MI MI - Julia Niswender, 23, EMU student, Ypsilanti, 10 Dec 2012 - #6

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Julia Niswender

Who Killed EMU Student Julia Niswender? Police Still Seeking Tips
November 14, 2013 7:52 AM

YPSILANTI (WWJ/AP) - New tips are being sought in the case of a 23-year-old Eastern Michigan University student whose December bathtub drowning was ruled a homicide. Crime Stoppers on Thursday will renew the call for information about the death of Julia Niswender. More than $15,000 is being offered for information that leads to an arrest.

Niswender was a Monroe native and an undergraduate at the Ypsilanti school. Her body was found in her bedroom Dec. 11 at the Peninsular Place Apartments on Huron River Drive, located across the street from the campus police station.

A medical examiner ruled the official cause of death as asphyxiation associated with drowning.

[...]
Anyone who might have information is asked to contact Ypsilanti police at 734-482-9878. Tips can also be provided anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP, online at www.1800speakup.org, or by texting “CSM” and your tip to CRIMES (274637).
Julia Niswender's stepfather named person of interest in her death, police say
By Darcie Moran | dmoran@mlive.com March 04, 2015 at 12:21 PM, updated March 04, 2015 at 1:20 PM

[...]
The Ypsilanti Police Department has named James Turnquist as a person of interest in the death of his stepdaughter and Eastern Michigan University student Julia Niswender.

Turnquist is in custody in the Monroe County jail on a child *advertiser censored* charge.
Julia Niswender's stepdad was home when police believe she was killed, lawyer says
By Darcie Moran | dmoran@mlive.com March 05, 2015 at 6:11 PM, updated March 06, 2015 at 10:05 AM

[...]
Although the Ypsilanti Police Department has named Turnquist a person of interest in Niswender's death, Ypsilanti police Lt. Deric Gress said it would be incorrect to call him a suspect at this time. "He has been on our radar," Gress said. "But I don't think we've gotten to that point."
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Julia Niswender Case Map

SW 1- signed 20 November 2014
SW 2 - signed 06 January 2014

Thread #1 Thread #2 Thread #3 Thread #4 Thread #5
 
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Some interesting reported findings. I think, however, that as in all such studies, one has to take into consideration other factors.

For instance, the study indicates that serial killers are of higher than normal intelligence. This is probably because the stupid ones tend to get caught early on. Those with a higher level of intelligence might "think through" their crimes, plan ahead, and learn from "mistakes" they make.

The statement that "32.6% of killers were diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder" might be misinterpreted to mean that the rest did not have psychiatric disorders. "Diagnosed" is the operative word here. Psychiatrists are very slow and reluctant to make any kind of diagnosis of mental disorders, and how many of these serial killers ever visit a Psychiatrist? The number of serial killers who have mental disorders probably approaches 100 percent in actuality.

The statistics about victims are interesting as well. I fail to see the difference between a stranger and a targeted stranger. But taken together, they would constitute 43.2 percent of serial killer victims, which would be the highest category. This is in contrast to other crimes, such as child abuse in which only 10 percent are thought to be committed by strangers.
Agree on all your good points.
These studies are directional, and help with profiling.

One thing I have observed in my past nine years on this forum, is that when there is a lull in a case, or prolonged time to justice, the bizarre theories abound. I’m glad that hasn’t been the case here, for the most part.

Most criminals are predictable, but hard for non-criminal minds to crack the code on the pathology.
Fortunately in this case, we got a glimpse in to some of the FBI analysis via the mistrial.

Amateur opinion and speculation
 
For those not familiar with the FBI's CODIS, here is a great link to learn more:
Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) — FBI

And here are FAQ's related to entry of DNA in to CODIS
CODIS and NDIS Fact Sheet | Federal Bureau of Investigation

And from the same link above - a *very* interesting update that I pray will reap new results:

"...Effective May 1, 2016, the NDIS Operational Procedures authorized the uploading to and searching at NDIS, of a forensic DNA profile having a minimum of 8 of the original CODIS Core Loci combined with a match rarity of at least one in ten million. Using this new threshold, profiles never searched before at the National level are now eligible. This shift in scoring will result in many new matches, and the matches will be of high quality. Some profiles that do not meet the new rarity requirement will be removed from NDIS, however the high quality matches will allow labs to process potential matches quicker and submit those leads to law enforcement agencies.
New searching enhancements will be implemented with the deployment of CODIS 8.0 in late 2018 and early 2019...."
 
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I reached out to a group of sleuthers (some on this thread), to see if anyone had any ideas on how to verify CODIS entry at the local, state, *and* national level.

The general consensus seems to validate Trojan's concern. Not that Ypsi didn't submit the DNA, but that with the massive overload of samples and the grossly under resourced lab staff....well who knows. None of us had any solid advise on how to verify the samples had been entered, except to call the branch office in Detroit.

Anyone on the thread have any additional ideas?

Amateur opinion and speculation
 
I just came across this interesting BBC article on polygraphs. I thought others following the thread would find it interesting too. As Trojan has posted many times," this case will be solved by forensic science." This article seems to underscore that position.

"...In 2003, Gary Ridgway admitted he was the Green River Killer, having murdered 49 women in the Seattle area. Ridgway had passed a lie detector test in 1987, while another man - who turned out to be innocent - failed.

It has been argued that psychopaths like Ridgway or serial killer Ted Bundy are able to trick the polygraph because they have lower anxiety levels than normal people but the research into this has had mixed results...."

The curious story of how the lie detector came to be

Amateur opinion and speculation
 
Hi All, Just a short update...... No new news from Ypsilanti or anyone else for that matter. A while back, I did some inquiries of the Michigan State Police Crime Lab. When I called them and actually talked to someone, they said that any DNA from any crime scene of a felony or above is automatically entered into CODIS. If there are any "hits", they would be notified immediately by the FBI. As a safety measure, they (crime lab) will periodically run a check of CODIS for possible matches. So far, as far as I know, there has not been any matches. That's the latest info that I have. All we can do is to keep "digging" and praying for Justice for Julia!
 
Interesting article I am pulling from another thread:
A clean getaway

Amateur opinion and speculation
Wasn't Julia's Step Dad, Jim Turnquist, a person of Interest? I don't think he has given a formal statement yet, matter a fact, I don't think Julia's Mom Kim Niswender has either. Also, didn't Jim Turnquest, run a cleaning business? He would have had access to rubber gloves and cleaning supplies.
 
Hi All, Just a short update...... No new news from Ypsilanti or anyone else for that matter. A while back, I did some inquiries of the Michigan State Police Crime Lab. When I called them and actually talked to someone, they said that any DNA from any crime scene of a felony or above is automatically entered into CODIS. If there are any "hits", they would be notified immediately by the FBI. As a safety measure, they (crime lab) will periodically run a check of CODIS for possible matches. So far, as far as I know, there has not been any matches. That's the latest info that I have. All we can do is to keep "digging" and praying for Justice for Julia!

Hoping that YPSI did submit all DNA into CODIS. Thanks for the update. Didn't you say a while back that YPSI Law Enforcement, stopped corresponding with you, and that they will only talk to Julia's Mom Kim? Do you know if Kim has been keeping in touch with YPSI law enforcement? I sure hope so, since she is the only one that YPSI wants to speak with.
 
Well, some interesting stats, #6 really hit home with many of those that have murdered, and what has been come known about Julia's Step Dad, Jim Turnquest, he definitely had a history of abuse, sexual, psychical and mental.
To the best of my knowledge, nothing further has come of the Turnquist POI status. There hasn’t been any updates in the media in ages. Does anyone know what became of this guy?

It seems as if the media has forgotten Julia, which is very very sad. I can’t even fathom the pain her sisters have endured because of this.

Amateur opinion and speculation
 
Hoping that YPSI did submit all DNA into CODIS. Thanks for the update. Didn't you say a while back that YPSI Law Enforcement, stopped corresponding with you, and that they will only talk to Julia's Mom Kim? Do you know if Kim has been keeping in touch with YPSI law enforcement? I sure hope so, since she is the only one that YPSI wants to speak with.
As Julia’s mother, she probably camps out at the Ypsilanti PD. We all know it takes a team to solve these cases. The tighter the family aligns with LE, the more it helps find these evil Perps.

Amateur opinion and speculation
 
As Julia’s mother, she probably camps out at the Ypsilanti PD. We all know it takes a team to solve these cases. The tighter the family aligns with LE, the more it helps find these evil Perps.

Amateur opinion and speculation
As far as I know, she (Julia's mother) does not contact the Ypsilanti Police very often. I would be calling them all the time if for nothing else than to let them know that they can't push her case aside!
 
As far as I know, she (Julia's mother) does not contact the Ypsilanti Police very often. I would be calling them all the time if for nothing else than to let them know that they can't push her case aside!
Perhaps she has just been too paralyzed with grief, fear, denial, or all of the above. I hope she will start engaging with them frequently; it will make a huge difference towards accelerating justice.

Amateur opinion and speculation
 
Hi All! Well, no real updates. I did recently talk to Kim and I don't believe she calls Ypsilanti very often. I told her I would be calling them at least once a week, but then again, I can't make her do it. I have not been able to verify that Ypsi did have the DNA entered into CODIS but since the Michigan State Police crime lab was involved, I'd assume it has been entered. Bye for now. Justice for Julia!!! She is in my prayers constantly.
 

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