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On June 21st, 1978,
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22-year-old Carla Brown was found
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brutally murdered in the basement of her
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home.
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>> It looked as if the killer had committed
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the perfect crime,
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and police could find very little
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evidence.
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But years later, investigators noticed
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something on a crime scene photograph
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that had previously been overlooked.
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The killer had left behind a clue.
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[Music]
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22-year-old Carla Brown and her fianceé,
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a man we'll call Mark Hart, had recently
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purchased a home together in Wood River,
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Illinois.
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Although the couple had a rocky past,
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friends and family saw this as the
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beginning of a new phase in their
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relationship.
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Carla Brown was a beautiful little girl,
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grew up into a beautiful young woman,
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was very popular in in her hometown in
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the Wood River area, had taken some
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college classes, had been a high school
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cheerleader, was one of those girls that
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everybody knew. Girls liked her, guys
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liked her. Uh she was just one of those
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people that was special and everybody
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recognized that. On June 21st, Carla
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Brown took the day off from work to
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unpack.
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Yes, the house is great.
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>> And spoke to one of her friends on the
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telephone.
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>> Maybe we can have you over for dinner.
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>> They had talked for a few minutes. In
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fact, we even talked about getting
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together later on that afternoon.
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>> Wait a second. I just heard something at
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the door.
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>> And Carla interrupted the conversation
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and said, "Listen, I'll have to call you
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back. I'll see you later. There's
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somebody at the door." And that was the
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last uh that her friend ever talked to
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her.
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Around 5:30 that afternoon, Carla's
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fiance and his friend stopped by the
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house after work when they walked into
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the basement, they saw a horrible sight.
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Carla
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>> Carla was lying face down in a bucket of
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water.
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>> She had her hands tied behind her. There
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was evidence of struggle, a death
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struggle in the basement uh and a very
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strong suggestion of a sexual rape. But
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investigators were confused about some
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of the things they saw. There were two
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men's socks tied around Carla's neck.
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They were tied neatly, inconsistent with
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what you would expect to see in a life
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and death struggle. The white electrical
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cord used to tie the victim's hands was
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not tight enough to effectively restrain
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an individual during an assault. There
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was too much length of cord behind her
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to where her hands could come up in
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front of her. It would seem like to me
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that she would have access to the
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attacker given that much freedom with
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the length of rope that was tied between
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the two wrists.
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>> She was found wearing a sweater her
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fiance said she would never wear in the
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summer. The top button was fastened.
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Another inconsistency with a life and
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death struggle. The socks around Carla's
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neck were from inside the home. The make
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to one was found in her fiance's
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dresser. The other was under the sofa in
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the adjacent room. Under the sofa was a
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puddle of water tinted with blood. The
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sofa cushions were also wet and there
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were blood drops on the floor near the
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sofa. In the rafters was a coffee corff
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from the kitchen. To homicide
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investigators, it looked as if the
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coffee corff had been used to rinse
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blood from the sofa cushions. The attack
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occurred near the sofa and the body was
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later moved into an adjacent room and
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placed into the barrel of water. The
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crime scene staging told investigators
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that the perpetrator spent a great deal
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of time inside the house after the
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murder. But who knew that Carla Brown
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was home and alone on the day of the
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murder? And who would have felt free to
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spend so much time in the home cleaning
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up and staging the scene?
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Police began their investigation with a
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close look at Carla Brown's fiance.
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The autopsy report on Carla Brown
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indicated death by strangulation.
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Although she was found nude from the
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waist down, there were no signs of
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sexual assault. Investigators were
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convinced that the killer spent a great
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deal of time in the house after the
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murder staging the crime scene.
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I didn't know Mark very well, although
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they had dated for a number of years,
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uh, off and on, and there were times in
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their relationship that it wasn't great,
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but, uh, she seemed to always be crazy
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about him. Anyway,
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>> police also questioned two neighbors who
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had been sitting in the yard next door
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on the day Carla and her fiance were
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moving in.
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Hey, Carla.
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Carla Brown.
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I'm John Pranty. We went to school
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together. Remember me?
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>> Hi. How are you?
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[Music]
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>> Both men had alibis as to where they
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were on the day of the murder, and they
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both willingly took lie detector tests
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and passed.
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With no other leads, police asked the
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FBI for a psychological profile of the
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killer and turned to FBI behavioral
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analyst John Douglas.
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>> In my research, we began to break down
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crimes by disorganized and organized.
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Disorganized means extremely uh sloppy
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carelessness on the part of the
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offender. Uh the crime could be very
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very uh impulsive. Organized means that
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there's a high degree and high level of
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criminal sophistication on the part of
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the subject.
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>> To Douglas, this crime scene was
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disorganized, an indication that the
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killer was inexperienced and probably
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had never killed before. He came to the
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home with no intention of committing
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murder, but did so after some sort of
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confrontation or rejection.
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Since he spent so much time inside the
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home, Douglas believed that he was
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familiar with the victim and her routine
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and might be living in the neighborhood
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or very close by.
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Douglas said the killer was an unmarried
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white male in his mid to late 20s, high
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school educated with a sloppy
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appearance. The use of electrical cord
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to tide the victim's hands indicated the
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killer had taken shop classes or had
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vocational training.
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Douglas also told investigators that
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they may have already interviewed the
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murderer and that he was capable of
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passing a polygraph test.
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>> And then it got kind of spooky. I mean,
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I was sitting there and I wasn't sure I
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was believing what he was saying after a
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certain point. He started talking about
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how this individual would react
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and what kind of vehicle he'd be driving
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and
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he started talking about a Volkswagen.
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There was a high probability this guy'
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be a Volt driving a Volkswagen
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and that it would be red or orange in
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color.
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This led investigators to focus once
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again on the two men sitting next door
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on the day Carla Brown and her fiance
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were moving in school together.
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>> But investigators needed more than just
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a psychological profile. They needed
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hard evidence.
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Crime scene technician Alva Bush
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remained deeply troubled by the Carla
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Brown murder. For one thing, he and his
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colleagues could not determine what
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caused the wounds on Carla Brown's face
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and chin. The first real break in the
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case occurred when Bush attended a
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seminar on image enhancement at the
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University of New Mexico. Dr. Homer
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Campbell taught that seminar. He worked
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for the state of New Mexico as a medical
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investigator.
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Dr. Campbell was demonstrating a
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photographic technique that uses
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cameras, monitors, and computers to show
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details of crime scene photographs that
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cannot otherwise be seen.
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>> This was a technique that had been used
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for several years both by engineers in
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non-destructive testing of materials and
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also by archaeologists
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uh looking at aerial photographs to find
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uh ancient ruins.
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After the seminar, Bush told Dr.
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Campbell about the Carla Brown case.
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>> And I said, "Doc, do I have a case for
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you?" And I told him about the Carla
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Brown case and that we were never able
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to identify what type instrument had
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damaged her face. I asked him to please
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send me the photographs uh that they had
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uh of the uh deceased person and also to
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send me an autopsy report.
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Dr. Campbell used his image enhancement
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equipment to look more closely at the
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crime scene photos of Carla Brown. The
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system not only improves the contrast of
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the photographs, but can also create
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what appear to be threedimensional
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views, adding depth to the image. When
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Dr. Campbell was through, he knew what
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caused the injuries to Carla Brown's
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face.
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>> He tells me that maybe the TV tray may
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have been the instrument that she was
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hit in the head with. This TV tray was
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lying on the floor within three foot of
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the
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victim where she had probably been on
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the couch, but I had missed it.
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>> The tray tables were still in storage
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untouched in the two years since the
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murder. In an extraordinary piece of
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luck, Dr. Campbell found microscopic
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traces of blood and hair still present
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on the tray table. And what Dr. Campbell
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said next was even more revealing.
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>> He says, "What about the bite mark?"
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And I I said, "Bite mark? What bite
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mark? What are you talking about?"
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>> When we looked at the photograph and
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went ahead and enhanced it and magnified
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it. Present on the shoulder was a bite
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injury on the shoulder. And by looking
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at that bite injury, you could actually
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pick out individual teeth all the way
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across.
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>> I trade that for five eyewitnesses
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anytime. So eyewitnesses can make
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mistakes. Things like fingerprints
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don't. And it was my understanding that
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bite marks properly preserved
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uh with an identified defendant could
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give you the defendant as good as a
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fingerprint.
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>> The killer had left behind a clue. All
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investigators needed now was a suspect.
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Two years after the brutal murder of
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22-year-old Carla Brown, investigators
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got the break they needed when a
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photographic enhancement revealed a bite
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mark on Carla's shoulder. Police now
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turned to the two men sitting in the
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yard next door when Carla Brown moved
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into her new home. Both matched the
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FBI's behavioral profile of the killer.
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Police checked their alibis again.
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Although both had passed the polygraph
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tests, police discovered that John
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Pranty had spoken about the murder to
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others.
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>> John Pranty had mentioned to his friends
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that he had seen her body that day, that
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he had looked over the shoulder of some
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policemen while they were investigating
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in the basement, and he described uh the
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condition of her body. and he even
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mentioned that she had bite marks on her
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neck and collar bone.
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>> The police were the only ones inside the
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house after Carla Brown's body was
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found.
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>> That was a shock to us as police
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officers because there's no way that he
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could have known that unless he put the
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bite mark there.
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Also, the information about the location
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of the body, the way the body was found,
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the only way that that would have been
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known is either to have been there on
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the investigation
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uh or to have put the body there
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yourself because we never released that
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information to the public or to the
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media.
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>> Since the bite marks were overlooked
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during the original autopsy,
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investigators wanted to make sure
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nothing else was missed. So Carla
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Brown's body was exumed for a second
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autopsy.
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This time it was performed by Dr. Mary
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Casease, the chief medical examiner for
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St. Louis County.
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>> In the original autopsy, um there was
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the liature strangulation and the body
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was examined and for some reason the
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head was not examined and so I opened
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the cranial cavity and there was
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bruising in the scalp. Somebody struck
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her on the head. and question is whether
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or not for example this blow would cause
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loss of consciousness.
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>> Dr. Casease thought that Carla Brown may
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have been alive when she was placed in
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the barrel of water because when she was
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found there was foam around her mouth
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>> because she was in water and she was
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producing that foam.
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I feel like there may be some component
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of drowning that she was still um even
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though she'd been strangled that she was
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still maybe to a minimal degree uh
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breathing because I I believe that she
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may have breathed in some water.
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>> During the autopsy, more photographs
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were taken of the suspected bite wounds
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which were sent to the New York State
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Police Forensic Unit for an independent
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evaluation.
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Prosecutors wanted to make sure that the
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mark on Carla Brown's neck was in fact a
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bite wound.
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>> In my opinion, the pattern injury uh on
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Carla Brown's neck had all the
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characteristics that a bite mark would
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have.
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>> Dr. Lavine was asked to compare the bite
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wound to three different dental casts
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prosecutors sent along for analysis. Dr.
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Lavine had no idea to whom the casts
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belonged.
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After making wax impressions of the
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models, Dr. Lavine concluded that two of
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the models were not consistent with the
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bite wound.
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>> I took the third model and examined all
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the uh individual characteristics that
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those teeth would have caused. compared
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those characteristics with the
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characteristics on the clarified
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photograph of Carla Brown's neck uh that
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I had and came to the opinion that only
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that model was consistent with having
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caused uh that pattern injury or that
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bite mark.
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>> He measured the teeth. He went back to
00:16:07
the photograph. He turned them different
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ways. He held them up in the air.
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Finally, he laid the dental impressions
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on the table and he pointed to him and
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he said, "That's your man."
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>> Model number three belonged to John
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Pranty.
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Interestingly, Pranty also matched John
00:16:28
Douglas's psychological profile. He was
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in his late 20s, had a history of
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troubled relationships with women. He
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attended industrial art school and had a
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sloppy, unckempt appearance. Pranty
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spent a great deal of time in the
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neighborhood, often visiting his friend
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who lived next door to Carla Brown.
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And just as John Douglas had predicted,
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Pranty had passed an earlier polygraph
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test, the most unusual aspect of
00:17:00
Douglas's profile was the prediction
00:17:02
that Pranty would be driving a red
00:17:05
folkswagen.
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Uh, where that came from, only John
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could say, but in fact did turn out that
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the individual did have a Volkswagen.
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>> Prosecutors believe that when Carla
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Brown's fiance left for work, John
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Pratty walked over and knocked on the
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door.
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>> Maybe we can have you over for dinner.
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>> Carla was talking on the telephone.
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>> I understand.
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>> Hello.
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>> Wait a second. I just heard something at
00:17:32
the door. Let me call you back.
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[Music]
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What do you want?
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>> Need some help moving in?
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>> I want you to leave. Come on.
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>> Why don't we talk a little?
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>> I want you to leave now.
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>> There was some kind of argument or
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struggle, possibly after she had
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rejected Tranty's sexual advances. He
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forced her into the basement and hit her
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with a tray table.
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At some point, he bit her on the
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shoulder and strangled her.
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Afterwards, he staged the scene to make
00:18:12
it appear to be a sexual assault.
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But when he changed her clothes, he made
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the mistake of fastening the top button,
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the first clue that the scene had been
00:18:25
staged.
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He tied her hands with electrical cord,
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wrapped the socks around her neck,
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[Applause]
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and placed her into the water while she
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was unconscious but still alive.
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Pranty tried to remove the blood stains
00:18:52
on the sofa with water he carried from
00:18:54
the kitchen in the coffee carff which he
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left in the rafters above the sofa.
00:19:02
The clothes Carla was wearing that day
00:19:05
were never found. Pranty may have taken
00:19:07
them as a trophy.
00:19:10
In July of 1983,
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John Pranty was tried and convicted of
00:19:16
firstdegree murder and was sentenced to
00:19:19
75 years in the state penitentiary.
00:19:23
After five long years, Carla Brown's
00:19:27
family finally had some closure. I would
00:19:30
like to tell him that he he took away a
00:19:34
very wonderful person um who had a lot
00:19:37
to offer and a and a family who cared
00:19:41
very much about Carla and that it was
00:19:45
very
00:19:47
very selfish of him to to not consider
00:19:52
uh another person's life uh as as
00:19:57
something as something that can just be
00:19:59
thrown thrown away
00:20:02
uh
00:20:04
on a on a particular day.
00:20:06
>> He got caught because the techniques of
00:20:10
investigation and law enforcement
00:20:12
completely overpowered him. He got away
00:20:15
with the crime because he was lucky. He
00:20:17
got caught because law enforcement
00:20:20
changed his luck.
00:20:22
Don Weber along with journalist Charles
00:20:25
Bosworth chronicled the many ups and
00:20:27
downs of this case in a best-selling
00:20:30
book, Silent Witness.
00:20:32
>> Carla's family was so intrigued by the
00:20:34
pipe mark evidence that uh she
00:20:37
embroidered a little tapestry that she
00:20:39
presented to Don Weber as a token of her
00:20:41
appreciation. And it offers the slogan
00:20:44
that Don had used that you can lie
00:20:46
through your teeth, but your teeth don't
00:20:48
lie. And around the border is the uh
00:20:52
pattern of rectangle space rectangle
00:20:55
space triangle which is the bitemark
00:20:57
pattern that Don had proved had been
00:21:00
made by John Pranty.
00:21:03
[Music]
00:21:15
Heat. Heat.
00:21:18
[Music]
00:21:26
[Applause]
00:21:29
[Music]
