cold cases

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25 Years Later, Caller Confesses
25 Years Later,
Caller Confesses
Nov 20, 2020 1:38 AM CST

25 Years Later, Caller Confesses

Alabama man wasn't a suspect in the killing

(Newser) - The days without an arrest turned into months and then years after someone killed Christopher Alvin Dailey in 1995. While never closed, the Alabama case went cold without new evidence. Then the phone rang at the Decatur Police Department. Johnny Dwight Whited called investigators saying he wanted to confess to...

Suspect in 1972 Murder Kills Himself Hours Before Verdict

Terrence Miller was found guilty after death

(Newser) - After evading justice for 48 years in the 1972 murder of 20-year-old Jody Loomis, Terrence Miller didn't live to hear the guilty verdict against him. Police in Snohomish County, Washington, say the 78-year-old killed himself Monday morning, around three hours before a jury that started its deliberations Friday found...

After 51 Years 'Free and Easy,' Murder Suspect Arrested

Victim's sister persuaded cops to reopen case

(Newser) - When Rosalie Sanz read about the Golden State Killer and other murderers identified through new DNA technology long after their crimes, she thought about her sister, who was raped and murdered in San Diego in 1969. She enlisted a retired police officer friend to persuade police to reopen the investigation...

Skull Found on Mount Hood in 1986 Belonged to 19-Year-Old

Police seeking tips on Wanda Ann Herr

(Newser) - Oregon police are investigating the 1970s disappearance of a 19-year-old woman after a skull found on Mount Hood in 1986 was confirmed to be hers. Two Forest Service workers were near Government Camp when they came across the partial skull and other bone fragments, which were thought to have been...

After 35 Years, Cops Identify Murder Victim

His belt buckle was the most important clue

(Newser) - If it wasn't for his belt buckle, the fate of William Ernest Thompson might have forever remained a mystery. Police in Escambia County, Florida say Thompson was identified as a murder victim after a relative searching for their missing uncle read a cold case listing on their website that...

DNA Triggers Arrest in 35-Year-Old Cold Case

Officials and family hold an emotional press conference in Rochester

(Newser) - Wendy Jerome was brutally raped, killed, and left by a dumpster 35 years ago—a crime officials say has finally been solved with DNA testing, CNN reports. The news emerged at an emotional press conference Friday in Rochester, New York. "I never thought I would see this day, and...

A Big Cold-Case Break, Followed by Disappointment

Suspected murderer of 2 young women in 1973 may not face trial because of dementia

(Newser) - It was one of those cold-case breaks that have become common these days: Thanks to a DNA match, police arrested a suspect last year in the murder of two young women in Virginia Beach in 1973. The families of Janice Pietropola and Lynn Seethaler, two 19-year-olds from suburban Pittsburgh who...

Stepdad of Teen Missing Since 2001 Arrested for Her Murder
Teen Vanished in 2001 on Last
Day of School. Now, an Arrest
in case you missed it
Aug 23, 2020 10:30 AM CDT

Teen Vanished in 2001 on Last Day of School. Now, an Arrest

Michael Turney, stepdad to missing 17-year-old Alissa Turney, has been charged

(Newser) - In 2001, a high school junior from Phoenix disappeared on her last day of school. Now, nearly two decades later, a suspect is in custody, thanks to her sister's perseverance and dogged investigative work. Arrested Thursday in Mesa, Ariz., and charged with second-degree murder in the case of Alissa...

Cops Found Killer After 24 Years, Didn't Get to Arrest Him

As authorities closed in on Steve Branch in 1996 rape, murder of 17-year-old, he killed himself

(Newser) - Alaska State Police were pretty sure they'd found their man when they arrived at the Arkansas home of Steve Branch last week. But 66-year-old Branch—suspected of raping and killing Jessica Baggen after her 17th birthday party in Sitka, Alaska, in 1996—refused to provide a DNA sample, so...

'I Think They Always Knew': A Lynching Is Revived, 34 Years Later

Timothy Coggins was dragged to his death in 1983. But where was justice?

(Newser) - Timothy Coggins was said to be funny and exuberant, with a captivating smile. Tragically, the young Black man was lynched in October 1983—a crime that went unsolved until law enforcement took up the cold case and showed it to a jury 34 years later, GQ reports. "I think...

DNA Solves Murder That Haunted Cops for 52 Years

Suspect in California killing died in 2015

(Newser) - A homicide mystery that haunted southern California police detectives for 52 years has been solved with genetic genealogy that identified the young woman who was slain and a now-deceased man who is suspected of being the killer, authorities said Thursday. The victim was Anita Louise Piteau, 26, one of seven...

Arrest in 'Great Mystery of Fayette County'

Ex-boyfriend charged in 1986 death of Denise Pflum, 18

(Newser) - An ex-boyfriend has been charged in the death of an Indiana teen last seen more than three decades ago. Denise Pflum, 18, disappeared from Connersville in March 1986, shortly after splitting with her boyfriend of three years, Shawn McClung, in what Sheriff Joey Laughlin calls "the great mystery of...

Incredibly Cold Murder Case Spawns 2 Arrests

Theodore 'Teddy' Edwards was gunned down in 1993 in a Connecticut restaurant

(Newser) - Connecticut police have arrested two men in connection with the fatal shooting of a 77-year-old restaurant custodian whose killing had gone unsolved for 27 years, the AP reports. Bridgeport police said Danarius Dukes was apprehended Thursday in Stamford, and authorities announced Friday that Breeze Brown, also known as Eric Brown,...

Killer IDed in 38-Year-Old Cold Case, but He Won't Go to Prison

Harold Warren Jarrell, suspected of murdering 8-year-old Kelly Ann Prosser in Ohio, died in 1996

(Newser) - In September 1982, 8-year-old Kelly Ann Prosser was abducted while walking home from school in Columbus Ohio, then beaten, sexually assaulted, and strangled to death. Her body was discovered in a field two days later, but her killer was never found. Now, nearly four decades later, authorities say they have...

Farmer&#39;s Killing Was &#39;Incomprehensible&#39;&mdash;Until Now
Farmer's Killing Was
'Incomprehensible'—Until Now
in case you missed it
May 31, 2020 7:03 AM CDT

Farmer's Killing Was 'Incomprehensible'—Until Now

Elmer Yuill was murdered on his farm back in 1991. Now, a suspect emerges

(Newser) - Elmer Yuill's killing made no sense at all. The gentle farmer liked doting on his younger sisters and kept his barnyard so clean that drivers pulled over for photos. Yet early one morning in 1991, the 77-year-old was found dead, two bullets in the back—execution style—on that...

Tennessee Authorities Think They've Nabbed a Serial Killer

Suspect Clark Perry Baldwin identified through genetic genealogy

(Newser) - Authorities in Tennessee believe they've nabbed a serial killer. Clark Perry Baldwin, a 59-year-old former truck driver, was arrested in Iowa Wednesday and charged in the 1991 death of a 24-weeks-pregnant woman in Tennessee. In March 1991, Pamela McCall was been found strangled in Spring Hill, Tenn., a few...

Neighbor Arrested 40 Years After Calif. Woman's Murder

Philip Wilson, 71, identified via familial DNA, accused of killing 20-year-old Robin Brooks

(Newser) - Since 1980, Maria Arrick has hoped her sister's killer would be caught. A day before the 40th anniversary of Robin Brooks' rape and murder, police in Sacramento, Calif., apparently found their man. Brooks' 71-year-old former neighbor, Philip Wilson, was arrested at his Sacramento home on Thursday and charged with...

1963 Killing May Be Solved— but Suspect May Not Be Alive

Authorities have been searching for months with no luck

(Newser) - Margaret "Peggy" Beck was serving as a counselor for the first time at a Girl Scout camp in Colorado on the night of Aug. 18, 1963, when her tent mate got sick and went to the infirmary for the rest of the evening. So Beck, 16, was alone in...

Home Raided Again in Kristin Smart Case

Police say more 'items of interest' removed

(Newser) - The home of a former classmate of long-missing California student Kristin Smart was searched for a second time Wednesday, investigators say. The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office says a search warrant was served at the home of Paul Flores, who is believed to have been the last person...

Breakthrough in Old Case, but Not the Way You&#39;d Expect
'Remarkable' Feat Solves
50-Year-Old Cold Case
in case you missed it
Apr 11, 2020 11:30 AM CDT

'Remarkable' Feat Solves 50-Year-Old Cold Case

Winston Morris identified as victim of 1969 murder, not by DNA but by plotted fingerprint

(Newser) - Human remains found in a pit off I-93 near Salem, NH, more than 50 years ago have finally been identified thanks to a criminalist who manually plotted a fingerprint. First came failed attempts to identify the remains—buried in 1969 and then exhumed in 2012—through DNA and fingerprinting. Though...

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