http://www.marinij.com/ci_7041839?source=most_viewed
Victim in 1979 Tiburon murder finally identified
Joe Wolfcale
Article Launched: 09/29/2007 10:58:30 PM PDT
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Tammy Vincent was found murdered Sept. 26, 1979, on a Tiburon beach near Blackie's Pasture. Marin sheriff's investigators made a positive identification through a DNA sample and are closing in on the suspects they believe were responsible for Vincent's murder. (Provided by Vincent family)
if(requestedWidth > 0){ document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.width = requestedWidth + "px"; document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.margin = "0px 0px 10px 10px"; } The charred remains of a girl found shot and stabbed to death near Blackie's Pasture in Tiburon 28 years ago have been identified as those of a Washington teenager slain weeks before she was due to testify in an organized crime case.
The victim's identity remained a mystery for years until a DNA database analysis in February identified her as Tammy Vincent, 17, a runaway who worked in a sex trade establishment owned by a man known as a local "godfather."
Marin County sheriff's Detective Steve Nash said the positive identification was made in February, after DNA extracted from a 3-centimeter strand of pubic hair matched DNA samples from Vincent's mother and sister at a private DNA lab at the University of Texas in 2005.
Marin investigators are pursuing suspects they believe stabbed Vincent more than 40 times
in the chest with an ice pick, shot her in the head and then burned her body beyond recognition with acid on a Tiburon beach. Vincent's upper torso and her face were disfigured by burns.
"When you think that this case is nearly 30 years old, and then to be able to identify the person, that's just unbelievable," Marin County Sheriff Robert Doyle said. "Not only does it further an ongoing criminal investigation, it gives a sense of closure to the family of this young lady. It's not a happy ending, but at least they know. I'm confident we'll ultimately be able to make some arrests and bring those responsible to justice."
After the DNA match was made, Marin authorities formed a team to investigate the unsolved murder. They have canvassed the country, interviewing possible witnesses and others they believe may have been involved. No arrests have been made.
Some of the burned evidence from the crime scene was useless to authorities. However, a bullet was recovered. Authorities declined to identify the type or caliber of the gun used. Tammy Vincent had a gunshot wound to her head.
The Vincent match was made through CODIS, the FBI's Combined DNA Index System used in missing persons and other investigations by nearly 200 law enforcement agencies across the nation.
Most of the physical and biological evidence in the case had deteriorated after sitting in evidence lockers in Tiburon and at the sheriff's office for more than 25 years. But the root and shaft of a hair found during the autopsy remained viable, and provided the key DNA material.
Before being uploaded to CODIS, DNA profiles must be developed through mitochondrial and nuclear DNA. Mitochondrial DNA is inherited from the mother and is generally found in hair, bones and teeth. Nuclear DNA comes from both parents and is found in a wider array of sources.
"DNA testing of skeletal remains is among the most difficult things to do in forensic science, just by the mere nature of the samples," said John Tonkyn, director of the Missing Persons Program at the state's Department of Justice DNA lab in Richmond.
"The real key to unlocking this case was all the additional evidence gathered and retained under proper conditions. The identification was absolutely critical to furthering the investigation. It was stalled until the body was identified."
Senior criminalist Amy Hoover, who works at the Richmond DNA lab, compiled two binders of data during her work with Nash and the sheriff's office on the Vincent case.
"For this one case, we'll have 20 more that we never are able to make an identification," Hoover said. "We were lucky that area wasn't burned and we had good pubic hair."
The body of Vincent was discovered by a jogger the morning of Sept. 26, 1979, at Richardson Bay Park at the end of Greenwood Beach Road. A witness reported seeing a bonfire on the beach just after 3 a.m.
Several hours later, Tiburon detectives who arrived at the scene found Vincent's crumpled body. An ice pick and acetone were found nearby. A bullet was recovered.
Without any leads, authorities buried her body in an unmarked grave at Valley Memorial Park in Novato on Dec. 12, 1979. Her remains were exhumed twice, the first time in June 2002 so authorities could extract DNA samples from her skeletal remains. But authorities were only able to develop a partial profile, and the DNA was of no use.
On Aug. 7, her body was exhumed again so her remains could be cremated and returned to Washington where a small, private funeral was held three days later for family and friends.
"This has been an extremely emotional time for me," said Nash, who was assigned the case in 2001. "Finally, after all these years, we've been able to bring this girl home to her family."
The victim's younger sister, Sandy Vincent, 44, seeks justice.
"For me, it's closure on one chapter, but another one remains open," Vincent said. "The story is still going on. I can't believe she was murdered and that someone is getting away with it.
"I would really like to see them pay for what they've done."
Authorities declined to identify the city in which the Vincent family lives, fearing possible retaliation against them.
Marin authorities are working with King County, Wash., law enforcement officials to track down suspects in the case. Officials believe Tammy Vincent was working at a Seattle-area adult entertainment establishment when she was picked up during a raid along with several others about a month before she was murdered.
It is believed that Vincent was transferred to California to work at the Palace Theater on Turk Street in San Francisco before she could testify in a federal case in King County.
Vincent was last seen with a Caucasian male at a Woolworth's store at Powell and Market streets in San Francisco the night before she was murdered, authorities say. Investigators said the ice pick and the acetone found at the murder scene were purchased at Woolworth's, which closed several years ago. Investigators were able to trace the sales clerk who handled the original transaction.
When Vincent's body was discovered, she was wearing tan pants, a black short-sleeved shirt with a yellow halter top underneath and expensive light-brown high heels from Italy. "Even in death, she was clean and neat and looking like a young innocent victim," Nash said. "She wasn't living like some homeless person."
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children developed a composite photograph based on her partially burned face. Mill Valley forensic artist Gloria Nusse of Mill Valley helped with the reconstruction of the girl's head and hair.
Authorities believe Vincent worked for Joe Wiley Brown, a man Seattle officials described as a "local godfather," who ran Seattle-area adult entertainment businesses. He was later convicted on federal racketeering charges along with an ex-cop, for prostitution, arson, loan-sharking and extortion, according to Washington state court records.
In February 2003, DNA from Vincent's family was collected and submitted by Washington officials for analysis in connection with the Green River serial killer case. Washington officials sought to identify young women murdered in the Green River area south of Seattle. On Nov. 5, 2003, Gary Ridgway pleaded guilty to 48 counts of murder, including 42 of the 49 Green River victims.
Seattle authorities compared Tammy Vincent's partial DNA profile with the remains of four unidentified Green River bodies, but no match was found. Then in February of this year, Tammy Vincent's DNA profile was uploaded by the Richmond lab into the FBI's national missing persons database and a tentative match was made.
By the end of the month, Marin authorities confirmed that the unidentified body found in Tiburon was Tammy Vincent.
The use of DNA in criminal cases came into use by police agencies in the late 1980s and early 1990s. About a year after being assigned to the case, Marin authorities began to develop a DNA profile using bones and other evidence. However, much of the evidence was useless because the skeletal remains had deteriorated. But a hair sample preserved following an autopsy held the DNA that made the match.
Hoover, who works at the state's DNA lab in Richmond, called Nash to inform him of the database hit. Within hours, Nash was on an airplane headed to Washington state to deliver the news to her family.
"It's absolutely amazing," Tiburon police Capt. Dave Hutton said. "When you come across a case, over that amount of time, to finally bring this young lady to a proper resting place where her family knows and there's a sense of closure, that to me is just mind-boggling."
Last month, cemetery workers exhumed the body from grave 1932-4 in the Garden of Devotion at Valley Memorial Park in Novato.
On an overcast day, Nash gathered Vincent's remains from the grave. The next day, her remains were cremated. Two days later, Nash and detective Jim Hickey arrived in Washington with an urn containing Vincent's ashes. It was the focal point of a family memorial service at Ephrata Cemetery in Ephrata, Wash.
Sandy Vincent was almost too overwhelmed to speak. More than 27 years after Tammy was killed, Sandy delivered an emotional goodbye to her sister at the gathering.
"We could have done a lot of things together as sisters do," she said last month. "She could have had a family and I know she had a career she wanted to pursue."
Sandy Vincent said her sister wanted to become a nurse.
"I know she wanted to come home," Vincent said. "She just didn't get the chance. How could anyone who possibly could have done this live without having any sort of guilt? "I would very much like to have justice."