Familial DNA helped solve a gruesome cold case…just like in the recent Golden State killer/night stalker case

We have all seen crime shows on TV – the ones that use DNA to solve some of the most difficult murder cases.  It’s pretty amazing.  Investigators that use their gut instincts and won’t give up, using great investigative skills, in combination with DNA, this all adds up to be an amazing combination.  The following link shows what it took to solve a case from 2002. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/01/23/the-daring-dna-hunt-that-cracked-france-s-gruesome-cold-case.html?via=desktop&source=twitter

I love reading stories like this – stories that show families that never gave up.  Stories that give us hope that justice will someday happen.  I would like to praise the investigators that stuck with this case.

I hope familial DNA will start being used in many unsolved cases – cases where the murderer does not have their DNA in CODIS. It could be a HUGE breakthrough in solving so many cases, and could help to stop serial murderers as well.

In a more recent case,

Another big step forward in solving murders In this country would be the implementation of a national database of cold cases.  It’s hard to believe, but it’s true – we have no national database of cold cases in this country.  There is no way to link crimes in different states to the same MO/murderer.  if the killer is arrested for another crime in a state like Colorado, where all felons must be tested for DNA, a match will be made, but very few states have this requirement.  For example .if DNA was found in a murder investigation in one state, unless the murderer’s DNA is in CODIS .  If they have never been arrested their DNA would not be in CODIS. And her is the problem…law enforcement is not required to report murder cases – so to think that a skilled and persistent detective could solve a murder if the murderer kept moving around while still

We need to get in front of more crimes happening to innocent victims and familial DNA and implementing a national database of murders (that law enforcement is required to report murders to) would be a huge step forward.

A match was made from the DNA profile from the Bennett and Smith cases. It has been determined that it was the same murderer.

The Bennett family murders in Colorado (no sign of forced entry)

http://blogs.denverpost.com/coldcases/2015/01/16/aurora-cat-burglar-slaughters-family-serial-murder-spree/9728/

Jan. 10, 1984, six days earlier then the Bennett murders, Patricia Louise Smith was raped and murdered (no sign of forced entry) 

Serial killer bludgeons Lakewood woman with hammer

 

Roy and Patricia Bowden murders (no signs of forced entry)

Couple gunned down in own home

Authorities also said there’s no signs of forcible entry at the home – this is the same reason the Garfield County Sheriffs used to say that Morgan’s stalker(s) could not have been in our house…what a bunch of BS – there are so many murders, rapes & kidnappings that have no visible signs of forced entry, does that mean a crime didn’t happen?  Nope – it does not!  In Morgan’s case her stalker(s) tried multiple times to punch in our front door code to gain access to our house.  Our house was empty between 6 pm – 8 pm the night Morgan was murdered.  Our dogs were locked up in the laundry room and I believe her stalker(s) came into our house and hid in Morgan’s closet until everyone went to sleep…then he attacked her, while she was asleep.  The act of a total COWARD!!!

http://wreg.com/2016/08/26/father-discovers-son-dead-inside-cordova-home/

 

 

 

No sign of forcible entry…does that mean a crime couldn’t have been committed?

Two nights before Morgan’s murder, there was a burglary next door to our house, (with a report by the Garfield County Sheriffs, and an investigation done) – with no sign of forced entry.  I would not have even known about it except for the fact that 45 minutes after the sheriffs had left our neighbor’s house, we called to report another stalking incident, and they told us it would take them awhile to return, as they had just arrived in Rifle, after being in our neighborhood because of a report of a robbery, and now they had to drive all the way back to our house.  The next morning we reviewed our cameras – the cameras had recorded the sheriffs, with their flashlights, looking all around on the ground outside our neighbors house, and then leaving.  Then our cameras caught one officer, that came back to our neighborhood after we called, looking on the ground outside Morgan’s bedroom window – then shining it up towards their wildlife camera (the one the sheriffs had mounted right in-between her 2 bedroom windows) and then he pointed his flashlight, momentarily, onto the roof…he then left.  Again, there was no police report about this stalking incident or patrol officer investigating it – why?

The house that had been robbed that night was the same house where the back door was found unlocked months earlier during Morgan’s stalking – our next door neighbor’s house. At that time the sheriff deputy, investigating yet another stalking incident at our house, decided to call out a warning, and then enter the next door neighbor’s house with his gun drawn. No one was in the house when he entered.  Our neighbor’s house was never left unlocked, so how was it now unlocked? How was someone getting in without any sign of forced entry?  Other empty houses in our cul-de-sac had doors locked, then unlocked during Morgan’s stalking – this was frustrating to the officers…no one knew who was doing this. This is true – this did happen, and this SHOULD be obvious to anyone that there was someone living in our neighborhood that could get into people’s homes without any sign of forced entry.

There were many attempted break-ins into our home during Morgan’s stalking and yes, I do believe her stalker(s) did eventually gain access into our home before her murder.  Even with all the security that celebrities have, their stalkers have gained access (without any signs of forced entry) into their yards, roofs, and homes.

If you do a search over the Internet for murder cases that have had no evidence of forced entry, you will find many cases.  There are also many, many cases of home thefts, with no sign of forced entry.  So ask yourself this…if a victim of an active felony stalking case (Morgan) is found dead, under suspicious circumstances, so an autopsy is ordered, BUT the sheriffs say they did not see any evidence of forced entry, even after many attempts that had been made to unlock our key-coded front door – does that mean it is impossible that Morgan was murdered?  No!  What a crock…

Here is another horrific murder that happened years ago in Colorado.  It is still unsolved.  There was no forcible entry into their home either, as well as a few other cases that law enforcement believe are connected to this same case.  They believe it was a possible serial murderer.  http://www.9news.com/news/crime/colorado-cold-cases-the-bennett-family-murders/400296946

Here is another story…Ex-boyfriend hiding in the attic stalking his victim in her South Carolina home. She “felt” someone was there, but her children thought she was delusional. She wasn’t – her intuition was notifying her loud and clear. Her stalker had been living in her attic for approximately 2 weeks. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…/woman-finds-ex-boyfriend-li…

And another story…stalker hiding under the bed…A 32-year-old valet became obsessed and started stalking his victim. At some point, she left her keys unattended, and he swiped them and made copies. He then returned the keys without her noticing. So much for no sign of breaking and entering! Anyway, here is one news report about the arrest http://www.washingtonpost.com/…/…/12/01/AR2005120101592.html

Another stalker hiding in the attic in Modesto, CA. His victim had a restraining order against him, but that did not stop him. http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/…/sheriff-man-arrested-afte…/

So frightening – intruders living in someone’s home without being detected. Stalking victims are always afraid when they leave their homes, they fear that when they return their stalker may be there – and they have every right to worry. Here is a story from 2013 about J. Lo’s (Jennifer Lopez’s) stalker acting like a house guest. Ms. Lopez even had security guards at her home during the time her stalker slept on the coach in her pool house, did yard work and even posted on Facebook with pictures. Beyond frightening…if this can happen to a stalking victim that has security guards then people have to understand why stalking is extremely serious and this is why victims of stalking become hyper-vigilant. http://abcnews.go.com/…/alleged-stalker-john-dubis-found-li…

There were many ways someone could have gotten into our home, even with the 6 cameras we had outside – there were many holes in the coverage, and that happens.  We did not have any cameras pointing at our doors, because at that time we were trying to get a picture of someone approaching the house to get a clear picture of their face for a conviction.  If the cameras had been pointed at our doors then we would have had a picture of their backs entering our home – and in retrospect that would have been great, although it would not have saved Morgan.

The night of Morgan’s murder we did not have a picture of someone entering our home, but we do have a video of the person running from Morgan’s side of the house and ducking behind our neighbor’s truck.  I wish with all my heart we had just had an alarm system installed in our home at that time…most likely that would have saved her that night, but with stalkers you never know where or when they will strike so you always have to be one step ahead and hyper-vigilant.  It is not a sustainable way to live – that is why the law reads: