
  

Map of their area, with points of interest marked. Note: the reported sighting is approx 1.3 miles from the Degree home.



Some of the reports list items supposedly found in the backpack...including her house key. I don't know if it was actually the same exact backpack she used for school or not. If so, it would be easier to explain the key. But she also had 3 family photos, her basketball uniform, and red clothes (likely a valentine's day outfit). Among some other things....but no flashlight, no coat, not even a hat. In a cold rain storm.at 3-4 AM.

Valentines day was also her parents anniversary...I can't help but wonder if she was lured out by someone she trusted under the pretense that they had to wait until the middle of the night, and would be setting up a surprise of some sort for her parents. Sounds crazy but I can't come up with any other reason that she'd go through with leaving THAT night, at that time.

Some people theorize she could have been sleepwalking...and possibly crossed paths with an opportunistic sick fuck. But idk.... I don't buy that one.
At the time, her 4^th grade class was reading The Whipping Boy and some people say she probably got the idea of running away from the book. I don't buy that either. She didn't like the dark, or storms. If her idea was to run away and have herself a little adventure....why not wait til the weather improves?
Some think she ran away because she fouled out of a basketball game earlier and they ended up getting their first loss.


In the past couple years (maybe last year) new info was released. From what I understand it was a detail that had been previously overlooked. Possibly because they didn't know exactly how credible it was? But it was about her supposedly being seen getting into a green car like the ones shown on her missing poster.

[koko]

An extensive timeline, also from the Finding Asha blog


Asha Degree was a happy, loved 9-year-old girl, who on a stormy February 14, 2000 disappeared in the predawn hours from her long-time home in Shelby N.C.

Despite ground, air and K-9 searches, no one other than two motorists who later called in a possible sighting of Asha had any clues for authorities. It’s believed Asha left on her own accord and walked alone along Hwy 18, a full 1.3 miles from her home during a raging rain storm.

No one knows what happened to Asha from the moment she left her home.

...

THE TIMELINE:
Here is what I’ve learned from perusing and studying countless news reports and accounts:

On Friday, February 11, 2000, Cleveland County schools were out. Asha and her older brother, O’Bryant, spend the day with their aunt, Alisha who lives down the street from the family home. Later that afternoon, both brother and sister attend scheduled peewee basketball practice at the Fallston Elementary School where Asha and O’Bryant attend.

On Saturday, February 12, 2000, both Asha and O’Bryant compete in basketball games at Burn’s Middle School; the girls’ played first. Asha fouled out of the game and the team experienced their first loss. Both Asha and her teammates took the defeat hard and it’s reported all the girls cried in disappointment and Asha complained about her leg hurting. Reassured by her mother that her leg ‘really didn’t hurt’ Asha quickly ‘recovered’ and was seen playing and laughing with her friends in short order.

After the boys’ game, the family goes home, with Asha being her normal, happy self.

Sunday, February 13, 2001, The family attended church services at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in Waco. Afterwards, the family had lunch at an aunt’s house, then headed home. Asha was in good spirits having received her Valentine’s Day candy early from her grandmother, Joanne.

At about 9:00 p.m., a power outage occurred as a result of a car accident nearby.

Monday, February 14, 2000, Asha had been lying on the sofa wearing jeans and t-shirt before changing into her nightgown. At around 12:30 a.m., power was restored to the area and Mr. Degree reports seeing both children being asleep in their shared bedroom, though they occupied separate beds.

Harold retires to bed at 2:30 a.m.; it’s around this time, O’Bryant sees Asha dressed in her white nightgown with red trim and a teddy bear on its front, get up and use the bathroom, and return to her bed.

Shortly afterward, O’bryant reports hearing her bed squeak and believes Asha is just tossing in her sleep.

At 5:45a.m., Iquilla, Asha’s mom, awakes. The kids normally wake for school at 6:30 but mom gets up early and draws bathwater so the kids can bathe . Iquilla goes a few feet from bathroom to the kids’ bedroom to wake both O’Bryant and Asha but only sees her son under his covers and Asha missing– despite checking the entire house and both cars.

NOTE: There are differing accounts in the media about Iquilla’s wake time. Many reports state she awoke at 6:00 and still others say 6:15. I settled on Jet Magazine’s interview since it’s a first-person account by Iquilla herself.

Both parents are in panic mode after having called Asha’s paternal grandmother and aunt who live on the same street as the family. She also calls her own mother who prompts Iquilla to hang up and call 911. Police are called and at 6:40 the first officer arrives. Within one hour, tracking dogs are dispatched.

[HairOfTheDog]

Thank you for pulling all of that together, koko -- great detailed overview.

It's such a confounding case. Why would a 9-year-old girl with a strong family and no previous issues pack a bag and run away during a storm?

It appears that LE does not suspect the immediate family and has validated the reports of motorists who said they saw her walking by the side of highway 18 in the storm in the wee hours before her parents discovered she was missing.

If I had to guess, I'd say Asha was given some story by an adult figure at her church, school, or within the circle of family/friends and lured to meet him/her at the shed or somewhere in the woods. Or, Asha suffered a mental breakdown that caused her to flee erratically.

Whatever happened, I really hope Asha is alive and will one day soon be reunited with her family. But, the fact that her book bag with belongings was found buried in plastic leads me to believe she's more likely dead. "(

[koko]

It appears that LE does not suspect the immediate family and has validated the reports of motorists who said they saw her walking by the side of highway 18 in the storm in the wee hours before her parents discovered she was missing.

If I had to guess, I'd say Asha was given some story by an adult figure at her church, school, or within the circle of family/friends and lured to meet him/her at the shed or somewhere in the woods. Or, Asha suffered a mental breakdown that caused her to flee erratically.

Yeah im thinking someone groomed her, maybe for a couple days...maybe slowly for a few months. The family photos in the backpack are tricky too...we're the photos normally somewhere in the house? Did she always keep them in her bookbag? (Kids do weird stuff) On one hand it could support the "adventure" theory....but that's from our POV.

Also I don't know many 9 year olds who'd be able to just lay down in bed for 2+ hours and wait, without dozing off. But her brother noticing her going to the bathroom and coming back makes me wonder if she was checking to see if her dad was actually in bed or not. Maybe checking outside for the car of whoever may have groomed her...or some kind of signal?

I know the paternal aunt and grandmother lived on the same street. I'm assuming in the same house, only because it wasn't specified that they both have their own home. I dont know the age of the aunt either. Im wondering if there were any slightly older cousins..ya know, those "cool kids" one might look up to? None were mentioned so I'm guessing there weren't any living on the street but maybe they came to visit grandma's house? Kind of a stretch. Not that I really think it's a family member....but maybe a friend of a family member?

My suspicions of churchy-types rears it's head again. That was really my first gut instinct.

My best guess on the backpack was that it was wrapped to try and block any of the scent that a dog may be able to pick up. It was found pretty far north of the home, close to I-40. (I checked it when I made that map with the home, shed, and sighting location, Google show as it as a 20+ min drive from their home to the interstate)


Crazy.
After 17 years I really don't think it looks good....but I also didn't think Amanda Berry or Gina DeJesus would be found alive either. So I hope I'm proven wrong.

[HairOfTheDog]

SECOND ARREST IN TARA GRINSTEAD CASE


--Bo Dukes ^ was arrested today in connection with Tara Grinstead's disappearance

--Dukes, 32, was charged with concealing a death among several other charges; he was released from jail Friday on a $16,700 bond, authorities said

--Last week, Ryan Duke, 33, was arrested and charged with Grinstead's murder; Bo Dukes was his classmate


--Authorities are currently searching a pecan farm for Grinstead's remains; Bo Dukes' uncle owns the farm but is not suspected of any involvement and is fully cooperating with LE

--LE has left the possibility open that more people may be involved, but the judge issued a gag order in the case

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...acher.html

[HairOfTheDog]

Bo Dukes is charged with concealing a death, hindering the apprehension of a criminal and tampering with evidence.

Investigators say he helped murder suspect Ryan Duke hide and destroy Tara Grinstead’s body 11 years ago when the teacher and former beauty queen was reported missing from her Ocilla home in October 2005.

Arrest warrants accuse Bo Dukes of hiding the body between Oct. 23 and Oct. 28, 2005 on a farm off Bowens Mill Highway just outside Fitzgerald. Records show the farm is owned by a relative of Bo Dukes.



“I can't even put this into words. It's unreal. It's just unbelievable,” said Grinstead’s sister, Anita Gattis (pictured above with Tara).

Gattis said she’s known Bo Dukes’ family for years, but never connected him with any part of her sister’s disappearance.

She said during the time of all the searches for Tara Grinstead in 2005, she stayed in Ocilla with relatives of Bo Dukes. “They were some of the most heartbroken people in the area over Tara’s disappearance,” she said.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/police-m...tead-case/
====================================

ETA: I don't know why Bo Dukes was released on such low bond, unless he is the person who dropped the dime on Ryan Duke last week and made a deal with LE? Due to the gag order issued by the judge, that's an unanswered question. But, the press has filed an appeal in hopes of overturning the gag order.