Cases Old and Cold

[Midwest Spy]

The Jacob Wetterling and Johnny Gosch cases have always been a great mystery and of interest to me. I wonder if there is a mid west abduction ring whose members take special requests from molesters who pay for a 'made to order' victim.

Never thought of that.

I'm guessing not, but who knows.

[Maggot]

I remember when these people were found. When it first came out they said it was only 2 people a woman and a child, later they found 2 children. The area that they were found in is not in the park but above it on catamount hill. Today the trailer park that was once only 5-6 trailers now number about 50. A friend of mine lives in a trailer that is about 50 ft away from where they found the drums with the bodies in them and I went hunting in those woods a few times and don't remember ever seeing any 40 gallon drums.

cold case



The woman looks familiar though.

[HairOfTheDog]

^ I wasn't familiar with the case, Maggot. Interesting and sad.

According to the linked story, the woman and oldest child were found in a steel drum in 1988 and the two younger girls were found in a steel drum in 2000 -- all found near each other in New Hampshire.

Amazing what can be ascertained from forensic science these days. Forensic experts have determined they most likely were killed between 1980 and 1984 and lived in Northeast and the woman is the mother of the oldest child.

I hope investigators get some good tips with the release of the new information. Or, maybe the new information can help detectives narrow down the nationwide list of missing persons enough to identify the victims (assuming they were reported missing)? Hard to imagine that four people completely disappeared and nobody reported it, but it happens.

[Maggot]

I may take a walk around there this weekend. There was a country store that burned down around the time they say the bodies were dumped. It was about the same time I just got out of the service and the parks campground was a fairly wild place then with parties every weekend. the store would stay open till 1-2 in the morning selling tons of beer.

[Midwest Spy]

Thanks MS.


^ This is Jacob Wetterling shortly before his abduction.


^ This is the piece of shit who is a person-of-interest in his abduction now, alongside a suspect sketch from back in 1989. If he's the guy, he would have been 26 when Jacob was abducted.

^ Danny James Heinrich, 52, was arrested at his home Wednesday night on suspicion of receiving and possessing pornography and have linked him to the abduction of the 11-year-old boy. He has not been charged in the Wetterling case.

Heinrich’s home was searched on July 28 by Stearns County authorities seeking possible evidence, including Jacob’s jacket. The warrant said no jacket was found, nor was any evidence directly linking him to Jacob’s disappearance.

But DNA was discovered on some clothing that may link Heinrich to a boy who was sexually assaulted in 1989, and Heinrich lives in an area where several other boys have been assaulted.

Heinrich was interviewed after Jacob disappeared, according to a search warrant. He was reinterviewed in 1990.

Full story: http://www.startribune.com/new-developme...8399961/#1

The Star Tribune is reporting that Heinrich has led authorities to Jacob Wetterling's remains, ending a 27 year search for him.

His family is devastated with the outcome, though I'm guessing somewhat relieved to know where he is and being able to lay him to rest.

I'm guessing in exchange for the location of the body that authorities have cut Heinrich some sort of deal.

A sad day for all in this state.

[Duchess]

Oops. I didn't see this posted before I did.

[HairOfTheDog]

I'm so glad that LE has answers and they know who is responsible for Jacob's disappearance after all these years.

But, I'm so very sad for the Wetterlings. They've always held out hope that Jacob was still alive somewhere.

The official LE announcement:
The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office today confirms that Jacob Wetterling’s remains have been located. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner and a forensic odontologist identified the remains as Wetterling’s earlier today. Additional DNA testing will be performed at the BCA. The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office, assisted by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the FBI, the Stearns County Attorney’s Office and the United States Attorney’s Office are currently in the process of reviewing and evaluating new evidence in the Jacob Wetterling investigation. Authorities expect to be in a position to provide more detailed information early next week. We are asking for your patience and respect for the Wetterling family’s privacy until that time.

http://www.kare11.com/news/wetterlings-r.../313210664

[Midwest Spy]

Dan Heinrich has just confessed, in detail (as part of a plea agreement) to the sexual assault and murder of Jacob Wetterling.

Anyone who is a parent will agonize in hearing what happened that night.

I just can't believe we can not rid this world of this evil bastard, and that we have to treat him with dignity and respect, when he's clearly nothing more than an evil piece of shit.

So sad for that mother and father.

[HairOfTheDog]

Thanks for the update, MS.

That piece of shit confessed to approaching Jacob, his brother and their friend on their bikes with a revolver. He told the two other boys to leave and tied Jacob's hands behind his back. Jacob asked, "what did I do wrong?" God, poor kid.

Then, Heinrich took Jacob, sexually assaulted him, and shot him twice. He left his body there and went back with a Bobcat to bury him in a hole. A year later, he went back and saw that part of Jacob's jacket was exposed. So, he took Jacob's remains and moved them.

Police interviewed Heinrich right after Jacob's disappearance, but couldn't tie him definitively to Jacob's abduction. Last year, they tested a jacket from a local boy who had been abducted and sexually assaulted a few months before Jacob's kidnapping, and the DNA matched to Heinrich. They searched Heinrich's home and found child porn, so they were able to lock him up and he confessed to Jacob's abduction, sexual assault, and murder as part of a plea deal to drop one of the porn charges. He's looking at 20 years.

I hope he gets treated like the trash he is in prison and dies there. Mrs. Wetterling, who is responsible for getting mandatory sex registry legislation passed, was very choked up when Heinrich read his confession. She said her family always considered Jacob alive, until his remains were found.

May the Wetterlings find some peace in knowing for sure what happened to their son and brother, even though the outcome is truly agonizing.

Story: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2...wetterling

[HairOfTheDog]

1990 Double Murder Solved with new DNA

This is such good news for the families of the victims and the safety of the public.


^ Victims: Robin Cornell, 32, was babysitting her roommate's daughter Lisa Story, 11, when an intruder killed them and then raped their bodies in Cape Coral, Florida.

Lisa's mom has been doggedly working with police to find their killer for 26 years.

The police gathered DNA from the scene and the bodies of the victims, but there was no match in the criminal DNA database...until now.

“We got him,” Cape Coral Police Chief David Newlan said at a Wednesday press conference announcing the dramatic break in the slayings.


^ Joseph Zieler, 54, was forced to submit a DNA sample recently at Lee County Jail when he was locked up on a felony battery charge for assaulting his 25-year-old son.

Zieler has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of sexual battery and one count of burglary. He appeared Thursday in Lee County Court, where he was ordered held on $500,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court again on Oct. 31.

Full story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/robi...dc?section=&

[HairOfTheDog]

California



On the evening of Nov. 11, 1973, 7^th grade classmates 12-year-old Valerie Janice Lane and 13-year-old Doris Karen Derryberry went to the mall in Yuba, California. When they didn't return, their mothers reported them missing.

The Yuba County Sheriff's Department was notified a few hours later that two target shooters had discovered the girls' bodies along a dirt road in a wooded area near Marysville, north of Sacramento, where they had been shot at close range. The terrible crime was big local and national news at the time.

Investigators interviewed 60 potential suspects, but were unable to find evidence against any of them. So, the families were left with no answers as to who did this to their children and the case remained cold for 40 years.

Then, finally, in 2014, a cold case detective sent old DNA to the state forensics lab and it matched DNA from two men with criminal records (sex and drug crimes) to semen found on Derryberry. I love DNA forensics.

(continued)

[HairOfTheDog]

^ The two pieces of shit who matched the semen DNA are 65-year-old cousins Larry Don Patterson and William Lloyd Harbour. They lived in the same neighborhood as the girls and were 22-years-old at the time.

Originally they both pleaded not guilty to the charges, but the DNA evidence against them doesn't lie. So, yesterday, Larry Don Patterson pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and William Lloyd Harbour pleaded no contest to the same charges. They are facing 5 years to life, per sentencing laws at the time of the crime. I have not seen a sentencing date yet.

Yesterday, Yuba County public defender Brian Davis, who represented Harbour, said his client was relieved to have the case end. "It is a weight off his shoulders, and he is happy to have a resolution," Davis said. "He has been living with this for the last 43 years."

Fuck right off off, Davis. Nothing you can say makes these two rapists and killers 'victims' and I hope the sentencing judge sees it the same way. If they don't get life, it will really piss me off. For 40 years, they've been free to start families, party, and prey on other women while the loved ones of their young victims were left grieving and without justice. They deserve to die in prison.

Refs:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/09/13/2-m...lings.html
http://www.star-telegram.com/news/nation...rylink=cpy
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...girls.html

[Carsman]

It's unfortunate, the cold case detective(s) in 2014 who discovered/solved this case did not get at least an honorable mention. (Looked at your links, and even found one of my own, and no names mentioned.)

(Searched through your news reports, and even below, and no mention of the detective's name.)


http://abc30.com/news/dna-match-brings-a...s/1510965/

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah, that was interesting to me too, Cars. Normally, the detective who was key to solving a cold case is credited and interviewed.

In this case, he or she isn't mentioned at all and it's almost like that detective's efforts are being minimized by the Yuba County Sheriff. "An investigator with a bit of free time", "an investigator doing a routine check of cold cases"...

I wondered if the detective is someone who normally works undercover, is very media shy, or has disciplinary issues...something like that. It's also possible that LE got a tip from a source they're trying to protect, rather than just hitting the jackpot with a routine look at the cold case 40 years later.

Whoever made it possible, I'm so glad Valerie's and Doris's killers were finally caught.

[HairOfTheDog]

Follow up to post #53



Today, a Colorado jury found Lester Jones guilty of the 2007 kidnapping, first degree murder, and arson of Paige Birgfeld.

Birgfeld was a beloved daughter and mother who worked secretly as a high-end escort. Jones was one of her clients and a real piece of shit who'd had many run-ins with the law.

This was Jones' second trial; a previous jury hung.

Jones will serve life without parole.

Story:
http://denver.cbslocal.com/2016/12/27/le...ld-murder/
http://www.9news.com/news/crime/lester-j.../379399333

[HairOfTheDog]

1980s New Hampshire Multiple Murder Solved - Serial Killing Investigation Underway



CONCORD, N.H. - A man who died in a California prison in 2010 while serving a sentence for killing and dismembering his wife is responsible for killing five people in New Hampshire in the 1980s, authorities said Thursday.

New Hampshire State Police and the attorney general’s office said they believe the killer was a man known as Bob Evans (pictured above with five of his known murder victims), the one-time boyfriend of a New Hampshire woman who disappeared in 1981.

They believe he killed that woman, Denise Beaudin, and, separately, a mother and three girls who were found in steel drums in a park. They said he was the father of one of those girls. Beaudin’s body has never been found, and the other four victims have never been identified.

The case of the four bodies found in drums in a state park in Allenstown has long stymied investigators.

In 1985, a hunter discovered the first two bodies - the woman and a girl believed to be 9 or 10. In 2000, an investigator found the other two girls - one believed to be 2 or 3 and the other 3 or 4. They believe the woman is likely the mother of the eldest and youngest girls.

Ref: http://www.wcsh6.com/img/resize/content....et=534-401

[Maggot]

Hopefully DNA evidence can be proven conclusive. But it was quite a while ago and I still remember it well. Thanks for bringing this up as its very recent.

[HairOfTheDog]

Familial DNA Cracks 40-Year-Old Cold Case -- California



The person who raped and killed the ex-wife of Righteous Brothers singer Bill Medley more than 40 years ago has finally been caught using a controversial DNA testing method.

Investigators say they tracked down Karen Klaas' killer using DNA from a relative of the suspect after she was attacked at her home in Hermosa Beach, California back in 1976.

The 32-year-old was sexually assaulted and strangled with her pantyhose in the horrific attack on January 30 more than 40 years year. She and Medley shared a 10-year-old child. Karen died a few days later in the hospital after failing to regain consciousness.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department revealed the breakthrough in the decades-old cold case on Friday. A sheriff's spokeswoman would not say whether investigators had formally made an arrest in the case and declined to identify the suspect.

Officials re-opened the cold case in 2009 and pulled together a composite of the murder suspect, but were unable to get any further leads.

Authorities said the attacker was tracked down by using the DNA of a relative of the suspect. The familial DNA technique, which has raised ethical issues in the forensics community, allows investigators to search law enforcement databases to identify likely relatives of the person who may have committed the crime when there's no match to perpetrator's own DNA in the system.

Law enforcement officials have defended the technique by arguing that to can provide valuable leads to investigators.But it has been criticized by some who fear it can potentially put law-abiding citizens under genetic surveillance.

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

[HairOfTheDog]

^ Although I wasn't aware of this case before today, it's really good news and I'm anxious to learn who murdered Karen. The Los Angeles Sheriff's Office will hold a press conference on Monday.

I fully support law enforcement's ability to use familial DNA searches to track down murderers, rapists, and other violent criminals. That's how the serial killer The Grim Sleeper was finally caught in California (LE matched perpetrator DNA which didn't get a hit in the database to DNA from his son, who was in the system).

It's also how murdered jogger Karina Vetrano's dad is hoping LE can catch her killer (New York doesn't permit familial DNA matching like CA and a few other states do yet, but a special appeal has been made).

[Midwest Spy]

Any ideas on who the perp is, HotD?