More details are popping up in the news about the night that the Bennett Family was murdered. Bruce Bennett apparently repeatedly climbed the staircase of his home in the early morning hours of Jan. 16, 1984, desperately fighting a man who sneaked into his home with a knife and hammer to attack him, his wife, […]
DNA
Jackie Johns trial update
Jackie Johns trial update: in 2007, investigators said that DNA analysis of blood in Jackie Johns’ abandoned car linked Gerald Carnahan to the crime scene, and he was charged with first-degree murder. He’s now on trial in St. Louis County Circuit Court, Missouri. Two former crime scene investigators took the stand. Both Dwight McNiel, a former […]
DNA ties Patricia Smith to the Bennetts
Six days before the Bennett Family was butchered and bludgeoned in their own home, Patricia Smith was killed by the same person, authorities will reveal at a news conference later today. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation recently tied the two 1984 cases together through a DNA match, said Steve Davis, spokesman for the Lakewood Police Department. The […]
The 1985 Cold Case of Jackie Johns finally goes to trial
The 1985 Cold Case of Jackie Johns finally goes to trial. One of the most anticipated murder trial in the Ozarks of the past quarter century is underway in St. Louis County after a judge ordered a change-of-venue for a story well-known in southwestern Missouri. For 25 years, Gerald Carnahan has been the chief suspect in the rape and […]
Who is this unidentified teenager?
An unidentified teenager was found eight years ago behind a strip mall in Tempe, Arizona. I call her “Tempe’s Jane Doe.” She was between 15 and 19, of Latino, Native American or biracial descent, with straight dark hair and brown eyes. She had a scar on the top of her left shoulder and a small, “L-shaped” […]
1988 murders of Hulon and Elaine Hughes solved
The 1988 Apple Valley Murders of Hulon and Elaine Hughes have been solved thanks to a federal DNA grant. Hulon and Elaine Hughes were found shot to death in their California Apple Valley home on Oct. 12, 1988. They operated two business on the property: Hughes Roofing and B&S Paving. They employed Harold David Toney as a mechanic […]
Suspect: Antwan Maurice Pittman
In my post “Missing in small towns” I wrote about women who disappeared and were later found murdered. The cases were from North Carolina and Louisiana. I am more than pleased to be able to update you now on the North Carolina cases: Investigators in North Carolina have reason to believe that Antwan Maurice Pittman […]
Colorado’s Cold Cases go online!
The Colorado Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) Cold Case Unit, in partnership with Colorado.gov, announced the launch of an online Cold Case Database that citizens may access via the official state Web site at www.colorado.gov/coldcase. This is the first time the public will have online access to this data, which was previously managed in paper and computer […]
Zeigler, Part XIII the crime scene
Zeigler, Part XIII WARNING: this post contains graphic crime scene photography. They are not included to sensationalize the case but because they tell a story. View at your own risk. ________________________________________________________________ Zeigler’s first trial attorney Ralph “Terry” Hadley III had suggested that the motive for these murders was not robbery or insurance money as the […]
The 1985 murder of Vincent Paul Caciola
Vincent Paul Caciola (known as “Vince”) was reported missing on August 14, 1985 by his wife, Kimberly Rene Caciola (now Ms. Kimberly Grubbs). She said she left him at home late in the evening to get some items from her office on Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, Maryland. When she came back around midnight, […]