On Tuesday, April 13, the pre-trial hearings continued in the 1993 rape-murder of Sophie Sergie. Both the Sun Journal and the Union Leader reported about a crucial piece of information: the bullet that caused her death. Again, the hearing was by video conference. Sophie Sergie was killed with a single bullet to the back of […]
Cold Case News
Sophie Sergie: Hearing Day 7
On Monday, April 12, the hearings in the 1993 murder of Sophie Sergie continued by video conference. This time, the possibilities of alternative suspects were discussed, that is, suspects other than Steven H. Downs. I hinted in other posts that I wondered about phenotyping in this case, if it was done, and if Downs resembles […]
Neosho Grace Doe is Shawna Beth Garber
Now officially identified as Shawna Beth Garber (born March 1, 1968) she was known as the ‘McDonald County Grace Doe’ and on my website as Neosho Grace Doe. Why did I give her that name? After her remains were recovered, Detective Lorie Howard sent them to Freeman Hospital in Neosho and the scans were sent […]
Sophie Sergie: Hearing Day 6
Central Maine reports that on Thursday, the hearings in the 1993 rape-murder of Sophie Sergie continued by video conference. Steven H. Downs attended. He is charged in this case. We heard from CeCe Moore, the chief genetic genealogist with Parabon NanoLabs. She matched part of the DNA found in semen to a profile in GEDmatch. […]
Sophie Sergie: Hearing Day 5
Jennifer Foster, an Alaska Crime Lab supervisor, testified March 10, 2021 by video during the pretrial hearings in the case of Sophie Sergie who was raped-murdered on April 25, 1993. Steven H. Downs is charged in her sexual assault and murder and appeared in the Alaska Superior Court, Fairbanks. He is represented by defense attorney […]
DeAngelo moves to Corcoran State Prison
Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. aka the Golden State Killer (now 75 years old) has found his forever home at Corcoran State Prison. The Sun Gazette reports that Mr. DeAngelo will remain in the Protective Housing Unit. It is a section for prisoners who cannot be housed in the general population because they need ‘special protection.’ […]
Sophie Sergie: Hearing Day 4
On Friday, Feb 5, the evidence hearings in the 1993 murder of Sophie Sergie continued. Gun Steven H. Downs’ former girlfriend Katherine deSchweinitz Lee testified through videoconference in court: according to her Steve did not own a gun during the years they dated at Alaska State University (ASU) and they dated for about 4 years. […]
Sophie Sergie: Hearing Day 3
The defense team of Steven H. Downs led by Attorney James Howaniec, filed 11 motions in the 1993 murder of Sophie Sergie. I previously wrote nine motions so this is a correction. All the hearings did start on Feb 1, 2021, a delay from April 2020 due to the pandemic. Two things dominated this day: […]
Sophie Sergie: Hearing Day 2
The case against Steven H. Downs in the 1993 murder of Sophie Sergie may not be as airtight as the authorities had hoped. They had to admit that they made mistakes. The mistakes affect the search warrants that were used at Downs’ home to find a gun and the cheek swab to collect DNA for […]
Sophie Sergie: evidence hearing
Yesterday, an evidence hearing took place in the 1993 murder of Sophie Sergie in Fairbanks, Alaska. The Crime Steven H. Downs (now 46) faces two felony counts for Sophie’s murder. According to the authorities, Sophie was shot in the back of her head with a .22-caliber gun. Police found such a caliber gun in Downs’ […]