MURDERED: Lisa Norell

Speaker 20s - 84.52s

Hi, crime junkies. It's Ashley PERSON here. And you all know how ready I am at any moment to drop down the rabbit holes of mysterious cases to look for answers. And there's actually one right now that I cannot stop spiraling about with more rabbit holes than I can count. In this season of Countercloc, investigative journalist Delia Diambra begins investigating Dougg Jr's PERSON mysterious death after he was found struck on a strip of railroad tracks. But the more Delia has dug into this case, the stranger things have gotten. And you guys, there is truly so much going on. A string of mysterious deaths,a bank robbery gone wrong, conspiracy, corruption, and it may all be connected. You can binge all of Counterclock season six right now in the Crime Junkie ORG fan club, or you can listen to new episodes weekly wherever you get your podcasts. From your morning podcast to your afternoon playlist, we know you personalize your entire day. That's why State Farm ORG helps you personalize your insurance with the State Farm Personal Price Plan. It offers coverage options that help protectwhat you care about most at an affordable price just for you. Like a good neighbor, State Farm ORG is there. Prices vary by state. Options selected by customer. Availability and eligibility may vary. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp ORG.

Speaker 484.88s - 118.54s

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Speaker 2118.6s - 392.02s

I'm your host, Ashley Flowers PERSON. And I'm Britt PERSON. And the story I have for you today is about what can happen when an innocent teenage girl unexpectedly crosses paths with someone who is more monster than man. This is the story of Lisa Norell PERSON. On a lot of On a On a Friday night in November of 1998,Minnie Norell watches as her 15-year-old daughter Lisa heads to the Ides Hall in Antioch, California, garment bag, and new black shoes in hand. You see, one of Lisa PERSON's friends is going to be having her kinseniera soon, and tonight is this rehearsal for the big event. So as Minnie gets back on the highway for the quick drive home to their house a few miles away in Pittsburgh GPE, I kind of picture her taking a little involuntary sigh of relief because reporting suggests that they had arranged for a friend's parent to bring Lisa PERSON home after the party.So you know what that means. Like Minnie is officially off mom duty for the next few hours. She gets to clock out, yeah. Yeah, choose what she wants to watch on TV, take a nice relaxing bath if she is so inclined. I mean, heck, she might even get a little crazy and go to bed at a reasonable hour. Indulge in those, you know, little luxuries that mom so often go without.But she ends up waking up a little before 3 a.m. on Saturday, November 7th, feeling a hint of anxiety that she can't quite put her finger on. And I'm sure she starts kind of clicking through things in her mind, trying to figure out why she feels so unsettled. But then it hits her. She never heard Lisa PERSON get home. And I mean, it's possible she might have just been in a deeper sleep than usual, but still, she's not going to be able to fall back asleep until she confirms that her daughter made it home,safe and sound, in bed. So she climbs out of her bed able to fall back asleep until she confirms that her daughter made it home safe and sound in bed. So she climbs out of her bed and walks to Lisa PERSON's bedroom, sure that Lisa PERSON is going to be there fast asleep. But what she sees instead is an empty bed. I don't think she's able to get in touch with that friend's parents at this point, although I'm not sure why.I mean, it is the middle of the night after all. She might not even have their number. I don't know. So she goes straight to calling the police to report Lisa PERSON missing. And right away, they're on it. No gaslighting Minnie about how Lisa PERSON's probably just a runawayor getting into trouble with friends. Jim Heron Zamora and Rob Selna report for the San Francisco GPE examiner that investigators don't rule those possibilities out right away necessarily. But they do take Minnie's word that this isn't like her daughter and they find the circumstances of her disappearance to be concerning from the start. And those concerns only grow as the sun rises and they begin running down the people who had been with Lisa PERSON at the party the nightbefore or at the rehearsal the night before. Because the story that they piece together is a little ominous. Everyone agrees that something happened at that rehearsal between 10 and 11 p.m. Something that bothered Lisa enough for her to storm out into the night, upset, and alone. Now, what that something was is the thing that's up for debate, because each witness police talked to seems to have a slightly different account. The East Bay Times reports that, according to her and Lisa PERSON had gotten frustrated when she couldn't master a certain dance move, but then other reports suggest that she had beenupset when a certain boy wouldn't dance with her or that another attendee had grabbed her inappropriately. But on this first day, the why she left didn't matter so much as where she left and went off two. I mean, the thought was that she'd likely tried to make her way the four-ish miles home from the rehearsal. But the only direct route is straight down the Pittsburgh Antioch Highway FAC, which doesn't seem super safe. Now, I didn't have the time to try to pull up a Google Earth image from 1998, but I read someone else's description of it back then. Students actually fromthe UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism ORG wrote about this case. And they described it as being a quote, poorly lit stretch with no sidewalk, just gravel on the sides of the road, on one side or fields, and on the other side, occasional industrial businesses, end quote. So it's dark, she could have gotten hit by a car, and it's also kind of remote, isolated even. The random businesses on the side of the highway aren't exactly

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hopping at 11 p.m. on a Friday night. Yeah, so she's out there totally alone. Yeah, and it's not

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just the fact that she's left by herself, but witnesses are sparse, aside from any motorists who maybe drove by if police can let those people know that they're looking for them and if they remember seeing anything. Yeah. So almost immediately, volunteers begin posting missing flyers while authorities get choppers up in the air and mobilize a team of ground searchers, including scent tracking bloodhounds. And pretty quickly, police stumble onto their first major clue on the side of the highway.There is a single black dress shoe. And investigators know that Lisa PERSON was wearing casual clothes when she stormed out of the rehearsal. She was wearing jeans, a sweatshirt, and sandals of some kind. But like I said, she did have her formal Kinsignior ORG dress with her, along with the heels that many had gotten for her to go with it. And this shoe is a bad sign made even worse when they find its match just a few hundred feet away. And then according to some reporting, they find agarment bag that contains her dress. Did the dogs pick up any scent around here?

Speaker 4455.7s - 461.52s

I think the best answer is maybe. So according to that same report in the East Bay Times ORG,

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one of the dogs acts like he wants to go on the grounds of this business off the highway called Navland FAC. But there are these civilian pups there, basically, barking near the property. So they're like, oh, like this isn't about the case.

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Like, he's probably just distracted. And all of this is on the stretch of highway that she would

Speaker 2478.32s - 484.02s

have walked down to get home, right? Yeah. Are there any, like, signs of struggle? You said there's

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gravel on the side of the road? Like anything like that?

Speaker 2486.2s - 497.92s

I don't think so. Or if there are, that's not been reported, nor is there any reporting on just how Lisa PERSON's belongings are thought to have ended up where they found them? Because to your point, was there a struggle and she dropped them,

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like trying to get away from something or more likely someone? Or were they on the side of the road because they're thrown out of a car? Like, there's not enough for me to know, and it could be anyone's guess. Now, despite their best efforts, nothing else is found that day. Even as darkness falls that night and the search has to be put on hold, Lisa PERSON is nowhere to be found.

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But word does start to get out about her disappearance, and soon tips start coming in. Some possible sightings, even. Three different people come forward claiming that they saw Lisa PERSON alive and well throughout the day on Saturday. Patrick Hogue reports for the Sacramento Bee ORG that, quote, one person who knew Norell claimed to have seen her on School Street in Pittsburgh at 8.30 a.m.,said Schwitters PERSON. To other people said they saw her later in the day in other locations, end quote. And Schwitters, by the way, is Captain Kit Schwitters, the spokesperson for the Antioch PD ORG. But his next line of the story is just so frustrating in hindsight. It reads, quote, though they knew the police were looking for Norel PERSON, they did not question her about her disappearance. And the girl that they saw, so maybe Lisa PERSON probably not,is never interviewed or identified, and then none of the sightings are ever verified. In that first week, following the disappearance, investigators conduct interview after interview, around 80 in total, including a kid who's identified as Lisa PERSON's boyfriend. Although the reporting didn't actually give this person a name. They just called him Lisa PERSON's boyfriend. And this guy doesn't really ever come up again. There's also a quick mention of a boy from the rehearsal party,supposedly the one who'd refused to dance with Lisa PERSON, but he just kind of gets this blip mention to, and that's it. Now, I don't know about them specifically, but I know a few people sit for polygraphs, but there must not be much that comes from those because nothing really directs their search.They just keep spreading far and wide. By midweek, divers get out to search nearby wetlands, according to more reporting from Patrick Hogue PERSON. And over the following weekend, a 150-person strong ground search continues. They've got some volunteers. They've got some law enforcement. The dives turn upnothing, but the scent tracking bloodhounds are out again, and their handlers take note that Saturday when the dogs tried to lead them to the Navland FAC property again. And listen, it was easy enough to brush off the first time around, but this time the bloodhounds seem even more focused, more intentional. Maybe they weren't just distracted by the other dogs before on that first go around. So they decide they really need to check this out. And it doesn't take long for them to see why the dogs are so interested in that property.

Speaker 4657.82s - 720s

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Speaker 0723.26s - 738.2s

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Speaker 2741.2s - 793.82s

There, lying on the ground with dried blood beneath it is Lisa PERSON's prone body. And get this, she's just laying there, exposed between Navlands FAC buildings and some parked cars, but somehow no one had noticed her body before the bloodhounds led the searchers there that day. What? I know. I guess there's always the possibility that she hadn't been there the whole time. Maybe her killer had moved her remains.But there's blood under her. Like, she's been there for a little bit. She was killed there. If she was killed that night, yes. But, I mean, I can't get over it because they had the aerial searches, right? Like, you had the dog who led you there the first time and the other dogs just distracted them.I don't know. The part of me kind of wonders a little bit. To your point just distracted them? I don't know. The part of me kind of wonders a little bit. To your point about the blood, I don't know how you factor all of that in, but did the person see the searches that were happening? And once they moved on from an area,

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they like put her back here thinking that they were. Yeah, I don't know. But I think it's really

Speaker 4799.46s - 809.12s

possible because when the autopsy is performed on Sunday, November 15th, the coroner concludes that she had died of asphyxiation at least three or four days earlier,

Speaker 0809.12s - 812.42s

but it could have been as long ago as the night of her disappearance.

Speaker 2812.66s - 826.72s

So it is possible that she was held somewhere for a few days before she was killed and then found there. Maybe, again, it doesn't like answer the question, but I think it opens up all of the possibilities of when she could have been there. You know what I mean?

Speaker 4827.42s - 832.22s

Now, as far as whether there's any evidence of sexual assault, investigators don't say.

Speaker 2832.66s - 861.9s

But around the time that her remains are found, another witness comes forward, a motorist who says that he saw Lisa the night that she went missing, walking down the Pittsburgh Antioch Highway, a little before midnight, sometime within the 11 o'clock hour. And he says that there was another car nearby. But Charlie Goodyear and Tanya Chavez PERSON report that despite seeing this other car, he wasn't able to provide much in the way of details about it. He just like drove past without even stopping to help or anything.

Speaker 4862.44s - 871.3s

Okay, that's not a great look. But at the same time, how does a grown man offer to help a teenage girl Okay, that's not a great look, but at the same time, how does a grown man offer to help a teenage girl in that situation without being creepy or threatening?

Speaker 2871.46s - 958.82s

Everyone knows that the guy who pulls over and is like, hey, little girl, need a ride? Like, that guy's a creep. I don't, like, fault him for not stopping. I mean, I think I've seen some of the stuff in the reporting, like, oh, my God, this girl was there with this car, but I totally get that. It's the middle night.It's not like he saw a struggle or anything. So it is a bit of a catch-22. Like, he'd sound even creepier if he did stop and was like, I'm not a creep. Wouldn't want something bad to happen to you out here all by your lonesome. Exactly. So we don't get much from that guy other than a slightly later timeline, or not later, just kind of wider.She's still out there walking as midnight approaches. Meanwhile, a second witness comes forward around the same time, also claiming to have seen Lisa on the night that she went missing, also walking down the side of the highway. But according to this witness, Lisa PERSON wasn't the only pedestrian out there on that dark, lonely highway, although she may have thought she was. What she likely couldn't see was the man just 50 or so yards away standing right in her path.According to reporting in the San Francisco Examiner, quote, the man was described as 20 to 30 years old, 5 foot 11 inches tall, clean cut, neatly dressed, and with dirty blonde hair and a heavy build. End quote. This witness helps investigators create a composite sketch, which is released on Monday the 23rd.They don't call this guy a suspect, just someone they want to talk to.

Speaker 4959.06s - 968.84s

I mean, I'm looking at this sketch, and it's a well-done sketch, but it's also a little bit nondescript, just like the description you just gave. It could be... And it's, again, it's a well-done sketch, but it's also a little bit nondescript, just like the description you just gave. It could be...

Speaker 2968.84s - 987.64s

And it's, again, it's midnight. It's dark. It's... Also, his hair looks really dark, and she's saying it's blonde. So, I mean, I think you can have a lot of questions about this. But he does look young-ish.Yeah. 20s. Anyways, despite pleas from investigators, the man in the sketch doesn't come forward or identify himself, which feels a little bit suspicious, right?

Speaker 4987.72s - 999.58s

I mean, everyone in the area knows about Lisa PERSON's disappearance. It's all over the news. Yeah, and even though this isn't, like, the most detailed, distinct sketch, like someone has to recognize him or think they recognize him.

Speaker 2999.76s - 1108.94s

Yeah, and they do get dozens of people who do call police. They think that they might know this person, and six detectives were grueling hours running down each of these leads. They even seek out parolees in the area who fit this guy's description. But as November turns into December, they are no closer to identifying Lisa PERSON's killer or this guy, whoever he was who was supposedly in her path that night, whether he's her killer or not.So it's a scary time in Pittsburgh GPE. No one can figure out why Lisa PERSON was targeted other than it being a crime of opportunity. So everyone holds their kids a little tighter, afraid that it might happen again. And while I'm sure some call it paranoid, that paranoia was justified. Because on December 5th, it happens again. The body of another young woman is found in an industrial area in Pittsburgh a month after Lisa disappeared almost to the day.How close to where Lisa PERSON was found? It's hard to say exactly. One of the sources said it was a couple of miles away, but then I found this other one that said it was just blocks away. So I don't know for sure. But, I mean, it's still close no matter what, right? But despite the proximity and the similarity of the crimes, there are some major differences.For one, this second victim identified as 24-year-old Jessica Frederick had been stabbed, which Lisa PERSON wasn't. She's also suspected of engaging in sex work, which Lisa PERSON wasn't. And Jessica's a full nine years older than Lisa PERSON. I'm not sure that they're totally ruling anything out, but Lieutenant Williams Abaknik with the Pittsburgh Police Department ORG theorizes that the dump site similarities may have been almost an intentional red herringto make investigators think that there was a connection when there wasn't, just to throw off the real, like, killers' tracks.

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Wait, like he thinks Jessica PERSON was killed just to confuse investigators?

Speaker 21113.36s - 1122.8s

No, I mean, I think he's saying that whoever killed Jessica PERSON, for whatever reason, dumped her body in a similar location to confuse them, to make them think that the cases were connected.

Speaker 01122.96s - 1123.4s

Got it.

Speaker 41123.68s - 1128.08s

And it seems like investigators actually close in on a suspect in Jessica PERSON's death fairly quickly,

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one with no suspected involvement in Lisa PERSON's case. He's a 50-year-old cab driver named Muhammad Ismail Nias PERSON. And he and Jessica PERSON have a romantic history.

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Ryan Kim reports for the Sacramento Bee ORG that when investigators visit his apartment, the night her body is found, they found one of the doors ajar. And they say, concerned about his well-being or, you know, they're, again, claiming they're concerned about his well-being. The door is conveniently ajar. They go into the apartment. And what they find doesn't look good for Muhammad PERSON. Sitting out in plain view, they say they find a bent butcher knife,

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along with a sponge and a sock that both appear to be stained with blood. So they come back

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the next morning with a search warrant and seize both those items and send them off for testing. And I'm not sure where Muhammad is while all of this is going down, but one way or another, investigators find him. They bring him in for an interview. And the explanation he gives kind of muddles the anticipated results. He says that the knife is bent because he used it trying to cut through some nails.

Speaker 41193.68s - 1209.48s

Cut through some nails? That's like the most random excuse or reason ever. I've never heard it. There's a bloody sponge and sock. I mean, explain that. What?Like, is this going to be ketchup or something? No, no, no, no. It's blood. He straight up admits that. And worse yet,

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it's Jessica PERSON's blood. Well, his and Jessica's blood, but not from some violent confrontation that culminated in Jessica PERSON's death from them injecting heroin together at his apartment, he says. They had used the sock as a tourniquet and the sponge to then clean up.

Speaker 41225.98s - 1228.6s

So these must have been relatively small amounts of blood?

Speaker 21228.94s - 1275.12s

Yeah, I don't know for sure. There's nothing like specific in all of the reporting about it. But I do know that both of them have a history of using heroin. That's even how they met at a treatment center like four years before. But Muhammad PERSON's saying it doesn't matter. He actually is quick to point them in a different direction.He tells them that there's someone else who is a much better suspect than he is. Though he doesn't know this guy's name or anything, but he says that one of Jessica's clients had tried to kidnap her the previous month. Apparently this guy got her in his car and tried to handcuff her, but she was able to break free and run. And here's the wild thing. He's not making this up. Investigators have proof that Jessica PERSON had reported the whole thing, though I'm not sure how much they actually looked into it at the time.

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So at this point, are they considering the possibility that Jessica and Lisa PERSON were killed by the same person?

Speaker 21281.46s - 1310.62s

No, not really. I mean, have they totally ruled it out? I don't know, but that's not the leading theory here. Lieutenant Zabaknik PERSON is adamant that there's no evidence of a connection. And they're really stuck on our buddy Muhammad and Jessica PERSON's case. But again, he's got zero connection to Lisa PERSON.And so if he's got no connection to Lisa, but he did do Jessica PERSON, they're like, oh, they can't be connected. And they're really thinking that he's responsible for Jessica PERSON's case because it sounds like there's a lot of unfortunate coincidences for him, right?

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Like maybe too many to explain away. So as investigators close in on him in Jessica's case, they are receiving a number of tips about Lisa PERSON's, all pointing at a couple of locals with extensive rap sheets.

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These two are 24-year-old David Michael Heneby and a 39-year-old guy named Gary Lee Walton PERSON, and both are quietly placed under surveillance once they start getting all these tips. But on December 15th, while they're keeping a close eye on David and Gary PERSON, Contra Costa County GPE is hit with a double whammy.First, a 38-year-old woman is found clinging to life in a Bay Point FAC Portapotti, suffering serious injuries from what turns out to have been a vicious beating. And, by the way, Contra Costa County is where Jessica PERSON was almost abducted from. So there's like a little bit of a connection here. Like Jessica PERSON, this woman who's never been named, as far as I can tell, is suspected of being a sex worker. So she's rushed to the local hospital where they're able to stabilize her. And even though she survives, she is inbad shape. She's never quite the same. Judith Preeve and Nate Gartrell PERSON report for the East Bay Times that when she's asked to describe her attacker, she says he was, quote, a Hispanic NORP male driving a dark Monte Carlo PRODUCT, end quote.

Speaker 41388.72s - 1393.32s

Which doesn't really sound like the guy the witness saw on the highway the night of Lisa PERSON's disappearance.

Speaker 21393.86s - 1482.24s

It doesn't, but that's if the description in Lisa PERSON's case was right. I mean, it was nighttime, so who knows. And listen, if things weren't confusing enough, it's not long before the situation becomes even more muddled. Because before noon that same day, a man picking up an order from a local business stumbles upon another woman's body in the same industrial area. Have you been trying to save money for a while, but it seems like your bank account is stuck?Maybe it's time to give Rocket Money PRODUCT a try. Nearly 75% of people have subscriptions they've forgotten about. Rocket Money can help cancel some of them so that you can finally start to see your account balance going up. Rocket Money PRODUCT is a personal finance app that finds and cancels your unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps lower your bills so that you can grow your savings. All you have to do is submit a picture of your bill and Rocket Money PRODUCT takes care of the rest.They'll deal with customer service for you. They even have this cool dashboard that shows you this month's spending compared to last month so you can clearly see your spending habits. Rocket Money has over 5 million users and has saved a total of $500 million in canceled subscriptions, saving members up to $740 a year when using all of the app's features. Stop wasting money on things you don't use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to rocketmoney.com slash crime junkie. That's rocketmoney.com slash crime junkie. Rocketmoney.comslash crime junkie.

Speaker 31489.66s - 1523.26s

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Speaker 21523.84s - 1536.26s

The woman who looks to be in her 20s or 30s is fully clothed. There's some blood on her face, but no indication of how she died. There aren't any obvious injuries. But she's quickly identified as 32-year-old Rachel Cruz PERSON.

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Was she involved in sex work at all?

Speaker 21538.18s - 1581.9s

There's no record. She doesn't have a record for sex work-related charges or anything. But her mom tells investigators that she thinks Rachel PERSON was engaged in sex work, possibly to help fund her substance use. And when her picture is shown to other local sex workers, they say they do recognize her. Now, her autopsy has performed two days later on the 17th. And Charlie Goodyear reports for SFGate ORG that, quote, after an autopsy conducted by the Contra Costa County Coroner's Office, investigators concluded that Cruz 32 died from manual strangulation and smothering, end quote.And get this, just about a mile from where her body is found, on the Pittsburgh Antioch Highway FAC. Investigators find Rachel PERSON's purse and her shoes.

Speaker 41581.9s - 1584.08s

Okay, that feels like more than coincidence.

Speaker 11584.46s - 1588.24s

Are they thinking that Lisa's killer also killed at least Rachel PERSON?

Speaker 21588.58s - 1591.46s

I mean, their causes of death are similar, right?

Speaker 11591.8s - 1593.94s

Again, not really.

Speaker 21594.18s - 1594.54s

What?

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Yet Charlie Goodyear PERSON writes in that same piece that although the causes of death are similar, quote,

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investigators say the two were killed in different ways, end quote.

Speaker 41604.38s - 1608.36s

And yet again, Lieutenant Zabaknik theorizes that maybe Rachel PERSON's killer

Speaker 21608.36s - 1613.22s

tossed her shoes near where Lises PERSON were found just as a red herring to throw people off.

Speaker 41613.46s - 1617.22s

So he thinks there are three separate killers here.

Speaker 21617.34s - 1617.64s

Yes.

Speaker 41617.74s - 1618.44s

Is that what he's saying?

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He says in that same article, quote,

Speaker 41621.34s - 1626.44s

We have three individual homicides that occurred that lead to no evidence that

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they are connected. We're certainly not ruling out any connection, but they are not leading in the

Speaker 41632.64s - 1639.48s

same direction, end quote. I get what he's saying. But how plausible is it that there are two

Speaker 21639.48s - 1647.6s

separate copycat killers out there mimicking a third killer in this kind of smallish community.

Speaker 41647.94s - 1654.16s

And within just a few weeks, I mean, it feels too coincidental. It feels like a criminal minds episode.

Speaker 21654.46s - 1664.06s

It doesn't work like that in real life, right? I'm no statistician, but it feels almost improbable. Also, who attacked the unnamed victim that survived?

Speaker 41664.22s - 1666.36s

Are there four perps? Are you saying

Speaker 31666.36s - 1670.96s

there's still three? Because they only talk about three, but I'm like, there's also this fourth victim who lived.

Speaker 41671.4s - 1680.78s

Who does she belong to? Yeah. Oh, my goodness. Now listen, Lieutenant Zabaknik PERSON decides to put his theory to the test as investigators are forced to make a bold move.

Speaker 21680.88s - 1684.46s

So remember those tips that came in on Lisa's case pointing to David and Gary PERSON?

Speaker 41684.78s - 1690.32s

Mm-hmm. Well, early on the morning of January 6th, concerned that these men are about to find out that

Speaker 21690.32s - 1751.32s

they're under investigation, they basically swoop in and arrest Gary PERSON as he's driving through Antioch. Now, they don't need to arrest David PERSON because he is already being held in the Contra Costa County Jail on some gnarly DV charges. Eric Brazil reports for the San Francisco GPE examiner, quote, According to court records, Heneby menaced his wife with a pistol during a confrontation at her home November 25, 1998, struck her on the head and threw her to the floor hurting one of her knees, end quote. And then he said, and mind you, the wife recorded all of this, so the quotes I'm about to read are something close to verbatim.Quote, you think that when I stabbed you in the neck it was bad, you just wait. And quote, you want to call the cops on me, you're going to die. They're never going to catch me. But know this, I'm going to catch you. What the fuck? But here's the catch on this monster.David has been locked up since December 4.

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So he couldn't have been involved in any of the other attacks after Lisa PERSON.

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Right. So maybe Lieutenant Zabaknik PERSON has been right all along. Maybe none of the cases are related after all. And though the timing of it all is a little rushed, investigators aren't about to let that rain on their parade. They hold a press conference that same daywhere they explain their theory of the case. And let's be honest, like they take a little bit of a victory lap while they're at it. They say that David was driving Gary PERSON's car, not sure why, but Gary PERSON was in the passenger seat, when they saw Lisa PERSON walking alone on the highway. They abducted her.They made a pass at her, and then they killed her when she rejected them. Now, this day is a flurry of investigative activity. Not even a flurry, it's a full-on blizzard. They search five houses. They search the same number of vehicles. They conduct 42 witness interviews.And then on January 7th, the very next evening, Gary PERSON is released. What?

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Yeah, one day after announcing that both men would be charged for Lisa PERSON's murder, they completely

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reverse course.

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Ray Delgado reports in the San Francisco Examiner that the evidence investigators were sure that

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they would discover in the course of these searches and interviews, it just doesn't materialize. Lieutenant Zabaknik says, quote, we are disappointed in the last 36 hours with what's happened. But it is what it is. We don't try to manipulate the information. If there's not enough evidence, then we have to let them go, end quote. But even though they let them go, neither of these guys are ruled out altogether,although Lieutenant Zabaknick PERSON suggests that they may already have evidence implicating David that doesn't necessarily implicate Gary PERSON. And they say, you know, thankfully he's locked up so he can't hurt anyone else. But that doesn't mean no one else gets hurt, because there is yet another grim discovery made just outside of Pittsburgh the very next day. Shopify ORG is the global

Speaker 31873.82s - 1901.42s

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Speaker 21905.44s - 1928.36s

In another ditch, in another industrial area, within just miles of the Pittsburgh Antioch Highway, they find the body of another woman. This time, a 27-year-old sex worker named Valerie Don Schultz PERSON. When her autopsy is performed on January 9th, it's determined that she was both stabbed and strangled, although it's not clear which one was the cause of death.

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Any chance that the weapon she was stabbed with was similar to the one used to stab Jessica PERSON?

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I don't think so.

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I mean, investigators seized the weapon that they thought killed her. But actually, speaking of Jessica, in March of that year, Muhammad PERSON does formally get charged with her murder. Is he considered a suspect in any of the other cases?

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I don't think so. They never talk about that at all. And I think one of the major reasons that they're not connecting or can't connect all of them together is that they just don't have the physical evidence of it. Because investigators end up revealing that none of the three sex worker victims showed any signs of sexual assault, including no semen for DNA testing. Again, they point out just those, whether that's true for Lisa PERSON or the victim who survived. That's not clear.But, I mean, that would have been critical evidence, especially in 1999, which is where we're at in this story. And, I mean, they just didn't have it.

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Now, that same month that Muhammad gets charged, we're talking about March of 1999,

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there is a scandal that starts reverberating through the community, and it centers around a Contra Costa County fire captain named Dwayne Shoemake PERSON. You see, in September of 98, Dwayne had been arrested on charges of repeatedly sexually assaulting two minors. When his charges are quietly dismissed in January of 99, I'm not sure how many people really noticed outside of those directly affected. But, fast forward a couple months to March, prosecutors disclosed to the victim's families that the charges were dropped for a reason as part of a cooperation deal with Dwayne PERSON because it turns out that his sister-in-law is alsothe mother-in-law of one David Heneby PERSON. What? Charlie Goodyear reports for the San Francisco Chronicle ORG, quote, What Schumake PERSON told authorities was that a key suspect in the case David Hennaby had confessed taking Lisa, holding her for several days and doing awful things to her, end quote. And at first, Duane ORG's victims and their families mostly take this information instride, but month after month goes by and then no charges are filed against David PERSON. So before long, the community is marking the one-year anniversary of Lisa PERSON's death and investigators are still no closer to bringing any charges. Larry Cook, an attorney representing the mother of one of Dwayne PERSON's victims, says in November that, quote, the continued victimization of these girls is the fact that no arrest in the Norel PERSON case has been made and law enforcement is unwilling to come forward to account for their actions. End quote. So I understand why they're pissed. They're like, okay, if you're not going to charge him for what he did to our daughters so you can get him for murdering someone else, we understand that. But to not charge him and then not do anything,F that noise. I would be pissed. So one year becomes two and then three and so on and so on. In 2001, the charges against Muhammad PERSON, the only charges filed in any of these casesactually ends up being dropped. And not just that, he ends up getting ruled out as a suspect. That's way bigger than just dropping charges. Yeah, my source material does in detail what led investigators to this about face. But, I mean, I have some thoughts.You know what I mean? Like, the whole setup of everything just never quite jive for me. The door was open. We were concerned. I mean, I don't know. I just had this, like, sneaking suspicion, and I might be totally off. It might have been like a technicality orwhatever, but they, it's dropped. The theme that I'm seeing, at least with suspects, it seems like

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they go hard with maybe not quite everything they need and then having to back off. I mean,

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this is like the third time we've seen that in these cases.

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Well, time continues to pass without any progress in Lisa PERSON's case, which seems like it's just

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getting colder and colder with each passing year.

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And there's no progress in any of the others either, as far as I can tell.

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But in August of 2009, a jaw-dropping story hits the news.

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And not just the local news in Contra Costa County GPE. This story

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consumes national press as well. And it's one that a lot of crime junkies probably know. It's about the arrest of an Antioch couple named Philip and Nancy Garito PERSON.

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They're the ones who abducted J.C. Dugard PERSON. I mean, crime jockeys know this story well because

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you interviewed J.C. PERSON Yeah. And her story is one that even if you've never heard an episode of our podcast, you'd likely have heard of.

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Well, long story short, when they get arrested, investigators from the Pittsburgh PD, the Antioch PD, and the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office ORG are all around.

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I mean, again, this was big news, nationwide news.

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So you better believe that everyone in this area knew about it.

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And so they start wondering if maybe Philip was responsible for Lisa PERSON's death. I mean, actually, they wonder if he was perhaps responsible for Jessica's and Rachel's and Valerie's as well. And the possibility only increases when investigators visit Lisa's mom Minnie. And she tells them that a close relative of hers is Philip and Nancy PERSON's next door neighbor. And then investigators find out that Philip may have worked in the areathat some of the victim's bodies were found. Captain Daniel Terry PERSON of the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department tells the Los Angeles Times ORG that, quote, several bodies were dumped at an industrial location where the suspect supposedly worked. And then Minnie says in that same reporting, quote, They said they didn't want to get my hopes up, but this guy was of interest. He said they were going to be in Gorito's neighborhood for days.I am hopeful. But sadly, Minnie doesn't get the answers that she was hoping for. It's not clear if the goritos are formally ruled out, but no evidence ends up being found to connect them to Lisa's death or the deaths of Jessica, Rachel, and Valerie. And so the cases go cold yet again. In 2018, the 20-year anniversary of the deaths,the Pittsburgh PD ORG decides to give the case another look and the lead homicide investigator, Lieutenant Jacob's stage, takes charge. Now, naturally, one of his first moves is to resubmit the forensic evidence for further testing, hoping that advances in technology will uncover new evidence. But whatever is found, if anything, doesn't move the investigation along. And so Lisa's case remains unsolved to this day, as do Jessica's and Rachel PERSON's and Valories.Investigators continue to be unsure whether any or all of the cases are related. Lieutenant Stage PERSON at least considers the possibility that they were all victims of a serial killer targeting sex workers and that maybe Lisa PERSON was killed because the killer wrongly assumed she was a sex worker too. As the East Bay Times ORG reports, quote, the killer might have just mistaken her age and situation in the dark, but by the time he picked her up, it was too late, end quote. And in that same article, there's actually a staple of the true crime community that pops up.Most people will know the name Paul Holes PERSON. He is the guy often credited with identifying Joseph James DeAngelo as the Golden State GPE serial killer. Well, if you know him, you know that Contra Costa County GPE were his stomping grounds.

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He was an investigator for them for a very long time and he actually worked these cases.

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And he says, quote, I'm convinced that you have at least one serial killer who was at work that killed some of these women. But I can't say that one person killed all of them. I have to remain very vague. We're aware there are some unique aspects in what was done to these womenthat we don't want released to the public. End quote. So the good news is that if Paul Holes PERSON is involved, we know that they've at least considered investigative genetic genealogy. I mean, he knows it backwards and forwards. But without answers, either they don't have DNA to work withor they haven't been able to hone in on a suspect through genealogy. And so this is where you come in. If you know anything about these cases, all of these cases, just one of these cases, it doesn't matter, please contact the Pittsburgh PDat 925-252-4980. You can find all the source material for this episode on our website, Crimejunkie Podcast.com ORG.

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And be sure to follow us on Instagram at CrimeJunky Podcast ORG.

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We'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Crime Junkie is an audio Chuck PERSON production.

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So what do you think, Chuck PERSON? Do you approve?

Speaker 32507.6s - 2536.6s

Shopify ORG is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. With the Internet's best converting checkout, 36% better on average compared to other leading commerce platforms. Shopify helps you turn browsers into buyers. In fact, Shopify powers 10% of all e-commerce in the U.S. sign up for a $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com ORG slash podcast free. All lowercase, Shopify.com ORG slash podcast free, Shopify.com slash podcast free.