OkieGranny
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MI MI - Laura Wilson, 16, Detroit, 10 Nov 1972
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Nina Michigan
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Brotherfudz
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Just don’t understand why they would destroy the evidence so early...makes no sense
Nina Michigan
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DNA wasn't a "thing" until several years later, they didn't know at the time that what they destroyed would later become valuable.
then again, no one was wearing gloves at a crime scene in the 1970's, so there may not have been anything uncontaminated to test.
Still frustrating though.
Laura Wilson went for a walk to the Bi-Rite Market in Detroit, Wayne County, MI, in the evening of November 10, 1972. Her body was found by children on November 10, 1972.
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It was Nov. 10, 1972. Laura Wilson, a shy teenager from the Herman Gardens housing project on Detroit’s west side, walked to a nearby convenience store to buy a carton of Oleo and two bottles of Pepsi for her mother.
She had pleaded to go alone.
Nine days later, her body was found in some bushes just blocks away from home. She’d been raped and beaten. Her head was smashed in with a brick.
Nearly four decades later, her family still has no answers.
Short of a confession, it’s likely they’ll never know who killed the 16-year-old because all of the evidence was destroyed or lost.
Her bloodstained clothing was ordered destroyed in 1977; the Pepsi bottle followed in 1978. A brick and a chunk of concrete marked with blood and hair strands were destroyed in 1984. The fingernail scrapings and rape evidence — swabs taken during the autopsy — are nowhere to be found.
Her story illustrates what legal experts say is a pervasive problem nationwide — the mishandling of criminal evidence largely because of a lack of uniform standards for retaining evidence.
Law enforcement doesn’t track how often evidence gets lost or destroyed, but experts concede it’s not uncommon.
“It happens,” said Joe Latta, executive director of the International Association for Property and Evidence, who helps oversee 18,000 police departments nationwide. “I track all the headlines. Missing guns, money and narcotics. If it’s your son or daughter, it’s a huge deal.”
A confession is family’s only hope in solving a 1972 murder after evidence was destroyed
Merry Wilson was just 11 years old when her sister was murdered in Detroit in 1972 — one of more than 600 homicide victims in the city that year.
It was 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 10, 1972, when 16-year-old Laura Wilson left her home in the projects to walk to a nearby convenience store. She was wearing her flared, blue-and-brown-striped Wrangler jeans, a tan coat with fur trim, purple turtleneck and white sneakers with her name written in the soles.
She had 63 cents in food stamps with her.
She never returned.
Her case is among more than 19,000 unsolved homicides in the city, dating to 1917. In the past decade, the city’s homicide clearance rate has averaged from 35% to 45%, but climbed to 54% in 2010.
Short of a confession, the Wilsons will likely never find Laura’s killer because the evidence was ordered destroyed and some remains missing.
Experts say that’s a common problem, especially among big city departments handling large volumes of evidence. They say no national standards exist, leaving it up to police departments to decide how to store key items that could make the difference in solving a case.
A needle in a haystack
Legal experts say no laws exist that mandate evidence in unsolved murders be preserved indefinitely. A federal law requires biological evidence be preserved in a murder case where there’s been a conviction, should the defendant wish to pursue an appeal. And 33 states, including Michigan, have similar laws.
But when it comes to preserving evidence in unsolved cases, that’s up to police departments.
“Standards are hit and miss from department to department,” said University of Michigan law professor Dave Moran, who runs an innocence clinic. “We’re often looking for old evidence, and it’s very hard to find.”
Detroit police officials would not talk about their evidence retention policies. Officials directed the Free Press to file a Freedom of Information Act request, which is pending.
Over the last decade, crime lab scandals involving lost, destroyed or tainted evidence have surfaced in cities nationwide, including Houston, Denver, Boston, Baltimore, New Orleans and New York.
The scandals can prove costly.
In New York City, for example, a Bronx man last year won an $18.5-million jury award after a rape kit in his case finally surfaced in a warehouse — 10 years after he asked for it. The man had served two decades in prison, but DNA evidence analyzed from the rape kit exonerated him.
Joe Latta, executive director of the International Association for Property and Evidence, who has helped train Detroit police on evidence-handling methods, said it’s not unusual for large police departments to be cluttered and unorganized, making finding items extremely difficult.
“Think of Costco. They’re that size,” he said of evidence rooms. “And if you’re looking for something that’s the size of an iPhone or the tag came off or it’s underneath something … the stuff could be there.”
Evidence but no solid leads
Nine days after she disappeared, Laura’s partially nude body was found in some bushes at 8426 Mettetal St. on the city’s far west side. She had been raped, and her head was smashed with a brick, almost beyond recognition. Her body was found by a group of boys playing football.
“It didn’t look real,” recalled Lowell Murdoch, who was 15 when he, his brother and a friend found Laura’s body. “It was shocking. At first we were scared. Luckily, we knew the guy who lived next door, and he got help.”
Police collected evidence: a brick and a chunk of concrete that had blood stains and hair strands on it; a prayer book that was found near Laura’s body, also stained with blood, and her clothing. They also recovered the items she got at the store — margarine, a bottle of pop and the receipt.
They had numerous tips, including several reports that Laura got into a red car. And police had suspects.
According to a 183-page police file on Laura’s case, which the Free Press obtained from the family, one man was arrested following a traffic stop, but was released when his alibi was confirmed.
Laura’s boyfriend also came under suspicion, but police never questioned him. According to police records, the boyfriend, who drove a maroon car, was arrested on the morning that Laura went missing for driving without a license. He was jailed overnight.
“This would kind of negate him as the assailant,” police wrote in their report. “However, our interest was in the maroon car (could have let a friend use it while he was incarcerated).”
Police ultimately went to the boyfriend’s apartment. They found it had been vacated. They interviewed his family members and ruled him out.
The case went cold.
For years, Merry Wilson and Linda Patterson, the eldest of the Wilson sisters, called police to check on their sister’s case. Each time, they got the same response: no new leads.
Since Laura’s death, at least two of the officers who investigated the case have died. So have her parents.
One of the detectives told the Free Press he couldn’t recall the case, but that’s not so for retired Police Officer Ronald Atkinson, who nearly 40 years later still remembers the details. “It startled me,” Atkinson, now 68, recalled. “I’m kind of a softie, and it may have shook me up a little bit discovering that it was a young person.”
Atkinskon, who was among the first on the scene, said he never knew that the evidence was destroyed.
“I’m sorry the chain of evidence is broken, and my condolences probably have little meaning for the family,” he said, unable to offer an explanation. “It’s a shame that this happened.”
He added: “I don’t think this would happen nowadays.”
Still searching for answers
Merry Wilson has tried for years to put her sister’s death behind her.
But every time she learns of a cold case getting solved or hears about crime lab scandals and evidence getting lost, she gets fired up again and asks questions.
“I get consumed in it,” she said of her sister’s death. “It doesn’t let me go.”
In 2006, she started asking about the evidence after waking up from a dream in the middle of the night. She had seen Laura, just staring at her and saying nothing.
“It just froze me,” she said. “I thought, ‘I gotta do something.’ ”
Wilson learned in 2006 that much of the evidence was destroyed in the late 1970s. On Oct. 22, 2008, Wilson received a letter from Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano’s office stating: “After a complete search of all files, it has been determined that no slides or tissue samples exist. I offer my most sincere condolences for your loss.”
Detroit police would not discuss Wilson’s case and would say only that they are reviewing the matter.
Patterson, who had to identify her sister’s body when she was 22, is baffled and outraged.
“I always assumed that if it’s an open murder case, you cannot destroy the evidence,” said Patterson, who now lives in Tennessee.
The Wilson family is pleading for a more thorough investigation. They don’t blame the Police Department for past mistakes, but they say they deserve a more thorough review of the case — and an apology.
“I want them to explain why this stuff was destroyed. Somebody has to answer for that,” said Merry Wilson, who still lives in the city.
“Somewhere along the line this shouldn’t have to happen to anyone else.”
Patterson said she won’t stop looking for her sister’s killer.
“I loved her so much that I want people to know that she was loved and cared about,” Patterson said. “I’ll never give up because there is always somebody out there who knows something.”...
LINK:
The murder that might never be solved: – IAPE Evidence Blog
Nina Michigan
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Struck in the head then raped on the way back from the store? sounds like Valerie Bishop, Detroit, Feb, 1977
Alphafuzz
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I immediately thought that myself. From what I read the evidence collected in the Bishop case still exists.
Alphafuzz
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The Laura Wilson and Valerie Bishop crime scenes are only about 2.3 miles apart as the crow flies. Each girl lived very close to where they were found. I mapped the old Herman Gardens Housing Project where Laura lived as it was demolished many years ago. I had a childhood friend who had lived there before moving to Taylor and I'd forgotten how large it was. When they report that Laura walked several blocks to the store the crime scene was only two blocks outside of Herman Gardens. Not sure where the store was but we know she was on her way back because she had the items with her. The crimes occurred 4+ years apart but are so similar and in such close proximity. It makes me think they are connected and I wonder if there are any other similar crimes that map out nearby.
Nagging questions:
Why did she plead to go alone? Was she meeting the boyfriend? Was she meeting someone else? Or was it simply the case of a teen wanting to have a little freedom?
Where is the rape kit?
Nagging questions:
Why did she plead to go alone? Was she meeting the boyfriend? Was she meeting someone else? Or was it simply the case of a teen wanting to have a little freedom?
Where is the rape kit?
RookieInvestigator
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Did Detroit ever process the thousands of rapes kits that were just sitting?? If they are still processing kits, there's a small possibility her rape kit is still there...
The FBI has ViCAP but LE is not required to enter info...If all jurisdictions were required to enter info, the FBI could link more serial killers to crimes they commit in multiple states...
I see that serial killer,
Gary Addison Taylor, was in and out of psychiatric hospitals around the time she was killed. He killed women in FL, MI, TX, & WA....I wonder if LE suspected him of this murder...He normally used hammers to attack and rape women and graduated to guns...
Todd Warzecha was another MI serial killer...They believe he may have been responsible for the Oakland Child Murders (MI)...He committed suicide in Texas in 2005 when he realized MI LE wanted his DNA...
Nina Michigan
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Todd Warzecha liked boys. I would not consider him for Valerie or Laura
RookieInvestigator
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I read a few articles and his victim preference wasn't mentioned....They mainly focused on his suicide...When his possible victims were mentioned, it listed 2 girls...I read about the Oakland (Cty) Children Killings in MI on WS...I believe it said the female victims weren't sexually assaulted, but I believe the boys' were molested...His 2 possible female victims were Jill Robinson and Kristine Mihelich...
Nina Michigan
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Warzecha is known to have murdered two boys. Oscar.... and Norbert Peck, he killed them in the early 1970's. He also picked up a male hitchhiker who he likely intended to kill. They were in a car accident before they could be alone. Warzecha was living with a man at the time of his death. He liked boys.
Laura Wilson
Laura Wilson went for a walk to the Bi-Rite Market in Detroit, Wayne County, MI, in the evening of November 10, 1972. She arrived at the market, but but never arrived home. Her body was found by children on November 10, 1972.
LINK:
Laura Wilson
Laura Wilson went for a walk to the Bi-Rite Market in Detroit, Wayne County, MI, in the evening of November 10, 1972. She arrived at the market, but but never arrived home. Her body was found by children on November 10, 1972.
LINK:
Laura Wilson
Merry Wilson, 50, of Detroit holds a photo of her sister Laura Wilson, who was raped and murdered in 1972. Laura was 16 years old. The case has never been solved, and Wilson learned in 2006 that much of the evidence in the case was ordered destroyed by police in the late 1970s. August photos by KIMBERLY P. MITCHELL
LINK:
https://home.iape.org/features/head...ry/the-murder-that-might-never-be-solved.html
Alphafuzz
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"Some (evidence) remains missing."
I hope that this rape kit turns up someday and gets tested. If they test the DNA from the Valerie Bishop case perhaps the results can provide a starting point for detectives in this one. I wonder who police interviewed if anyone following this crime. I wonder did they even realize the close proximity and similar details of these two crimes at the time after Valerie was murdered? Are there other possibly connected crimes? I sure would like to see the police reports.
I hope that this rape kit turns up someday and gets tested. If they test the DNA from the Valerie Bishop case perhaps the results can provide a starting point for detectives in this one. I wonder who police interviewed if anyone following this crime. I wonder did they even realize the close proximity and similar details of these two crimes at the time after Valerie was murdered? Are there other possibly connected crimes? I sure would like to see the police reports.
Brotherfudz
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Was Valerie taken near where Laura was murdered? Also, are they testing the DNA?
Alphafuzz
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There seems to be no movement on testing the rape kit from Valerie Bishop. No remaining evidence from the Laura Wilson crime is said to exist but I am still hoping the rape kit will be located. I believe these two crimes are related even though they are five years apart. I would gladly help pay/raise money for testing to get answers for Valerie's family.
I'd mapped out the two scenes and where the two victims lived but it has been a while ago. From what I recall the route to the local store they both went to was probably the same and both crime scenes were within blocks of each other each found next to an abandoned house in a snowbank with same M.O. with the exception that in Valerie's case it was an attempted rape.
Edit: there was one major difference between the two crimes that I failed mention. Valerie had been stabbed multiple times in addition to blunt force trauma.
LINK:
Laura Wilson
Laura Wilson