It took years but these crimes were finally solved. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at the most puzzling cold criminal cases that authorities were finally able to close in 2023.
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00:00 Now the answer to the biggest question of all brings some peace.
00:04 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the most puzzling cold criminal cases that
00:08 authorities were finally able to close in 2023.
00:12 He did admit to his involvement and he did tell us that he came to Garland and that he
00:18 committed this offense.
00:20 The murder of Pauline Brazot.
00:22 For almost half a century, the question of who killed Canadian single mother Pauline
00:26 Brazot remained unanswered.
00:28 Brazot was last seen at a restaurant in Calgary on January 8th, 1976, and was found dead hours
00:34 later on a rural road.
00:36 Brazot, a mother of one, had just moved to Calgary from Saskatchewan.
00:40 Her murder puzzled police back then, and even after it was reinvestigated in the 90s, authorities
00:46 were unable to come up with any concrete leads.
00:49 In 2021, the case was reopened once again.
00:52 Advancements in DNA technology led police to seek out a private lab in the US last year,
00:59 which was able to give them a lead on a suspect.
01:03 This time, investigators turned to genetic genealogy and were able to trace evidence
01:07 from the crime to Ronald James Edwards.
01:10 Edwards, who also served prison time for the sexual assault and attempted murder of another
01:14 woman, was arrested in November 2023, the same month he turned 74, and charged with
01:20 non-capital murder.
01:22 The Murder of Jeremy Stoner
01:24 This horrific crime not only claimed a boy's life, it also ruined that of an innocent man.
01:30 In February 1987, Jeremy Stoner disappeared from his grandparents' home in Vallejo, California.
01:36 After four agonizing days, his body was found about 30 miles away, having endured sexual
01:41 assault before his murder.
01:42 "We are in the process, as we have been for the last several days, of going throughout
01:47 that area and looking for suspicious people, anything that may be suspicious that has come
01:53 through that area."
01:54 The initial suspect was Sean Melton, who was charged with kidnapping and murder.
01:58 However, Melton narrowly escaped imprisonment after two trials ended in hung juries.
02:03 "Peter Ford defended Melton at both his murder trials.
02:07 He called Melton odd and that he thought he was helping with the case, but was only hurting
02:11 himself."
02:12 The case moved forward to September 2023, when advancements in DNA technology led police
02:17 to 69-year-old Fred Cain III, who was arrested in Oregon and extradited to California to
02:22 face murder charges.
02:24 Unfortunately, Sean Melton passed away in 2000, without the chance to see his name definitively
02:29 cleared.
02:30 "Unfortunately, we didn't have the type of DNA testing that we have now back then."
02:35 The DA's office also revealing Cain was interviewed by Vallejo police about the murder.
02:40 The disappearance of Crystal Rogers.
02:43 "It's hard because I feel like nothing's happening right now, and I can't handle that thinking
02:51 nothing's happening."
02:52 Crystal Rogers was last seen on July 3, 2015, by her boyfriend, Brooks Houck.
02:57 She was reported missing two days later, after her abandoned car was discovered with her
03:01 phone and purse still inside.
03:04 Initially, Houck was the prime suspect, but due to a lack of solid evidence, police couldn't
03:09 make an arrest.
03:10 The case was further complicated in 2016 when Rogers' father, Tommy Ballard, was fatally
03:15 shot while hunting, which some believe is connected to his daughter's disappearance.
03:19 "It's now eight years later and Crystal is still missing, but now a major development
03:25 in the case."
03:26 In 2020, the FBI came on board, conducting multiple searches on properties linked to
03:31 the crime.
03:32 In September 2023, a man named Joseph Lawson was indicted on criminal charges related to
03:38 Rogers' disappearance and murder.
03:40 "The indictment states that on July 3rd and/or 4th of 2015, Lawson committed conspiracy to
03:46 commit murder when he agreed to aid one or more persons in the planning of the crime
03:51 or attempt to commit the crime, and when he and a co-conspirator intentionally caused
03:56 the death of another."
03:57 The following month, Rogers' ex-boyfriend Houck was arrested for her murder.
04:02 The murder of Todd Lampley.
04:04 HBO's The Wire is renowned for its realistic portrayal of crime, and it would play a role
04:09 in the February 2011 murder of Todd Lampley in his Cape Cod, Massachusetts home.
04:14 At the crime scene, investigators discovered a black cell phone and a sweet potato with
04:18 DNA linked to the perpetrator.
04:20 The phone was registered to Marlo Stanfield, the name of a character from The Wire.
04:25 "Hmm.
04:26 Yeah, I know you see it.
04:27 You see the big picture."
04:28 Authorities also found that the show featured a potato used as a silencer.
04:33 DNA on the root vegetable led them to DeVaris Hampton, who had named Lampley in a previous
04:38 murder case.
04:39 In 2011, Hampton was wearing a GPS monitor, which authorities used to place him at Lampley's
04:45 home during the murder.
04:47 He was arrested in February 2023.
04:49 "Prosecutors go on to say that the day after the murder, police recovered a gun from a
04:54 nearby pond, and they say GPS tracking also places Hampton at that pond the day after
05:00 the murder."
05:01 Murder of Barbara Villarreal
05:03 When Barbara Villarreal was murdered in her Garland, Texas home in November 1986, police
05:08 turned to the usual suspect, her husband.
05:11 However, by his account, Villarreal was attacked by intruders in their home.
05:15 DNA evidence seemed to back up this claim, as investigators found blood at the crime
05:20 scene that belonged to neither Villarreal or her husband.
05:23 The case eventually went cold, and Villarreal's husband later passed away.
05:27 As DNA technology advanced over the years, however, authorities made a significant breakthrough.
05:32 They were able to link evidence from the crime scene to Liborio Canales, Villarreal's brother-in-law.
05:38 "Detectives say Liborio Canales was there the night Villarreal died, and is responsible
05:43 for the brutal stabbing of his sister-in-law."
05:46 85-year-old Canales was arrested in July 2023 and confessed to the crime, admitting that
05:51 he had killed his brother's wife over a family dispute.
05:54 "He did admit to his involvement, and he did tell us that he came to Garland and that he
06:00 committed this offense."
06:01 The Mysterious Lady of the Dunes
06:03 On July 26, 1974, the body of a mysterious woman was discovered on a beach in Provincetown,
06:10 Massachusetts.
06:11 Dubbed "The Lady of the Dunes," both her identity and that of her killer remained unknown for
06:16 nearly five decades.
06:18 Since then, she was known as "The Lady of the Dunes" because investigators were unable
06:22 to identify her. Over the years, the case gained notoriety as various theories emerged,
06:28 including one claiming that she appeared as a background performer in Steven Spielberg's
06:31 1975 film Jaws.
06:34 Following repeated unsuccessful efforts, in October 2022, investigators were finally able
06:39 to identify her using forensic genealogy as Ruth Marie Terry. Terry had disappeared in
06:44 the summer of 1974 after a trip with her new husband, Guy Muldaven.
06:49 In August 2023, police officially closed the case, naming Muldaven, who had died in 2002,
06:56 as Terry's killer.
06:57 "As investigators, cases like this one haunt us, and the agencies represented here today
07:03 are constantly reevaluating and coming up with new investigative strategies to try and
07:09 advance them."
07:10 The Murder of Gretchen Harrington
07:12 On August 15, 1975, Gretchen Harrington vanished on her way to a summer Bible camp in Marple
07:18 Township, Pennsylvania. Her remains were discovered two months later in a park close by. David
07:24 Zanstra, a local pastor who reportedly called in Harrington's disappearance after Harrington's
07:28 father asked about his daughter, was questioned by police but denied seeing the girl that
07:33 day. That statement was a bold-faced lie.
07:36 "Prosecutors say Zanstra was a family friend and even helped search for her as hundreds
07:41 aided to help find the little girl."
07:43 The breakthrough in the case came in early 2023, when a woman who was a friend of Zanstra's
07:48 daughter showed police her 1975 diary. It detailed claims of Zanstra's misconduct towards
07:54 her and suspicions of his involvement in possible kidnappings.
07:57 "Investigators have said Zanstra could have more victims out there."
08:01 When confronted with these claims, the 83-year-old Zanstra confessed to the crime. He was arrested
08:06 in July and charged with Harrington's kidnap and murder.
08:10 The Murder of Jennifer Odom
08:12 "The recent rain washing away all evidence."
08:16 The disappearance of Jennifer Odom on February 19, 1993, led to a massive search in the state
08:21 of Florida. Sadly, her remains were found six days later in an abandoned field.
08:26 "And her mother's life was forever changed."
08:29 "I'll never be better. I'll never be who I was five years ago."
08:33 Despite decades of investigation and hundreds of leads, no promising developments emerged
08:37 until 2015. DNA analysis linked a man named Jeffrey Norman Crum to a similar case that
08:43 occurred in the same area just one year and one month before Odom's disappearance.
08:47 "Investigators say evidence from that case helped them link Crum to the Odom case."
08:52 "After 30 years, there's a lot to get through. I guess shock is one word. Happiness, joy.
09:03 I mean, it's a horrible act that occurred. So you're not really getting what you want
09:09 back."
09:10 DNA spent the next few years building their case around Crum as a suspect, and in July
09:14 2023, he was charged with the murder, sexual assault, and kidnapping of Odom. Crum was
09:20 already serving two life sentences for another case when these new charges were filed.
09:25 The Murder of Rita Curran
09:27 In 1971, 24-year-old schoolteacher Rita Curran was killed in her Burlington, Vermont apartment
09:32 shortly after leaving the nest.
09:34 "The gruesome murder shattered the neighborhood's sense of security at the time and triggered
09:39 one of Vermont's most notorious unsolved mysteries."
09:43 Investigators carefully collected and preserved key evidence from the crime scene, including
09:47 a cigarette butt and a piece of Curran's clothing. Decades later in 2014, DNA from
09:53 the cigarette butt was used to form a profile, but it failed to match anyone in the federal
09:57 database.
09:58 "Really, it was the enormity of the case that needed the team approach. The amount
10:02 of evidence was just staggering. This was the most investigated case the Burlington
10:07 Police Department had ever had."
10:08 The case was later reopened, and investigators announced in February 2023 that they had used
10:13 genetic genealogy to ultimately link the profile to William DeRusse. DeRusse lived in the same
10:18 apartment building as Curran, but provided a false alibi to police. Sadly, justice could
10:24 not be served, as DeRusse had passed away in 1986.
10:27 "Today, William DeRusse would be 83, but there is not a cop in this building who would
10:34 not happily put handcuffs on him."
10:36 The Gilgo Beach Serial Killings
10:37 "This may be a cold case for some time."
10:39 "It's unreal, and I'm just not…"
10:41 In May 2010, 24-year-old Shannon Gilbert went missing after a distressing 911 call. While
10:48 searching for her, authorities found the remains of four other women, now known as the Gilgo
10:53 Four.
10:54 "One by one, the bodies were identified, and with each name came the story of a troubled
11:00 life cut short."
11:01 Over the next year, more remains, including Gilbert's, would be discovered.
11:05 "He's gonna make a mistake, they all do, and we're gonna get this guy."
11:10 Although a profile of the killer was circulated in the media, no arrests in this case were
11:14 made until July 2023. New York architect Rex Huerman became a suspect after DNA testing
11:20 tied him to evidence found on one of the victim's bodies.
11:23 "Investigators say updated technology allowed them to test hair samples that were originally
11:28 degraded in a degraded condition on the victims, and they found, they then followed him as
11:35 well to get abandoned DNA samples."
11:38 His car was also identified by a witness, and cell phone records showed that he attempted
11:43 to communicate with some of the victims. Huerman was charged with killing three of the Gilgo
11:47 Four, and remains a prime suspect in the murder of the fourth.
11:52 What cold cases do you hope will get solved in 2024? Let us know in the comments below.
11:57 "People say, 'How do you get through it? How did you get through it?' I got a lot
12:02 of rocks holding me up."
12:03 -Rex Huerman, "Trivia Question"