CA CA - Michelle Wyatt, 20, Santee, 9 Oct 1980

Sheriff's Seek Help Solving Santee Cold Case Murder

"Michelle Wyatt was dead on the living room floor in the 1000 block of Kerrigan Court when her roommate found her Oct. 9, 1980, according to officials."


http://patch.com/california/santee/sheriffs-seek-help-solving-santee-cold-case-murder#.VDxpCWNnDdo

This is near San Diego, CA

http://www.sdsheriff.net/coldcase/664301/index.html

http://www.sdsheriff.net/coldcase/664301/flyer.pdf

San Diego Reader: Michelle Wyatt's Cold Case.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sa.../mar/25/cover-homicide-unsolved/?amp&page=all

I hope the DNA evidence will solve this case. All these years of heartache for her family

I grew up in the area and even attended the same high school (over a decade later), but I have never heard of this case before. It seems like DNA should be able to solve this!!

Essbee said:

I grew up in the area and even attended the same high school (over a decade later), but I have never heard of this case before. It seems like DNA should be able to solve this!!

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It seems this case has been kept so quiet for so long. After watching the CourtTV episode I came here to find a thread for Michelle, and was surprised to see so few posts. I was also hoping it had been covered in a podcast but haven't found anything.

SHERIFF’S DEPT. IDENTIFIES SUSPECT IN COLD-CASE MURDER OF SANTEE WOMAN IN 1980 USING GENETIC GENEOLOGY
UPDATE: Looks like they were able to identify who killed her with genetic genealogy. Her murderer, John "Pat" Hogan, died in 2004, at age 42. He lived in Santee just over a mile from her condominium at the time of her murder.

I was so happy to see this! I saw interviews with her 81 year old parents on a local news site. Very sad!

Apparently Hogan also may have had friends who lived in her condo complex at the time of the murder. He was only 18 when he killed her. I wonder whether he is responsible for any other murders. And I wonder whether his family ever suspected anything.

Most Recent News Releases | San Diego County Sheriff
According to the Sheriff's dept, the investigations is ongoing. There were specifics never released about this case that make it likely that this was not the first or last time this guy killed someone.

They chose this cold case to work on after Michelle's mother had contacted the the media (yet again) in February 2020 (Michelle's Birthday was Feb 9). It's sad that the law enforcement agencies have limited resources and cannot do a DNA check on all the cold cases. Had her mother not continued to bring her case to the forefront, the killer might never have been discovered.

Ghostwheel said:

There were specifics never released about this case that make it likely that this was not the first or last time this guy killed someone.

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What do you mean by this?? And I agree -- I am glad that the parents continued to push for answers!

Michelle Wyatt murder solved with genetic genealogy

There was also an episode on Paula Zahn called "Eyes in the Darkness" if you have access to DiscoveryPlus or some other place Paula Zahn episodes reside.

Also, the sheriff's department is who said "There were specifics never released about this case that make it likely that this was not the first or last time this guy killed someone". When I watched the Paula Zahn episode, I understood what they meant. She was strangled with a garrote (makeshift using phone cord and a piece of wood), the contents of her purse dumped in the toilet, other odd things about the scene. Where did that piece of wood come from if he did not bring it himself, with the intention of using is as a garrote? It appeared their thoughts were either this was his first time and he was so affected he never did it again (unlikely but possible), or he killed someone(s) else somewhere else and she was one of several.

In my mind there is always the possibility he had the wood for some other reason (I carry all kinds of bizarre things from time to time) she fought harder than he expected and he used it because he found he needed to kill her and it was what he had. But unless he told someone somewhere what he had done and why, we'll likely never know.