0:00

Paul Wagner here, host of season

0:02

two of WTIOP's American nightmare

0:04

podcast. I can now tell you that

0:06

season three is set to debut October

0:08

fourth. enjoy this trailer for

0:10

season three, and stick around after this

0:12

episode for an exclusive sneak

0:14

peek at episode one.

0:18

I

0:18

just casually looked towards a canal

0:21

and I I saw what I thought was a mannequin.

0:23

August second nineteen ninety eight, The

0:25

body of a brilliant young scientist is

0:28

found dead near the campus of Georgetown University.

0:31

It was a gruesome scene. WALKING

0:33

UP TO THE BODY. IT

0:35

CAME APPARENT THAT THERE HAD

0:37

BEEN A SEXUAL SALT. Reporter: FOR MORE THAN

0:40

six YEARS, D. C. POLICE HAD NO LEADS

0:42

AND no suspects, then another

0:44

disturbing discovery. She wasn't

0:46

his only victim. As these cases went on,

0:49

the more the victims resist it the more while

0:51

I'm gonna be king. One man committing

0:53

a series of heinous crimes against women,

0:55

but then he just stops. ten

0:58

years go by then twenty, what would

1:00

it take to finally crack the case

1:02

wide open? I'm Paul

1:04

Wagner. join me for unknown

1:06

subject. Season three of

1:08

WTOP's American nightmare podcast

1:10

series available October fourth

1:13

on all podcast platforms.

1:18

Paul Wagner here host WTOP's

1:21

American nightmare series murder in a

1:23

safe place. If you like what

1:25

you hear, we hope you'll subscribe to

1:27

our podcast and leave a review

1:29

on Apple. that helps us get discovered

1:31

by other people interested in True

1:33

Crime Podcasts now to

1:35

this week's episode.

1:43

Previously on WTI's nightmare

1:45

series murder in a safe place.

1:48

I

1:48

was actually in shock. I

1:50

couldn't believe it. I was

1:52

hysterical to the point

1:54

where I think family told

1:57

me he wasn't

1:59

dead.

1:59

I I looked at my text and

2:03

it said it said hit you know,

2:05

I I just I don't know. It

2:07

was just a flood of of emotions.

2:09

He was leaving his residence. We

2:11

don't know where he was going, and

2:14

when the attempted to stop him

2:16

immediately after he left his driveway,

2:18

he immediately produced two guns.

2:21

This

2:21

closure that you're

2:23

team has given me, makes

2:26

me finally able

2:28

to say happy birthday,

2:31

dad. you can now

2:33

after twenty

2:34

eight meters. Finally,

2:38

rest in peace.

2:44

In

2:44

July of twenty twenty, the first time I

2:46

sat down with detective Bernie Nelson to talk

2:48

about the murder of Sherry Crandell for this

2:51

podcast, he surprised me

2:53

with a piece of news, a stunning piece

2:55

of news, something he wanted

2:57

to talk about right away. Detective

3:00

Nelson told me the killer's DNA was now

3:02

leading the investigation in a new

3:04

direction, and it looked like

3:06

genealogy may be the key to solving

3:08

the case. It was not until

3:11

recently when we sent

3:13

the DNA to the FBI

3:15

and BODI to have more work

3:17

done that BODI

3:20

responded as far as doing

3:22

familial DNA testing that they

3:24

were able to come up with a profile in

3:27

which they were able to

3:29

narrow it down to second to fourth cousin

3:33

in the family tree DNA database.

3:36

That's right. Body Technology Group,

3:38

the company the FBI works with, to

3:40

help solve criminal cases using genealogy,

3:44

had identified relatives of

3:46

the killer by running his DNA

3:48

through a family tree database. I

3:50

certainly knew about genealogy and

3:52

the success law enforcement was having

3:54

nationwide in closing very

3:56

difficult cold cases, but this

3:59

hit me like

3:59

a bolt of lightning.

4:01

An investigation that had no hope for

4:04

years suddenly had new

4:06

energy. Remember, in

4:08

two thousand sixteen, the killer's

4:10

DNA had been removed from codis,

4:12

the national DNA database used

4:15

by law enforcement agencies because

4:17

it didn't meet the FBI's new

4:19

standards. a terrible blow at

4:21

the time because it meant there was no

4:23

chance for a cold hit. If

4:25

the killer's DNA was suddenly

4:27

entered into the database by one

4:29

of the prison systems, a jail,

4:31

or another law enforcement agency. But

4:34

now, four years after it was dumped

4:36

from Cotis, Detective Nelson had

4:38

something new to work with.

4:40

A genuine and scientific connection

4:42

with the killer's relatives as

4:45

distant as they might be. there

4:47

is a a lot of promise there.

4:50

It's more this this is more

4:52

promising than anything that I've had in the

4:54

last twenty two years.

4:55

That's what Bernie told me back in July

4:58

of twenty twenty. What Bode

5:00

Technology Group turned over to the Prince

5:02

George's County Police was a report

5:04

that included names of people in the

5:06

databases they searched who

5:08

had DNA in common with the killer.

5:10

At that point, Bodie's work was

5:13

done. It was now up to detective Nelson

5:15

and his team to put the pieces

5:17

together. We do know that

5:19

a ninety nine percent chance that

5:21

it's West African descent,

5:24

and that's what we're we're being

5:26

told and it's in the second

5:28

to fourth cousin range. So

5:30

there are a number of

5:32

a number

5:34

of families that we have to go through

5:36

in order to pinpoint exactly.

5:38

There's a lot of legwork. It's a lot of legwork,

5:40

a lot of research that has to be done.

5:42

And how are you going to do that? We

5:45

do have someone that has some expertise

5:47

in that field. She's

5:49

been successful in the past. and we

5:51

can only hope that she's successful in

5:53

this case. As I said

5:55

before, she can't make any promises.

5:59

but it's something

5:59

that that we can work

6:02

with and it's something that gives us

6:04

hope. Bernie

6:05

told us the genealogists on his

6:08

team is a civilian member of the police

6:10

force who doesn't work full

6:12

time for the cold case unit. The

6:14

genealogy work she's doing is part

6:16

time because it's something she's good

6:18

at. He asked us not to identify

6:20

her by name. What

6:22

happens next is a lot of good old

6:24

fashioned detective work connecting the

6:26

dots and getting the puzzle pieces to

6:28

fit just right. Imagine

6:31

if someone pulled out your family tree with

6:33

all of your immediate family, cousins,

6:35

grandparents, their siblings, their children,

6:37

etcetera. there might be hundreds

6:40

if not thousands of people

6:42

connected to you. What

6:44

Bernie said at the beginning of this episode

6:46

becomes incredibly important here.

6:49

He said the Bode Technology Group had

6:51

identified relatives of the killer in

6:53

the second to fourth cousin

6:55

range. However, he

6:57

later learned the relatives Bodi identified

6:59

were actually third to

7:01

fourth cousins of the killer. For

7:04

context, Third cousins are

7:06

people who have great, great grandparents

7:08

in common, which means

7:10

fourth cousins share great,

7:12

great great grandparents.

7:15

That's a lot of people to go through

7:17

and rule out or rule in.

7:20

But that is the task the

7:22

genealogist on Bernie's team

7:24

now finds herself confronted with.

7:27

It's a lot of searching through records,

7:30

birth records, death records,

7:32

marriage licenses, you name it,

7:34

and time spent at the library trying

7:36

to make connections. We

7:39

asked detective Nelson what else he could tell

7:41

us about the killer's relatives Bodey

7:43

had identified. Where do

7:45

they live? How old are they? Do they

7:47

have any connection to the Prince George's

7:49

County Maryland area? But

7:51

detective Nelson couldn't share that information

7:53

right now since this is an active

7:55

investigation. What

7:58

we can share is a little bit more on the woman

7:59

working with Bernie to examine the

8:02

family tree information they were given

8:04

by voting. As Bernie

8:06

told us, her work has helped solve

8:08

cases before.

8:08

One

8:15

case is that of Matthew Mickens

8:17

Murray. It was just

8:19

before three PM on Tuesday, May

8:21

thirtieth two thousand seventeen, when

8:24

the Prince George's County police were asked to check

8:26

on the welfare of Matthew. Mickens

8:29

Murray was a twenty six year old security

8:31

guard who lived in an apartment on Newton

8:33

Street in Hyattsville, Maryland.

8:36

When officers entered the apartment, they found

8:38

a dreadful scene. Mickens

8:40

Murray was lying face down on the living

8:43

room floor in a pool of blood. He had

8:45

been stabbed thirty six

8:47

times. Friends told a

8:49

reporter with the Washington Blade that

8:51

Mickens Murray was last seen at a

8:53

gay bar in Washington, DC

8:55

on Sunday, May twenty

8:57

eight. Crime scene technicians

8:59

found a bloody fingerprint

9:01

inside the apartment, along with

9:03

what investigators believed was

9:05

the killer's DNA. But

9:07

the investigation stalled when

9:09

detectives could not link a suspect to

9:11

the murder. Just like the

9:13

Sherry Crandell case, police had

9:16

DNA and a fingerprint, but when they

9:18

ran them through their various law

9:20

enforcement databases, there were

9:22

zero matches. Approximately

9:25

two years went by before a decision

9:27

was made to use genealogy to

9:29

see if they could track the killer through his

9:31

relatives. It worked.

9:35

Turns out, according to a corn half of David

9:37

filed in the case, A few

9:39

hours after Matthew Mickens Murray

9:41

was murdered. A man named

9:43

Brandon Byagas showed up at the

9:45

Charles Regional Medical Center in

9:47

LaPlaya, Maryland. He had

9:49

a bad cut to his left hand

9:51

and claimed he had been assaulted by a

9:53

man while giving him some weed.

9:56

deputies from the Charles County Sheriff's

9:58

Office were called to investigate

10:00

and found numerous inconsistencies

10:02

with the story by August was

10:04

telling. They also

10:06

couldn't find a crime scene. Suspicious

10:09

of the story the nineteen year old was telling

10:11

them, Deputies got a search warrant

10:13

for BIOCCUS' truck and found a

10:15

bloody knife inside. A discovery

10:18

that demanded further answers. But

10:20

when investigators paid by August another

10:23

visit, he decided not to

10:25

cooperate and refused to answer

10:27

any questions. Since the knife

10:29

was found during a search warrant, the

10:31

sheriff's office kept it as evidence,

10:33

a key that would unlock the

10:35

case three years later.

10:37

Here's how. Once the

10:40

genealogy research done by

10:42

detective Nelson's colleague revealed

10:44

Brandon Byaga's as a good lead in the

10:46

murder of Mickens Murray, Detectives

10:48

in Prince George's County ran his name

10:50

through a law enforcement database.

10:53

That's when they found the supposed

10:55

assault case in which the team had

10:57

refused to cooperate. An incredible

10:59

twist of good fortune since the

11:01

Sheriff's Office still had the knife

11:03

they had found in BIAGUS' truck.

11:05

And when the lab was able to examine the blade,

11:08

police say it contained the blood of

11:10

both Branded Bygas and

11:12

Matthew Mickens Murray. BIAGUS

11:14

has been indicted and is now awaiting

11:16

trial for murder. At

11:19

a virtual news conference in

11:21

November of twenty twenty, The Prince

11:23

George's County State's attorney's office

11:25

announced the launch of a pilot project

11:27

the county would be undertaking, using

11:30

genealogy to solve cold

11:32

cases. Bob Dean, the

11:34

senior prosecutor handling coal cases in

11:36

the state's attorney's office, spoke that

11:38

day. He used the

11:40

BIOGUS case as an example. of

11:42

what the county was capable of.

11:46

A family tree was built

11:48

out based upon familial

11:50

traits that were

11:52

discovered during the course of the

11:56

forensic genealogy aspect

11:58

of the case. And

11:59

it was kind of a team effort because

12:02

not only did a private

12:04

company help build the family tree, but

12:06

then it was turned over to

12:09

someone in the department who has experience

12:11

in ancestry tracing.

12:13

And as a result of

12:15

the ancestry tracing that took

12:17

We were able to develop some

12:20

leads that ultimately led to

12:22

an arrest and an

12:24

indictment of up this three and a

12:26

half year old murder. And we hope

12:28

to use the experience

12:30

of that case in helping

12:33

us fine tune our efforts

12:35

over the course of the next three years during the course

12:37

of this pilot project.

12:40

I would like to also mention

12:42

that two weeks ago, sergeant

12:44

McDonald and agent,

12:47

Kevin McDonald, both of

12:49

the coke's homicide unit. And

12:51

I went up to the FBI and

12:53

met with a team that has been put together

12:56

to assist local

12:58

departments in the

13:00

family tree build out. and they are very

13:02

anxious to to support our

13:04

efforts in this

13:06

labor intensive aspect of

13:08

things. So I I think

13:10

that we're gonna learn a lot over the next

13:12

three years. What's

13:13

interesting to note about the Mickens

13:16

Murray and Sherry Crandell cases is that

13:18

police closed in on by August Around

13:20

the same time, detective Nelson was

13:22

hearing from the Bodie Technology Group

13:25

that its efforts to find a possible

13:27

link to Sherry's killer had

13:29

paid off. Could one success

13:31

possibly lead to another?

13:44

When

13:47

I first

13:50

began working on this podcast, I had

13:52

no idea the Prince George's County

13:54

Police We're working on a plan

13:56

to use genealogy in the Sherry

13:58

Crandell case. I knew it had

13:59

been used with great success in a

14:02

number of local coal cases, but

14:04

I was pretty clueless on how it really worked.

14:06

I wanted to know what the Bodie

14:09

Technology Group was doing. In

14:11

June of twenty twenty, about a month before I met

14:13

with detective Nelson, VODI put

14:15

out a press release with this headline,

14:18

quote, continued colke's

14:20

success leads to expansion of

14:23

Bodhi's forensic genealogy team.

14:26

The release said, quote, BODI

14:28

continues to deliver investigative

14:30

leads to law enforcement and

14:32

attorneys through proven forensic

14:35

genealogy and DNA

14:37

analysis methods, unquote. release

14:40

went on to cite its work in helping

14:42

law enforcement identify suspects

14:44

in a number of coal cases, including a

14:46

serial rate case in Connecticut,

14:48

and a nineteen ninety nine murder in Portland,

14:51

Oregon. It's the same work

14:53

being done by Paribond Nanolabs,

14:55

the Virginia company, that gave

14:57

the Montgomery County police the leads

14:59

it needed to track down the man

15:01

who killed shopkeeper James

15:03

Ethel. So I got in touch

15:05

with Teresa Vreeland, Bodie's

15:07

director of forensic genealogy. She

15:10

was willing to talk about the work the

15:12

private lab was doing, but was not

15:14

permitted to discuss the Crandell

15:16

Case. I wanted to know more

15:18

about how the lab goes about its work.

15:20

What ancestry databases are

15:22

used and how does BODI submit

15:24

the criminal DNA for comparison

15:26

to everyone else in the database?

15:28

So once we have that file

15:31

format for upload, in

15:33

family tree, you submit your data to

15:35

them. They make sure that

15:37

it

15:37

meets the quality requirements, and

15:39

they would put it into their database, the

15:41

family tree DNA. database. Jed

15:44

Match is the other database that

15:46

allows law enforcement searching, and that

15:48

one you upload on your own. And

15:50

so I have a user account. I would

15:52

complete that upload. Takes about

15:54

a day to complete searching, and then I can

15:56

start visually looking all through my results.

15:59

Howard Bauchner: So

15:59

how quickly do you get

16:02

results returned? And when

16:04

you get them, what does it

16:06

say to you? I mean, can you sort of

16:09

describe it to me? What it looks like? Is it like

16:11

in a printout or does it give

16:13

you names of individuals? So

16:15

once we upload to the database, you're

16:17

usually looking about that

16:19

twenty four

16:19

to forty eight hour mark

16:22

where you get your the searching is complete.

16:24

the DNA testing itself obviously

16:26

takes time, but just as far as the

16:28

upload, it takes one to two

16:30

days. And our results

16:32

is the list of names. They

16:34

can be aliases. The people uploading

16:37

their sample chooses what they

16:39

put there. It doesn't have to be their

16:41

legal name. and and sometimes

16:43

we'll be able to see an email

16:45

address that they associate with

16:47

that account. And

16:49

so again, it can be one

16:51

they're using all the time, or it can be

16:53

one they created just for that upload. You

16:55

know, there's no requirements as far as

16:58

THAT EMAIL ADDRESS GOES. Reporter: BREELIN

16:59

SAYS FROM THE RESULTS

17:02

SHE CAN SEE HOW MUCH DNA IS IN

17:04

COMMON WITH THE SUSPECT THE POLICE ARE

17:06

LOOKING FOR. which

17:07

begins to give you an idea of how closely related

17:10

they are, whether it's a second

17:12

cousin or maybe a sibling, you

17:14

know, depending on what

17:16

that works out to be. So now we

17:18

have a name or an

17:20

alias, an email address,

17:22

which is sometimes useful, sometimes

17:24

not. and an closely related that person

17:26

is to our sample. In

17:28

the summer of twenty

17:29

twenty, after detective Nelson

17:31

had given Bodie a sample of

17:33

killer's DNA. He was told by the lab

17:35

that its search had found a connection as close

17:37

as a third cousin.

17:40

information that came in the form of a report from

17:42

the lab. I asked Theresa Reeland

17:44

to tell me what a report like that

17:46

might look like. From

17:48

Voci, we issue a report

17:51

that states what work was

17:53

done, the quality of the work, you know,

17:55

we confirmed and then we

17:57

give a screenshot, an image

17:59

of those matches. And then

18:01

we give them our recommendations. So

18:03

we do an initial screening of

18:05

those matches. Do we have someone related closely

18:08

enough? Reeland says her

18:09

team will then recommend whether the results

18:11

are good enough to go forward with

18:13

the research or The investigation

18:16

should wait to see if closer

18:18

matches can be made at another

18:20

time. What surprised me

18:22

is the fact the results discovered

18:24

by voting came from a

18:26

relatively small universe of

18:28

samples, Jet Match and

18:31

FamilyTree USA, The two

18:33

companies that allow law enforcement to search its databases

18:36

only have combined the

18:38

genetic footprints of about two

18:40

million people. That's

18:43

less than it used to be.

18:44

Here's why. I understand that Jed

18:47

Match. And

18:48

at one time,

18:49

you had to opt out if

18:51

you didn't want to keep your DNA in. And

18:53

now it's an automatic opt out.

18:56

What kind of a hurdle was that for

18:58

you? And and and did it really

19:00

set back some cases in

19:03

in trying to get

19:05

family trees? It

19:07

really did. So

19:09

you're exactly right. It started when

19:11

you would upload your DNA,

19:13

it was automatically opted

19:16

in to law enforcement matching. Meaning if a

19:18

law enforcement was searching their

19:20

sample, you were available

19:22

for matching with them. you

19:24

know, if your sample did match. You're not visible

19:27

until you do match. So I can't look in jot

19:29

match and see a list of everyone who's

19:31

using it. I only can see people my

19:33

sample match. this with. And

19:35

so you were available for that

19:37

matching. And it was in early

19:39

twenty nineteen that

19:41

Jed Match did a full reset

19:43

they opted everyone out and

19:45

you had to be opted back in. And

19:47

that's your own personal choice.

19:50

And so it was

19:52

a really huge hurdle because

19:54

we overnight instantly went down,

19:56

you know, from, say, you have thirty

19:58

matches to

19:59

none. you know, or even more than thirty year done to none.

20:02

So all of a sudden, all of our

20:04

cases have zero

20:04

matches. And so you're you're

20:07

basically

20:07

right back to before you even started your

20:10

testing. you know, you a sudden have no more

20:12

information. And it

20:14

was pretty

20:14

quick that people that are

20:17

from believers in the law

20:19

enforcement using this

20:21

technology. They were quick to come and

20:23

opt in, but there's a

20:25

lot of people who, you know, maybe

20:27

tried doing their ancestry

20:29

years ago, and they have no interest to

20:31

even log back into

20:32

Jetmatch or maybe they are deceased

20:35

since they did their upload or, you know, so

20:37

many countless reasons you

20:39

can think about. They don't care to

20:41

come in just to opt their

20:43

sample back in. And so the database

20:45

still is, you know, far smaller than

20:47

it was. before that

20:49

happen. But it is on the flip side,

20:51

it's nice to give the community,

20:53

you know, that confidence that

20:55

they have that choice and, you know,

20:57

nothing is happening without their consent. So

20:59

it kind of is nice to

21:02

give that occupability back because the privacy is a big

21:04

concern. In order to search

21:05

those databases, there are also

21:08

rules voting must

21:10

follow. The

21:11

first step we take together is looking at their

21:13

case as a whole. The

21:16

genealogy field, the two databases that

21:18

allow for law enforcement acts

21:20

tests are matching. They are very specific

21:22

in that they require violent crimes,

21:24

so mostly homicide and rape,

21:27

and also unidentified remain

21:29

So the very first thing I do is I make sure their

21:31

case meets that eligibility,

21:34

that criteria.

21:36

In Sherry's case, detective Nelson

21:39

and his team have now been

21:41

mining the data turned over by

21:43

Bodhi for the last ten months. probing

21:45

the information they've been given in

21:47

hopes of finally closing

21:49

in on Sherry's

21:51

killer.

22:08

As you've been listening to this podcast,

22:10

you've heard detective Nelson discuss

22:13

nearly every aspect of

22:15

the case. You've heard him say

22:17

he's felt pressured to solve it and

22:19

that hardly a day goes by that he

22:21

doesn't wonder if there wasn't something

22:23

he may have missed. You've heard him talk

22:25

about the crime solvers flyer from

22:27

Sherry's case that still

22:29

hangs at his work desk.

22:31

It's somewhat unusual for a

22:33

detective to hold on to an investigation for

22:35

as long as Bernie has.

22:38

Murderers that have gone unsolved for

22:40

this long usually get turned over

22:42

to another investigator for

22:44

what police like to call a second set of

22:46

eyes. But former

22:48

homicide commander Mike McClellan says,

22:50

Many investigators have taken a look at Sherry's

22:53

case, not just Bernie,

22:55

with the evidence that we have.

22:59

and the advances that we have in

23:02

in

23:03

the investigative

23:06

process, I am

23:07

shocked. that

23:09

we haven't

23:10

found the person

23:13

responsible for Sherry Randoll's murder.

23:16

Shocked.

23:16

because I know the efforts

23:19

that have been put forth to

23:21

bring that closure to the family.

23:25

And

23:26

I am shocked It hasn't happened as of yet, but

23:28

I still have faith and I still believe

23:30

it's gonna close. I mean, I

23:33

stayed for cases that I wanted

23:35

to make sure it closed. And

23:37

I stayed thirty one years.

23:39

Burney's longer than that.

23:42

There's been many many eyes and have looked

23:44

at this case. It's not all of Bernies.

23:46

Bernies the coordinator. very,

23:49

in fact, to be honest with you, a lot of cases where

23:53

all the the main detective is

23:55

just put the case

23:57

file together. everybody

23:59

else is the worker

23:59

bees. It's not always the case, but that's and

24:02

that's not the case in in this

24:04

case. But The the

24:05

case detective is the coordinator to

24:08

put that that together

24:10

for for successful prosecution.

24:13

dot the i's across

24:16

the t's. And

24:20

there's more

24:21

than two eyes

24:23

have looked at this case

24:25

for twenty two years,

24:28

guaranteed because you're looking at to them

24:30

right now. You took

24:32

a look at it, very hard look at it as

24:34

well for a long time -- Yeah. -- up until

24:36

the day I left. And I still ask

24:39

burning. How's that

24:41

case? What would it mean to you to see this

24:43

case closed? Just like any other case. I

24:45

mean, when

24:47

Stephanie Watson case

24:48

closed and Bernie and him

24:50

were able to successfully bring that

24:52

to closure with DNA. I

24:55

can't wait for that celebration. I can't

24:57

wait to talk

25:01

to Darren. You

25:03

just heard Mike McClellan mention the Stephanie

25:05

Watson case. Stephanie went

25:07

missing from Prince George's County in

25:09

nineteen eighty two. and

25:12

it took the cold case team

25:14

thirty one years to find her

25:16

killer. But in two thousand

25:18

thirteen, they were able to make

25:20

this announcement. at a news conference.

25:23

Good afternoon. My

25:25

name is sergeant Rick

25:27

Folginetti, spelled FULGIN

25:30

ITI. And I'm happy to

25:32

announce the the case closure of

25:34

a nineteen eighty two homicideist Stephanie

25:37

Su Watson. Stephanie

25:40

lived in Laurel, was a twenty

25:42

seven year old woman. She was single

25:44

at the time. She

25:46

left her home to go to work that evening.

25:48

She was gonna run a few errands and then

25:50

go to work. She worked at Laurel Bellsville Hospital.

25:52

It was called at that time. Stephanie

25:55

never made it to work. Her co workers

25:57

called her house and there was no answer.

25:59

The next day she

25:59

was to have traveled to Pennsylvania

26:02

to meet her cousin and they were gonna spend

26:04

the weekend together before she permanently moved to

26:06

Dallas, Texas. She never showed up

26:08

to see her cousin. Her cousin

26:11

became concerned and she was

26:13

then classified as a missing

26:15

persons with the Laurel Police Department. Laurel

26:17

Police Department handled the case

26:19

for several months. several

26:22

days later, they located her vehicle.

26:24

The vehicle was soaked with blood.

26:27

They continued to work the

26:29

case until September third,

26:31

when body parts were found.

26:33

Young man found a saw

26:35

a vehicle pull

26:38

up dropped something into the woods when he went

26:40

to investigate. He saw what he believed to be

26:42

human bones and he notified the

26:44

police. The case went

26:45

cold until two thousand

26:47

thirteen. when detective Nelson decided

26:49

to take another look at the seat from

26:51

the car. It was still in

26:53

the police department's evidence warehouse.

26:56

where it had been since nineteen eighty two.

26:59

When Bernie examined an

27:01

area of the seat, the driver

27:03

would not have been able to

27:05

reach he found blood that belonged

27:07

to a convicted rapist. We've

27:10

spoken to the

27:10

family. They're they're very happy.

27:13

that they finally have some closure. And

27:16

it's certainly

27:16

our goal within the cold case

27:18

unit to if anyone should give

27:20

that same satisfaction to everyone who lost

27:22

a loved one. The DNA profile

27:25

developed from that evidence was a

27:27

match to John Ernest Walsh

27:29

who pleaded guilty to murder and was

27:32

sentenced to thirty three years in

27:34

prison. Bernie and

27:36

his partner, Tony Sharkner, also

27:38

solved what came to be known as the mother

27:40

daughter murders. Two vicious

27:42

crimes that had the Prince George's County

27:45

community gripped by fear At

27:47

the time in two thousand nine,

27:49

police could not explain why

27:51

Dolores DeWitt, forty two,

27:53

and her twenty year old daughter were

27:56

both found dead in a burning

27:58

stolen car six weeks

27:59

after Karen Lofton forty

28:02

two, and her sixteen year old daughter,

28:05

Karissa, were found shot to death

28:07

inside their home. There

28:09

didn't seem to be a motive for

28:11

the crimes. In fact, the

28:13

crime scenes were so different. An

28:15

FBI profiler determined the

28:17

cases were not linked. and

28:19

detective should be looking for two killers. The

28:22

case finally came together months

28:25

later. When detective Nelson and

28:27

his partner zeroed in on a man

28:29

named Jason Scott, a

28:31

man with a computer science

28:33

degree working for UPS. Scott

28:36

twenty seven was first arrested by

28:38

the ATF and charged with

28:40

selling guns out of the trunk of his

28:43

before police found evidence that an old abandoned

28:46

mansion, they say, links Scott to at

28:48

least one of the

28:50

murder scenes. Bernie

28:53

does not give up. It's

28:55

why he went back to the FBI

28:57

all these years later. to try

28:59

one last time to solve Sherry's

29:02

murder. It's why he hasn't

29:04

retired. It's why

29:06

he agreed to do this podcast.

29:08

When Bernie's former boss Mike Mcquillan

29:10

and I sat down for an interview in the

29:12

summer of twenty twenty, he

29:14

already knew about the effort to use

29:17

genealogy. in the Crandell case.

29:19

So what did you think when you heard that?

29:21

Let's

29:21

find him. Let's

29:24

put

29:24

forth every effort now. just

29:26

like every effort was put forth on the thirteenth

29:28

of January nineteen ninety

29:31

eight. Let's keep keep that

29:32

going. Don't slow down.

29:35

Keep going. and call when you get

29:37

a suspect. And twenty two

29:38

years later, you still have confidence this

29:40

might close. Alright. Hope

29:42

and pray every case closes.

29:45

and I hope and pray this is one of

29:48

them.

29:48

Prince George's County needs to

29:51

bring closure. The

29:53

family needs closure. Sherry

29:55

Crandell needs closure.

29:58

In

29:58

December of twenty twenty, I was able to

30:01

interview detective Nelson a second

30:03

time We had agreed to meet outside

30:05

the Prince George's Hospital Center where Bernie

30:07

was going to give me a copy of the

30:09

interview with hospital housekeeper

30:12

Edna Brown. The woman who said she

30:14

saw a man in a white lab code

30:16

attacking Sherry. It had

30:18

been five months since Bernie told me

30:20

about the search in the ancestry database

30:22

and I was anxious to learn if he and his

30:24

team had made any progress.

30:26

We talked in the garden of hope and

30:28

peace dedicated to Sherry's memory.

30:31

Well, the person who's doing it for

30:33

us is very good. She's

30:36

spending a lot of hours working

30:38

on it. but

30:39

it's a

30:40

process. It's a very long

30:43

process. You you might get lucky and get a

30:45

quick result. However,

30:47

we're we're coming up

30:49

with numerous family trees that we have

30:51

to go down, and we're looking

30:53

at third and fourth cousins so

30:55

that requires a lot of work in order

30:58

to bring it home as far

31:00

as identifying a

31:02

possible suspect or a

31:04

possible immediate family that we have to

31:06

look into. So it's a

31:08

long drawn out process. I don't expect

31:10

any quick results. I I can only

31:12

pray that we'll get something that

31:14

we can work with.

31:15

And there's been some movement.

31:18

Detective Nelson told me he's gotten

31:20

new DNA samples from people

31:22

who may have some connection to the

31:25

killer. I I didn't have to get searched once. They

31:27

were cooperative.

31:28

but,

31:31

you know, it

31:33

could be somebody in their family. It doesn't

31:35

necessarily have to be them. What we're dealing

31:37

with are a lot of last

31:39

names. It doesn't mean that the

31:41

DNA actually came from that person, but

31:43

as far as the

31:45

the names that they're dealing with

31:47

in the family tree, if we find someone with a

31:50

similar last name or the same last

31:52

name, I would track that person

31:54

down and get their DNA and

31:56

ask them questions about their relatives.

31:58

It it's a lot of legwork.

32:00

You have to look at a lot of

32:02

birth certificates, a lot

32:04

of marriage licenses through Jed

32:07

Match, and and

32:09

link people together if you can.

32:11

Some of these family

32:14

members are not in the local

32:16

area. They're in different states across the

32:18

country. So I haven't had to make

32:20

a lot of phone calls and talk to

32:23

people in different states and

32:25

ask them questions about their family

32:27

members. And and fortunately, so

32:29

far, everyone has been forthcoming.

32:31

They're actually surprised that their

32:33

DNA submissions that they made to

32:36

some of these data banks.

32:39

she drew any interest from law

32:42

enforcement. So they they are actually willing to

32:44

cooperate fortunately in

32:47

my case.

32:55

When

32:57

I first

33:00

approached Bernie about telling

33:02

Sherry's story in podcast series, he was initially

33:05

skeptical. He had never listened to

33:07

a podcast. He said to

33:09

me, I don't know who the audience

33:11

is. So At

33:13

that December meeting, I was surprised

33:15

to learn, he had begun

33:17

listening to podcast and now had a

33:19

different outlook. I

33:20

have been listening to nothing

33:22

but podcasts for the last couple

33:24

of weeks. Thanks to you.

33:27

But the the

33:29

very answer arresting. They

33:32

captivate you. They keep you

33:34

involved. They will I have actually listened

33:36

to two of them. twice now

33:38

because they're very interesting. But I I

33:40

just hope that this podcast would

33:43

gain someone's interest, that a lot of

33:45

people would into it and they can go back and

33:47

listen to it again if they miss something.

33:49

But I hope it just jarred some memories

33:52

and and actually push

33:54

people to call us. Then and they could call

33:56

us anomalously. They don't have to tell us

33:58

who they are. But they can

34:00

call us a non, mister Lee. A non honestly

34:02

and give us whatever information they may

34:04

have. It doesn't matter if you

34:06

think it's important or if you think it will lead anywhere

34:09

just give it to us and let

34:11

us figure that out. After

34:12

the first episode of murder in a

34:14

safe place dropped in late February, people

34:17

did begin to call. Detective

34:19

Nelson says three people phoned in tips

34:21

to crime solvers. The first time

34:24

any tips have come into crime

34:26

solvers on this case in twenty

34:28

three years. Another person

34:30

left a message in a Facebook group

34:32

discussing the case and still

34:34

another called the WTIOP

34:36

News Room. The specifics of those tips I was

34:38

asked not to disclose due to the

34:40

active nature of the

34:42

investigation and due to

34:44

the fact that right now they're just unverified

34:46

tips. If any of them pan

34:48

out, rest assured, I will

34:50

share them with you in a

34:52

future episode.

34:54

The

35:00

murder of Sherry Crandell has left a mark on people who

35:03

knew her well. Remember Sherry

35:05

Montagu, Sherry's secretary at

35:08

the hospital, She told me

35:10

the crime sometimes out of the blue will

35:12

just drift across her

35:14

mind. It's a mystery. It

35:16

it is a total mystery.

35:18

I think about it often.

35:20

Once in a while,

35:21

I always go back to it.

35:23

What happened? Yeah. What happened and

35:25

why? It's a question that haunts others as

35:27

well. People who

35:30

knew Sherry, friends

35:32

of the Crandell Kids and their parents who lived in Bowie, Maryland

35:34

at the time Sherry was murdered. Many

35:37

of them after seeing

35:40

publicity, and listening to the podcast began leaving

35:42

comments for the crandals on social

35:44

media. One woman one

35:47

woman wrote wrote, listened yesterday and my

35:49

heart was hurting. I really hope that justice

35:51

for her will be served and you all

35:53

can finally get the peace you all deserve

35:55

from her loss. memory

35:58

be a

35:59

blessing? Another rope

36:01

tears in my eyes

36:03

listening to Darren. It's

36:05

been so long so many

36:08

memories returned. And then

36:10

there was this. I

36:12

listened to the podcast yesterday. It

36:15

was chilling. I had heard many years ago what happened to your

36:17

mom but didn't know the

36:19

details. How horrible for

36:21

her, for your family, and for

36:23

those that loved her?

36:25

you are all so strong.

36:28

The murder haunted Edna Brown

36:30

as well. The housekeeper who

36:33

told police She in on the attack and

36:35

didn't know if the man in the white lab

36:37

coat was helping Sherry or

36:40

herding her. You heard from Brown

36:42

in episode two when she

36:44

was interviewed by a psychiatrist

36:46

three months after the murder.

36:49

After telling the doctor what she

36:51

witnessed, Edna paused and then said

36:53

she was horrified that someone

36:56

could be murdered in

36:58

Sana hospital. And I think you

36:59

summed up. See what I go home

37:01

and

37:01

I I

37:04

pray, but I

37:05

found out that

37:08

correct. I wanted to get talk to

37:09

you, boss, to my

37:12

friend.

37:12

How much does

37:13

she say? Maybe

37:17

after five, he'll get out.

37:24

That was good. Especially

37:29

in a hospital.

37:31

don't expect something

37:33

like that to

37:36

happen? A hospital will be

37:38

you say people laugh.

37:41

What's also

37:44

extraordinary is that twenty three years

37:46

after the murder, detective Nelson

37:48

says whenever he's at the hospital,

37:50

people still stop and ask him about the crime. People

37:53

are still afraid. People

37:55

still ask me questions. about

37:58

Today. Yesterday. They still

38:00

asked me questions. When I

38:02

first sat down with Luke Crand on

38:04

Sherry's youngest child in March of

38:06

twenty twenty, Neither of us

38:08

knew about the new direction detective

38:10

Nelson was taking the

38:12

case. At the time, I asked

38:14

him what it would mean If he suddenly

38:16

got a call from detective

38:18

Nelson, one day telling him the

38:20

case had been closed.

38:22

I would

38:24

probably cry. and I

38:24

would probably tell him that

38:26

I would have to call him

38:28

back. and

38:33

I would call my wife

38:35

or find my wife. And

38:38

I would sit with her

38:40

for a long while, and

38:42

her and I would

38:44

probably not talk at

38:46

all. But

38:48

we would know exactly

38:48

what each other was thinking. And then I

38:51

would call Bernie

38:51

back.

38:54

And

38:55

I would

38:57

I

38:57

probably tell them that I love

39:00

you.

39:00

and And

39:02

it was the

39:04

the

39:04

into a

39:07

horrific nightmare that

39:11

change my life

39:13

forever. Only a few days separated

39:16

my interview with Luke and the one I had with

39:18

Tiffany in March of twenty

39:20

twenty. So Again, neither

39:22

of us knew what was happening with the

39:24

case. And like Luke, I

39:26

wanted to know her thoughts on what it would

39:28

be like. to finally know

39:30

what happened to her mom.

39:32

My

39:32

brothers and I have talked about, you

39:34

know, the why why for this

39:36

long have we not had an answer.

39:39

And I do think that

39:41

we feel like for whatever

39:44

reason,

39:46

in some way, we

39:48

weren't meant to know it until

39:50

now, but we're ready

39:52

now. And I

39:55

think whether it's emotionally or mentally

39:57

or just how where

39:58

we are in our lives, we are

40:00

ready. We want that

40:03

answer. And you

40:06

hear all the time about, you

40:08

know, something

40:10

someone knew

40:12

that guilt, that burden that

40:14

they've been carrying and, you know, they

40:16

hear something or they something's

40:18

triggered them and they realize, like, it I need to

40:20

come forward. I need to say something. And we are hopeful that

40:23

someone will hear this

40:25

podcast or hear of

40:28

it. hear about it and just say, let

40:30

me listen. Let me hear what happened to those three

40:32

kids. Let me let me see

40:35

if I can help to give closure,

40:37

and that is what we're

40:39

hoping for. I posed

40:40

the same question to Darren. What

40:43

would it mean to finally know what

40:45

happened to your mom? And you could

40:47

think of the

40:49

most important thing. that you've ever

40:51

done in your life that you thought was the most important thing, whether it was having your

40:53

first kid

40:58

or you

40:58

know, someone survives a

41:00

a traumatic injury or someone

41:03

overcomes an illness.

41:06

And that just made

41:07

you that, you know, you couldn't be happier than anything else.

41:09

There's nothing nothing happier than the life

41:11

you ever experienced. This this

41:14

thing would surpassed that

41:16

by, like, ten times.

41:18

It would be something where,

41:21

you know,

41:24

it

41:24

would it would be like a justice

41:26

done type of thing where now I

41:28

know the person that has been out there, maybe

41:30

they've committed other crimes that they've gotten away

41:32

with, and that person is now

41:34

caught and they're not gonna victimize anybody else. So that'd

41:36

be the first thing that the

41:38

community, the world, if you will,

41:40

be safer because this person is caught.

41:43

and then being able

41:46

to look at them and say, you know, after all this

41:48

time, you know, you

41:49

thought you got

41:50

away with it all this time.

41:53

and I didn't. Now now we

41:55

got you. And

42:00

The other

42:01

thing is finding the the

42:03

closure for everybody involved, not

42:05

just three of us, but, like, every member of our

42:07

family. My my mom's side of family and my dad's

42:09

side of family. Everybody has a little bit of closure somewhere

42:11

in this from the people that you work

42:14

with, the hospital staff, some of the

42:16

nurses he was

42:18

friends with, our neighbors. I mean, all these people that saw this thing

42:20

happen, saw this thing. They they all experience it in their

42:22

own way too. And this will

42:24

give them source source closure as well, not

42:26

just the three

42:28

of us. you know, selfishly, we want it done, but

42:30

there's lots of other people, hundreds of

42:32

other people that were affected

42:34

by this. And when

42:36

they see that and understand

42:38

that, they're

42:39

gonna have

42:40

the same sense of

42:44

accomplishment that ten times better than accomplishment I'm talking

42:46

about. You've heard

42:48

detective Nelson

42:48

say that he's felt pressure to

42:51

close this case that he's haunted by it, that

42:53

it's his case to solve. Sherry

42:56

Crandell, he says, is never far

42:58

from his

43:00

mind. it's frustrating that it that it's still open.

43:02

It's frustrating that we're still

43:04

in the same position we were

43:07

on January thirteenth nineteen ninety

43:10

eight when when this took

43:12

place. We can

43:14

only hope and pray that that

43:16

we can finally identify a

43:20

suspect and and bring this case

43:21

to a close.

43:24

I I can't give it up.

43:26

It's mine. And, you know,

43:28

III hope

43:30

that It

43:32

closes before I actually leave

43:35

this department. I would like to

43:37

be able to call the family and

43:39

let them know that we finally

43:41

identified who's responsible. That's the

43:44

reward that I would get for

43:46

closing it. but

43:47

it's definitely my case and will always be my case even even

43:49

after I leave. Over the

43:51

course of research and

43:53

writing this podcast, series,

43:55

I've had many conversations with detective

43:58

Nelson. We've talked on

43:59

the phone, exchanged text

44:02

messages and emails. He has

44:04

never ducked a question and has been

44:06

there every time I needed to check

44:08

a fact. In our

44:10

last conversation, on March

44:12

twenty fourth, twenty twenty one, just five days before

44:14

this podcast episode was to

44:16

drop. Bernie told me the

44:18

genealogist working the case was

44:20

making progress. and

44:23

had identified a family tree that appeared to have more

44:25

promise than any of the others she had

44:27

looked at so far. He

44:31

also told me he had a new name to

44:33

track down and was that day

44:36

going out for some interviews and perhaps

44:38

obtaining some new

44:40

DNA samples. So that's about as much as I can tell you

44:42

right now about the murder of Sherry Crandell

44:44

and the long exhaustive

44:46

search for her killer. We

44:49

will release more episodes of this podcast

44:52

as Bernie and his team uncover more

44:54

information. Over

44:56

the next two weeks, I'm going to bring you an interview I did this

44:58

past weekend with Luke, Darren,

45:01

Tiffany, and Bernie. You

45:03

might not believe this, but it's the first time

45:06

ever. All of the Crandell kids have sat

45:08

down with Bernie together.

45:10

In fact, Luke

45:12

Crandell had never spoken to Bernie before

45:14

this interview. I hope

45:16

you'll you'll all tune in all

45:18

tune in. As I've told you throughout the podcast, in the

45:20

year I've spent on this project,

45:22

I have learned things along the way that have

45:24

surprised and

45:26

stunned me. But I was in one

45:28

more surprise when I visited Sherry's

45:30

grave in Bui, Maryland in February

45:32

of twenty twenty one. It

45:35

was a brisk, cold, but bright, beautiful day.

45:37

In all these years, I had

45:39

never been there

45:42

before. I didn't

45:44

know exactly where her grave was.

45:46

I wandered through the cemetery

45:48

here for a few minutes. Tiffany

45:52

told me what color it was and that did stand

45:54

out and it's it's a pink tombstone

45:57

and I just found it. Tiffany tells

45:59

me that she designed

46:02

this grape marker. And it's in a

46:04

a long line of grape markers here,

46:07

and it's in the last row

46:09

in the cemetery up

46:12

against to tree line. And it says Sheryl

46:15

Ann Willis, January

46:17

seven nineteen forty eight

46:19

to January thirteenth nineteen

46:21

ninety eight. And then just below

46:24

that, it says her

46:26

ways are ways of

46:28

pleasantness and all

46:30

her paths our

46:32

peace. And

46:34

I know Tiffany took great pride in

46:36

designing this for her mom.

46:40

I'm I'm taken by the first few words there.

46:42

Her ways are ways of pleasantness.

46:44

And that's all I've heard out

46:48

when people have talked about Cherry Crandell.

46:51

One

46:56

other note, I

46:59

had no idea

47:02

that Sherry is buried next to

47:04

John Novobilski. This is

47:06

one of the most troubling

47:08

murders I ever covered in this

47:10

county. John

47:12

Novobilski was a a police officer who was working

47:14

a special assignment outside a liquor

47:17

store when a

47:19

man who was angry at the

47:21

world angry at the police. I just walked up on him

47:24

and shot him dead as he sat

47:26

in his

47:28

patrol car. and I had

47:30

no idea that he was

47:32

buried here. There are

47:36

two badges above his

47:38

name just saying Nova

47:40

Bilski. And then down below it says John

47:42

Joseph, April twenty

47:44

five nineteen sixty four to April twenty

47:46

six

47:46

nineteen ninety five. I'll never

47:48

ever ever forget that murder.

47:52

and to

47:53

have these two incredible

47:54

the have these two people and

47:58

innocent people who were

47:59

murdered lying and resting

48:01

next to each

48:04

other is it's very sobering

48:06

to see. And,

48:08

you

48:10

know, they

48:11

solved John

48:14

Novobilski's murder but not Sherry's.

48:16

So here's

48:16

hope that

48:18

that will change.

48:30

murder

48:30

in a safe Season two of WTOP's

48:33

American nightmare series has been

48:35

written and produced by me, Paul

48:37

Wagner, and Case Jackit's

48:40

dot com. Like what you're hearing so far?

48:42

Please take a moment to subscribe

48:44

and leave a review on Apple.

48:47

That helps us get discovered by other

48:49

people interested in true crime

48:52

podcast. We have more on the Sherry

48:54

Crandell case, including photos of

48:56

the family. the videotaped interview with witnesses at the Brown

48:58

and behind the scenes footage with me on

49:00

our website american nightmare

49:02

podcast dot

49:04

com. Reporting and production

49:06

of this podcast was supported by

49:08

a grant from spotlight DC, Capital

49:11

City Fund for

49:14

investigative journalism. For grants, please apply to spotlight d

49:16

c dot org. Have a

49:18

question you'd like to see answered in a

49:20

future show?

49:22

Email me at paul at WT0P dot

49:24

com. You can also follow

49:26

us on Twitter at a m nightmare

49:30

pod. and on Facebook at facebook dot

49:32

com forward slash a m

49:34

nightmare pod. If you

49:36

know anything about the murder of

49:38

Sherry Crandell, You're asked to call

49:40

crime solvers at 866411

49:43

tips. That's 866411TIPS

49:48

This podcast series would not be possible

49:50

without the help of Sherry's three children,

49:52

the Prince George's County Police,

49:55

Shirley Montagu, detective Bernie

49:57

Nelson and Mike McClellan, editorial

50:00

assistance from Julia Zigler and

50:02

Craig Schwab. Music for this episode is runway forty

50:04

seven by immersive music and

50:06

flum flum by Up

50:08

North Music. Subscribe

50:10

today on Apple, Google, Spotify,

50:12

or wherever. You get

50:14

your podcasts, and thanks

50:18

for listening. And

50:29

now a sneak peek at the first

50:32

episode of American nightmare season

50:34

three, unknown subject. Available

50:36

October fourth wherever you get

50:39

your podcast. It's August second

50:41

nineteen ninety eight, a Sunday

50:43

in the summertime, when the pace

50:45

of Washington slows a bit, Congress

50:47

goes on vacations, schools

50:49

and colleges are on summer break,

50:52

and interns have descended on the

50:54

city for a few months.

50:56

That summer, there's

50:58

one story everyone seems to be talking about. As

51:00

you know, in a deposition

51:02

in January, I was asked questions about

51:04

my relationship with

51:06

Monica Lewinsky. That's

51:08

president Bill Clinton, addressing the

51:10

nation the day he testified before the

51:12

grand jury. At that

51:14

point, independent counsel, Ken Starr,

51:16

was still investing getting

51:18

Clinton. His report wouldn't come out

51:20

until September. It was the

51:22

biggest presidential scandal

51:24

since Watergate. But this

51:26

podcast isn't about Monica

51:28

Lewinsky. It's about another

51:30

intern who came to DC in nineteen

51:32

ninety eight. eight year old

51:34

Christine Mirzayan. She didn't come to Washington to work

51:36

in the White House. Christine was

51:38

a scientist by all accounts

51:42

brilliant She had studied cell biology at

51:44

Yale. And earlier that spring, she

51:46

completed her PHD

51:48

in biochemistry. at

51:51

the University of California San Francisco. She was at the

51:53

very end. It was it was a summer intern

51:55

at the National Academy of

51:58

Sciences. she had spent the

51:59

summer there. I that was it was a the

52:02

only time in our relationship where we were

52:04

separated,

52:04

I was still

52:06

finishing up my pH HT at UCSF. That's

52:09

David Hackos, Christine's husband at

52:11

the time. He was planning to join

52:13

her in DC after he

52:15

finished his PHD. He'd

52:18

lined up a postdoc opportunity at the

52:20

National Institutes of Health in the

52:22

fall in nearby

52:24

Bethesda, Maryland. So during that summer, and I was kind of packing up the house

52:26

because we were going to we had found an

52:28

apartment that we were gonna live in in

52:30

Woodley Park in

52:32

in DC. she so

52:34

she had done a an internship. And she

52:36

she she got this very,

52:40

very prestigious additional internship

52:42

that she had not yet started from

52:44

the triple a from triple a s American

52:46

Association for the advancement of science,

52:48

where she was going to work in

52:50

the Senate for a senator basically

52:53

to kind of learn how to

52:55

do what what what her passion

52:57

was was to basically

53:00

work on science policy. So any

53:02

she had

53:03

not yet started that, but she won

53:05

that scholarship, and that's why

53:07

she was so excited

53:10

about going into that area that

53:12

she managed

53:13

she also managed to get

53:15

a summer intern before

53:17

to kind of get ready. You know?

53:19

David and Christine

53:20

were still newly wedged that summer.

53:22

Her internship in DC was the

53:25

first time they were separated since they'd met in

53:27

the university library at

53:30

UCSF. He had doubts about her going

53:32

to DC without him. but Christine had

53:34

a sense of mission. She was

53:36

passionate about using science to

53:38

solve the national and political

53:40

problems facing

53:42

the country. and she thought getting to DC early would

53:44

help her make connections.

53:46

Christine grew up in Newport

53:48

Beach, California. she'd been born

53:50

in Iran, but when she was a

53:52

child, her parents fled the

53:54

country with her and her sister

53:56

after the Shaw was

53:58

deposed in the nineteen seventy nine

54:00

revolution. Later her parents

54:02

moved to Vancouver, Canada. Through Yale,

54:04

grad school, and now her summer in

54:07

DC, Christine had

54:10

a routine.

54:11

On Sunday,

54:18

she always called her mom Okay?

54:20

It was just like her once a week, call her mom in the morning.

54:22

And so I didn't know anything was

54:24

wrong until her mom called me

54:28

and said, oh, I can't I can't get in touch with Christine. She's not answering

54:30

her phone. Do you know?

54:32

Have you

54:33

heard from her? And I

54:35

had I we had talked

54:37

the day before. So I said, oh, yeah. I

54:39

I talked to her

54:42

yesterday, and And I I thought that it would be she I'm

54:44

sure she you know, I didn't think there was anything

54:46

wrong. I thought, oh, she's probably just

54:50

didn't forgot to call you back or whatever, but it was unusual

54:52

because it was such a consistent thing

54:54

that she did. David had talked to

54:56

Christine the

54:58

night before, she was staying in

55:00

a dorm on the Georgetown campus, Neville's hall at thirty fifth and o streets.

55:02

At the time they talked,

55:06

She was heading over to a friend's house nearby for a cookout

55:08

with other interns from the program.

55:11

David didn't know

55:14

the interns very well. He had only been to DC once.

55:16

Actually, just a week or two before that

55:18

Sunday, she showed him

55:20

her dorm room. They went out

55:22

to eat. went to a

55:24

movie, David remembers it was

55:26

Goodwill Hunting. After

55:28

the call from Christine's mom, David tried

55:30

to reach his wife at her dorm room.

55:32

Personal and cellphones weren't all that common at the time.

55:34

As the day went on, something

55:37

just didn't feel right.

55:44

This was Sunday. During that

55:45

day, I started

55:49

trying to

55:50

get in

55:51

touch with her. I would call her,

55:53

leave messages. I called her I

55:56

figured out how to call

55:58

her roommate. And I asked her roommate whether

56:00

or suitemate or whatever whether

56:03

he she had seen Christine,

56:06

and she had she's hadn't seen

56:08

her, but she didn't know for sure that she

56:10

was not

56:12

there. And basically, over the day, I kept

56:14

calling and calling. And then I

56:16

I got to the point where I just could not

56:19

believe that this was just so

56:21

out of character for Christine that

56:23

I didn't believe that I thought that

56:25

there must be something wrong.

56:27

And so, basically,

56:30

I decided at

56:33

kind of towards the towards night

56:35

because it made me

56:36

basically got to the point where it

56:38

was night in the East Coast. And I was in San

56:40

Francisco, so it's a three hour difference.

56:42

And I thought, okay, she's not even home

56:44

and it's nighttime. I mean, it's impossible. So

56:47

I called the first thing I did was I called

56:50

the

56:53

the campus, the George

56:56

on campus police, and I reported

56:58

her missing at that point. And

57:00

I gave them some information

57:04

and I

57:05

didn't call the DC police,

57:08

and

57:08

then I booked a an airplane

57:10

to fly there the next morning.

57:13

And I didn't

57:16

wanna call other people because I was afraid

57:18

that I'd be waking them up and it was

57:20

really late. So in the morning, I took

57:22

a cab to the airport, and

57:25

I called my mom,

57:27

basically. And I

57:28

told her can you call

57:30

these people including Bruce Alberts?

57:32

Just call them and see

57:34

if you can track down what

57:36

is happening with Christine. I'm gonna be on the flight, so I won't be able call while I'm

57:38

on the airplane. Bruce Alberts was the

57:41

head of the national academies. Christine

57:43

once been his graduate student and he was

57:46

instrumental in getting her

57:48

the fellowship. And then I jumped on the

57:50

airplane

57:51

and you

57:53

know, it's a whatever

57:56

three four hour flight or whatever. So

57:58

when I landed on the Enercom

58:00

on the

58:00

airplane, they basically said David

58:03

Hechos. Please see there's

58:06

somebody that is gonna meet you at

58:08

the at

58:10

the gate. please see the person or whatever.

58:12

And it turned out to be the

58:14

DC police.

58:18

David is a scientist

58:20

too. You can hear how

58:22

methodical, logical he is when dealing with

58:24

a moment that would send most people

58:26

into a panic. For David,

58:28

the voice on the intercom was the

58:30

moment the terrible reality hit

58:32

home. I was really obviously,

58:36

obviously, I but I I felt like

58:38

there was a good chance that this was

58:40

just some sort of, you know, nothing

58:43

that happened and I

58:45

ended

58:45

up, you know, flying all the way across

58:48

the country for no re good

58:50

reason. Right? Obviously, I flew

58:52

across the country, so obviously,

58:54

I was pretty worried.

58:55

But but the moment I

58:57

heard that voice on the

59:00

intercom,

59:01

I broke down

59:02

crying because I

59:05

I it

59:06

it to me that meant that,

59:08

okay, something really

59:09

bad has happened. And

59:12

and And

59:14

then I exited

59:16

the airplane, and

59:18

the DC police were there to meet me

59:20

at the gate. They me into

59:22

the United Airlines red carpet room, and

59:24

that's where they when they told

59:28

me that

59:30

Christine had been that they think that they had found the body of

59:32

Christine. Police told

59:34

David Christine's body

59:36

had been found the day before

59:39

The day she didn't

59:41

call home. She was found

59:43

nearly naked in a wooded area off

59:45

a busy street called Canal Road.

59:47

Just yards away from the gates

59:49

of Georgetown's campus, there was

59:52

evidence she had been

59:54

sexually assaulted. she had been

59:56

beaten with a massive rock found

59:58

near her body. It

1:00:00

appeared to the police that Christine was

1:00:02

walking alone a long

1:00:04

canal road the night she left the

1:00:06

barbecue when

1:00:06

her killer came from behind

1:00:08

and dragged

1:00:09

her into

1:00:12

the woods. I'm Paul Wagner, and

1:00:14

this is unknown subject,

1:00:16

season three of WTOP's

1:00:19

American nightmare series. As

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