There’s a certain level of outrage that arises from the senseless murder of a senior citizen – 89 year old Lillian Decloe had paid her dues in life and deserved a peaceful retirement in her own home.  But in April 1994, someone broke into that home and ended her life in a violent and brutal fashion.  Dignified and gracious Lillian was raped, robbed and strangled by persons unknown.  Pompano Beach police worked her case, but soon it went the way of so many others, and sat in a box on a shelf.  But in that box was Lillian’s sexual assault kit – and the key to finding her killer.  This is not a genealogy case, but a familial DNA searching case. Through this underutilized and often misunderstood method, Lillian’s killer was identified by his own son.

In October, 1959, partial skeletal remains of what was believed to be a little girl was found in a culvert in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. Surveying the area, investigators found more bones; some of which showed evidence of being fractured, and then healing. The early thought was that this little girl had been abused, and perhaps was killed during one of these attacks, and her body disposed of in a panic. Sure enough, it was determined that the child had been the likely victim of a homicide, but it was also determined that their little girl was actually a little boy. Soon, the boy was linked to the case of a missing boy; Markku Jutila.

When respected and esteemed 65 year old businesswoman and mother of three Joyce Casper was found raped and murdered in her car in Boise, Idaho in 1987, the community was shocked to its core.  No one could imagine who could have wished harm to Joyce - but police suspected she had reported her own killer.  Joyce had been the subject of an attempted attack less than three weeks earlier. Was someone targeting the beloved gift shop owner? Despite having a description of the possible suspect, police could not find him, and Joyce’s case stalled.  But Joyce was one of those victims that investigators never forgot, and Boise police kept working to find her slayer.  A phenotype in 2017 told them what he looked like…but it took an incredibly complex genealogy investigation combined with detective work finally to flush out the name of her killer.  And it turned out, Joyce had described him perfectly.