Latest news with #coldcase
CBS News
8 hours ago
- CBS News
Ohio man sentenced to life in prison for 1997 cold case murder in Lenawee County
An Ohio man has been sentenced to life in prison in connection with a cold case murder out of Lenawee County, Michigan. Richardo Sepulveda, 53, of Cincinnati, was sentenced Friday in 39th Circuit Court, following up on an earlier conviction by a Lenawee County jury, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel reported in a press release. His co-defendant, Michael Sepulveda, 51, of Toledo, was sentenced in May to 10 to 30 years in prison on second-degree murder in the same case. The older man was found guilty on one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, one count of assault with intent to maim, one count of conspiracy to commit assault with intent to maim, one count of tampering with evidence and one count of conspiracy to commit tampering with evidence. The charges are related to the discovery of partial human remains on Nov. 19, 1997, in Blissfield Township. The victim's identity has not been confirmed, but he is believed to be a 32-year-old man from the Corpus Christi/McAllen area of Texas. Charges in the case were filed in January 2023. Nessel said the death is believed to be connected to international drug trafficking. "Every victim deserves to have their case thoroughly investigated and pursued," said Nessel in a statement. "Thanks to the tireless efforts of prosecutors in my office and local, state, and federal law enforcement, justice has finally been served nearly three decades after this horrific murder. My office will continue to stand up for crime victims and ensure offenders are held accountable." contributed to this report.
CBS News
a day ago
- CBS News
"American Nightmare" kidnapper Matthew Muller pleads guilty to 1993 kidnapping, sexual assault in Folsom
"American Nightmare" kidnapper Matthew Muller pleaded guilty on Wednesday to charges related to a 1993 cold case in which prosecutors said he forced two campers out of their tent and sexually assaulted one of them. The Sacramento County District Attorney's Office said on Thursday that Muller, who was 16 at the time, used a gun and ordered two young campers out of their tent near Folsom Lake. Prosecutors said "he tied the male up and carried the female away to sexually assault her." The district attorney's office said its cold case, science and technology unit played a key role in linking Muller to the 32-year-old case. They added that Muller later admitted to the crime. Muller was sentenced to 11 years to life in state prison, prosecutors said. This sentence will be served consecutively to his life sentences for a pair of home invasions in Santa Clara and his 40-year sentence for federal crimes relating to a 2015 case in Vallejo. Earlier this year, Muller pleaded guilty to charges in connection with home invasions in Mountain View and Palo Alto in 2009. In Mountain View, prosecutors said Muller broke into a female's home, attacked her, tied her up, made her drink a concoction of medications and told her he was going to rape her. The victims persuaded Muller against it. Just a month later, he broke into a Palo Alto home where prosecutors said he bound and gagged a woman and forced her to drink Nyquil. He then assaulted her and was again persuaded to stop. He pled no contest to two counts of forcible rape of Denise Huskins in 2015. Huskins was kidnapped from her Vallejo home in what police had thought was a hoax.
The Independent
a day ago
- The Independent
Palm print found at 1967 murder scene matched accused, expert tells trial
A fingerprint expert denied she made a mistake in identifying a palm print found at the scene of the rape and murder of a pensioner in 1967, a court heard. Ryland Headley is accused of forcing entry into the home of Louisa Dunne, 75, in the Easton area of Bristol in June 1967 before sexually attacking and fatally strangling her. Police launched an investigation after the mother-of-two's body was discovered by neighbours on the morning of June 28 that year. Officers recovered a palm print on a rear window of her house but despite collecting thousands of prints from men and boys were unable to identify a suspect. Bristol Crown Court heard it was only during a cold case review last year that convicted rapist Headley, now aged 92, was identified as a suspect. Following his arrest, fingerprint experts compared his palm print to the one recovered from Mrs Dunne's window. Elizabeth Hobbs told the jury she found '13 characteristics in agreement' between the two prints, which satisfied her it was a positive match. Jeremy Benson KC, representing Headley, asked: 'What I am going to suggest is that you made a mistake?' She replied: 'I disagree. This is an identification of the left palm in the fingerprint form of Ryland Headley to the crime scene mark.' A second expert then had to undertake the analysis again but with no knowledge of the case or the earlier findings. That expert, Neville Williams, found that he was able to 'exclude' Headley from his blind verification exercise. Due to the difference in opinions, Mr Williams re-examined his work having discussed his findings with Ms Hobbs. 'I was interested to know how they made their identification because I wanted to re-evaluate my findings and see if I was going to stick with my original decision,' Mr Williams told the court. 'I asked Ms Hobbs to give me what I'd call a starting point because I'd like to know where she began her comparison work. 'She showed me where she found her first two matching characteristics, and it was then that I realised that I'd been starting in a different area of the palm. 'Now that I had what I refer to as a jumping off point, I was then able to make more points of comparison, find more ridge characteristics in a coincident sequence.' Mr Williams said he found 19 characteristics between the two palm prints. 'At which point I stopped my comparison work because I was confident in my evaluation that there was in fact an identification to the palm on the fingerprint form,' he said. 'She (Ms Hobbs) didn't assist in any way shape or form. When she gave me the two starting points, I was then able to make my own comparison and evaluation.' Mr Benson asked the witness about his first conclusion which excluded Headley. 'You made a positive determination that the marks were different,' he asked. 'Yes, in my comparison I could not get started on my first ridge characteristics and therefore could not make an identification,' Mr Williams replied. 'I did make the result of excluded, yes.' Mr Benson asked: 'What you were saying is that mark was not made by the hand that we have the fingerprint impressions of. That is what you mean by excluded, isn't it? The witness replied: 'Yes, on my initial examination, this is the result I came to.' Mr Benson suggested to Mr Williams it was a 'little embarrassing' that he and Ms Hobbs had reached different conclusions. 'No embarrassment was involved at all,' he replied. 'I was actually quite interested to know where I could have started my comparison work differently. 'I'm confident in the findings that I brought to the court because when I'm making an identification and I'm signing my name to that identification I have to think ahead. 'I may, in fact, be in a position like today and have to give my evidence in court. I'm 100% confident with my findings. 'I was confident on my initial assessment but unfortunately I had started in the wrong area of the palm.' Mr Benson asked: 'I'm going to suggest that actually the prints were inconclusive.' He replied: 'I did not come to the result inconclusive on my second examination.' The court heard a third expert undertook the same exercise and concluded the palm print matched Headley. Jurors have been told previously that advances in forensic science had enabled samples recovered from Mrs Dunne's body to be tested for DNA, which were a billion-to-one match to the defendant. Headley, of Clarence Road, Ipswich, has pleaded not guilty to the rape and murder of Mrs Dunne between June 26 and 29 1967. The trial was adjourned until Monday.
BBC News
a day ago
- BBC News
Print at Louisa Dunne crime scene 'positive match for defendant'
Experts called upon as part of a murder trial have told a court the 92-year-old defendant's palm prints match those found at the crime scene in Headley is accused of forcing entry into the Bristol home of Louisa Dunne, 75, before sexually attacking and fatally strangling recovering a palm print on a rear window of the Easton property and collecting thousands of prints from men and boys, detectives were unable to identify a suspect at the Headley, of Clarence Road in Ipswich, denies raping and murdering Mrs Dunne. Police launched an investigation after the mother-of-two's body was discovered by neighbours on the morning of 28 June was only during a cold case review last year that convicted rapist Mr Headley was identified as a suspect, Bristol Crown Court was told. Following his arrest, fingerprint experts compared his palm print to the one recovered from Mrs Dunne's Hobbs told the court she found "13 characteristics in agreement" between the two prints, which satisfied her it was a positive Benson KC, representing Mr Headley, asked: "What I am going to suggest is that you made a mistake?"She replied: "I disagree. This is an identification of the left palm in the fingerprint form of Ryland Headley to the crime scene mark."A second expert then undertook the analysis again with no knowledge of the case or the earlier expert, Neville Williams, found he was able to "exclude" Mr Headley from his blind verification exercise, the court heard. Due to the difference in opinions, Mr Williams re-examined his work having discussed his findings with Ms Hobbs, the jury was told."She showed me where she found her first two matching characteristics, and it was then that I realised that I'd been starting in a different area of the palm," he said."Now that I had what I refer to as a jumping off point, I was then able to make more points of comparison, find more ridge characteristics in a coincident sequence," he told Bristol Crown Williams said he found 19 characteristics between the two palm prints."At which point I stopped my comparison work because I was confident in my evaluation that there was in fact an identification to the palm on the fingerprint form," he told the court his colleague "didn't assist in any way shape or form", simply giving the "two starting points". Mr Benson questioned the witness about his first conclusion, suggesting it was a "little embarrassing" he and Ms Hobbs had reached different conclusions."No embarrassment was involved at all," Mr Williams replied, adding he was "100% confident" with his final findings and had started in the wrong area of the palm on the initial assessment."I'm going to suggest that actually the prints were inconclusive," argued Mr expert replied: "I did not come to the result inconclusive on my second examination."The court heard a third expert undertook the same exercise and concluded the palm print matched Mr were previously told advances in forensic science enabled samples recovered from Mrs Dunne's body to be tested for DNA, which were a billion-to-one match to the trial was adjourned until Monday.
ABC News
2 days ago
- ABC News
Pre-inquest hearing begins for cold case murders of trio shot dead in Mount Isa bushland
A coroner has been tasked with "finding answers" for the families of three friends who were killed in remote Queensland more than 45 years ago. In October 1978, Karen Edwards, 23, Timothy Thomson, 31, and Gordon Twaddle, 22, were found shot dead in bushland at Spear Creek, near Mount Isa. At the time, the trio had been on a motorcycle trip together, travelling from Alice Springs to Melbourne. In 1980 a coroner ruled they had been murdered by an unknown person or persons. Following a fresh cold case investigation, in 2019, Bruce Preston — who had previously admitted to stealing one of their motorbikes — was arrested over the triple homicide. However, after being committed to stand trial, the prosecution against him was withdrawn in 2023. Lawyers for Mr Preston have previously said he denies having any involvement in their deaths. During a pre-inquest conference held on Thursday, the Coroners Court in Brisbane heard an inquest could be held as early as October with more than 40 witnesses expected to give evidence. Counsel Assisting the Coroner Amelia Hughes told the court there were four proposed issues set to be examined, the first being an outline of the group's journey from the Northern Territory into Queensland. "Including the locations at which they stopped and the timing," she said. The court heard this issue would also look at any occasions they were seen in the company of a fourth rider and try to determine who that person was. Ms Hughes told the court the inquiry will also consider the movements and activities of the group after they arrived in Mt Isa and their time spent at a local caravan park. "Including… the visits by a Toyota Landcruiser at their campsite… [and] the identity of the driver," she said. The court heard there was evidence the group had been picked up by this vehicle multiple times during their stay. Coroner Stephanie Williams will also probe the adequacy of the two police investigations and attempt to identify whether anyone was involved in the deaths. She told the court she wanted to secure evidence as thoroughly as possible whilst "battling" the "passage of time". "No doubt as the families would be acutely aware this matter has been going on for many decades," she said. Some of the family members were dialled into the hearing, and Coroner Williams acknowledged their dedication to uncovering what happened. "This matter and investigation have been a long time coming, thank you for your commitment to your loved ones," she said. "I hope that as this inquiry progresses, the court is able to assist you with finding answers to some of the questions you have." A further preliminary conference into the matter will be heard in August.
