The suspect in the 1987 rape-murder of Barbara Blatnik has passed away of natural causes on Aug 24, 2021. James Zastawnik (69) was going to trial on October 22, 2021. He was free on $35,000 bond and per court conditions, lived with family. Cause of death: cancer. Due to Covid19, many trials have been rescheduled. […]
DNA
Bennett Family Murders: three life sentences
Yesterday, Aug 17, District Judge Darren Vahle sentenced Alexander Christopher Ewing to three life sentences, one for each member of the Bennett Family. Ewing was found guilty on Aug 6, 2021 in the 1984 Bennett family Murders in Aurora, Colorado. Ewing didn’t speak during his sentencing hearing. The life sentences will be served consecutively. As […]
Arrested: Michael Scott Glazebrook
A reader alerted me that the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office had posted that Michael Scott Glazebrook had been arrested August 15, 2021. He is held on 1 mio bond. This has to be in connection to the 1981 murder of Sonia Carmen Herok Stone. However, as there is nothing else in the media we will […]
Bennett Family Murders: Jury Impasse
UPDATE: the jury found Alexander Christopher Ewing guilty on all six counts ( three counts of first-degree murder after deliberation and three counts of first-degree felony murder) on Friday August 6, 2021. Ewing faces life imprisonment however, he will be sentenced under the law as it was at the time of the crime. In 1984, […]
Bennett Family Murders: the prosecution rests
The case against Alexander Christopher Ewing (60) comes down to forensic evidence. The state pointed to DNA found at the crime scene. The crime scene is the Bennett Family home where 3 out of 4 family members were murdered in January 1984. All four family members were assaulted, only one survived. In the papers, the […]
Elodie Kulik: Barton sentence upheld
On July 1, 2021 the North Assize Court of Appeal in Douai, France, confirmed the 2019 verdict of the lower court that sentenced Willy Bardon to 30 years in prison. Bardon was accused, convicted, and sentenced for the 2002 kidnapping, confinement, rape, and murder of Elodie Kulik. One of the conflicting points was that the […]
Owachige Elice Osceola
The authorities have a pretty good idea who killed Owachige Elice Osceola (27) but they need your help to provide that one missing piece of the puzzle. This is the Case of the Month for June 2021. The Case On September 25, 2013, Norman Police conducted a welfare check at Ridgecrest Court, in Norman, Oklahoma. […]
Karen Kaye Knippers identified
We called her the Pulaski County Jane Doe as for 40 years, we didn’t know her name. Now we do: Karen Kaye Knippers. From KCRG: “Three Sheriffs, J.B. King, Ronald Long, and current Sheriff Jimmy Bench continued searching for answers through the years, along with Coroner Mikel Hartness, who got a court order in 2015 […]
Zeigler, at long last: DNA testing
A motion was filed today by the William Thomas Zeigler defense team with the approval of the Orange County State Attorney’s office for DNA testing. It still needs a judge’s approval however, these joint motions are seldom denied. But, as we have been asking for DNA testing since 1994, I will not be able to […]
Sophie Sergie: cyber attacks
The pretrial evidence hearings in the 1993 murder of Sophie Sergie are delayed till further notice. Why? The Alaska court system’s cybersecurity has been breached. Nobody is safe from cyber attacks. About two weeks ago, the Alaska court system was forced offline. Without internet connection, no Zoom. Steven H. Downs, charged with Sophie Sergie’s murder, […]
Sophie Sergie: Hearing Day 8
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 […]
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 […]
Helen Ruth Conwright Young (1936–1976)
Helen Ruth Conwright Young (Aug 31, 1936 – July 31, 1976) was born in Ore City, Texas, to the Rev. Freddie D. Conwright and Mrs. Luella Jane Walker Conwright. She left behind husband Roy Young , eight sons, and one daughter. She had five brothers and nine sisters. Her case is unsolved. The Case Helen […]
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 […]
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’ […]
The Unclaimed
Introduction One day, we all pass away. Most of us prepare for that moment. We do not wish to burden our loved ones and friends with costs when they take care of our remains. We get life insurances, some look into buying burial plots, and others make an extensive inventory of items and bequests to […]