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Shortly after daybreak in Vancouver,
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British Columbia, a fire was set to the
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contents of a garbage dumpster. No one
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saw the arsonist or the fire as it
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burned for hours in the deserted parking
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lot. But there was more than garbage in
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the bin, and it would take sophisticated
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science to identify the evidence in the
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ashes.
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[Music]
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When Milton Diaz walked towards the
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dumpster to empty some trash, he noticed
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noticed that the bin was warm. When he
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looked inside, he noticed a small
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charred figure in the corner. So badly
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burned, it was beyond recognition.
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>> I know something was burned and and and
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but it What was it? Was it an animal or
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was a person? If it it was a personal,
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it was too too terrible to happen. It
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was too
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out of out of uh you know what I can
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conceive that someone will do to another
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human being.
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>> The charred remains were carefully
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removed and taken to the morg where the
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gruesome and difficult task of
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identification would begin. Straight
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away, we knew we wouldn't have
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fingerprints and we knew we wouldn't
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have the normal um means to identify a
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victim because of the the condition of
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the body. All that remained was the
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equivalent of 35 lb of charcoalike
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material. It was an enormous challenge
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to Vancouver's medical examiner, Dr.
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Laurel Gray.
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>> Well, obviously we didn't have a whole
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lot to work with. We had no idea what
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the cause of death was, whether it was
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related to the fire or some other uh uh
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matter.
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>> During the autopsy, Dr. Gray could not
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find any recognizable skin, but did find
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a small patch of hair where the head
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pressed against the floor of the
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dumpster. It appeared to be reddish
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blonde in color, but the intense heat
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destroyed the hair follicles, which
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could have been used for DNA testing.
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X-rays of the victim's skull revealed
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several pieces of metal and a fractured
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skull. Evidence of gunshot wounds.
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Bullet fragments recovered from the
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brain came from a 22 caliber weapon, but
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they were so badly damaged they could
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not be used for ballistic
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identification.
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Police now knew that it was a homicide
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case. The gunshots had caused uh obvious
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very severe damage to the brain. Uh they
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had uh fractured the many of the facial
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bones. Uh there was a lot of blood in
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the um uh within the the facial bones
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and the sinuses.
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>> The blood in the sinus cavities meant
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there was active circulation when the
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bullets entered the victim's brain,
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indicating that the heart was beating
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when the shots were fired. But the
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intense heat altered the victim's blood
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chemistry, making it impossible for any
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kind of DNA analysis. An examination of
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the victim's lungs showed no signs of
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smoke inhilation, which meant that the
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victim was dead before the fire. The
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internal organs revealed that the victim
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was an adult female.
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To help with the identification,
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investigators called in Dr. Larry
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Chvers. He's a forensic odontologist who
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was asked to study the dental remains of
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the victim.
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>> This was a a victim of an inferno,
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an absolute unqualified inferno. There
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was virtually nothing left.
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>> But when Dr. Chvers looked closer, he
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was surprised to see beneath the charred
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surface that the jawbone and teeth were
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intact.
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>> Because they're surrounded by barriers,
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there's saliva in the mouth. um the
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gases in the stomach expand and push the
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tongue out and the outer muscles of the
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face become quite leathery and so the
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one thing that survives above all else
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is the teeth. By studying the growth
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patterns of the teeth and skull, Dr.
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Chvers estimated that the victim was
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between 24 and 30 years of age. And when
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Dr. Chivers looked closely at the
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X-rays, he discovered an important clue.
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The victim had an extremely rare dental
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condition called misodens.
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It's an extra tooth which never grew
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into place on top of the two front teeth
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inside the gum. The x-rays also showed a
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lot of high quality dental work. When
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you start talking 48 hours past the
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finding of the body and you don't have
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an idea who the suspect is and at that
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stage we didn't know who the victim was,
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you start thinking, well, it's going to
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be a long haul and it's going to be a
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difficult case.
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>> Greg Middleton covered the search for
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the identity of the victim and her
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killer for the province newspaper in
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Vancouver. They told me at the time that
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they thought that there was no hope of
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solving it, that there was they had so
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little to go on, that they didn't think
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that they were going to get anywhere.
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>> Police now had a horrific murder, but
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still couldn't identify the victim or
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her murderer.
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When the police reviewed all recent
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missing person's reports, one in
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particular caught their eye. It was for
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a 30-year-old woman named Lynn Breeden.
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She had blonde hair and was last seen on
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the day before the charred remains were
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discovered. When the dental records for
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Lynn Breeden were compared to those from
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the charred remains, doctors noticed the
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same extra tooth above the gum line on
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top of the front teeth and the dental
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work matched the burn victim as well.
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Dr. Chvers was convinced that Lynn
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Breeden was the person burned in the
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fire. There was absolutely no doubt in
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my mind the minute I saw the mised ends
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there and then obviously the other
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dental work and they all added up to the
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fact that this was the same individual
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or the same unfortunate victim.
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>> Lynn Breeden was a part-time model who
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once posed for Playboy magazine. She
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worked here at a men's club called
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Number Five Orange as a cocktail
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waitress.
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>> A lot of her friends were able to tell
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us about her background. Unfortunately,
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I think she'd gone u the cocaine route
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in the city of Vancouver, and I think
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she was well involved in the use of
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cocaine.
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>> Lynn Breeden was last seen late Friday
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night walking along Robson Street in
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Vancouver. Police learned that Breeden's
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former boyfriend lived on Robson Street
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in this apartment building. His name was
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Chris Pacook and he was well known to
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police.
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>> He was a local drug trafficker. was
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certainly um one of the last persons to
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be seen with her.
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>> During police questioning, Pacook
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admitted he was with Lynn Breeden for
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most of the night on the Friday in
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question. He said she stopped by his
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apartment. They had a few drinks, talked
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for a while, and ended up having sex.
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Afterwards, they went to Celebrities
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Nightclub and later to a small after
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hours club.
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[Music]
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>> Pay Cook said Lynn was behaving badly,
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flirting with other men, and after an
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entire evening of it, he became angry.
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>> We're leaving.
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back off, man.
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>> I don't want to leave.
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>> No, we're leaving. I get too high and
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you're going with these guys. I don't I
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said back off.
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>> We're leaving.
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>> I'm not leaving this club. We're having
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a good time.
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>> You're such trash.
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>> I'm having a good time.
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>> He left the club without her and said
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that was the last he saw of her.
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>> In that case, it was a dead end. Yes. Um
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he looked really good to begin with, but
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when we confirmed his um alibi and his
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story, yes, it it turned out to be um a
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dead end as far as that he was
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concerned.
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>> But detectives received an interesting
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tip from the manager of Lynn Breeden's
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bank. A woman had posed as Lynn Breeden
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attempting to withdraw all of the funds
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from her account. I got up to the
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counter and I I asked to help her and
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she signed a withdrawal slip like for
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like $4,000 basically what Lynn had in
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her account and it wasn't Lynn.
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>> Security photographs showed the impostor
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looking out the window, possibly at an
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accomplice standing outside, but glare
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from the sun hid the identity of
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whomever was outside. The woman left the
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bank quickly when her identity was
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questioned.
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>> We went to our fraud squad and said, "Do
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you know this person?" And we did all
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those investigative things in case this
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was a chronic fraud suspect and somehow
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some way we could come up with a name
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through that avenue of investigation.
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That didn't give us an answer.
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>> Police launched an allout effort to find
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the woman who posed as Lynn Breton. It
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was their only lead to the murderer.
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The local newspaper published a
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photograph of the woman who posed as
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Lynn Breeden at the bank and asked
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anyone who knew her to come forward.
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Within hours, an anonymous tip
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identified the woman in the photograph
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as Tanya Forester. Given that
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information, we went to her, told her
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what we was dealing with, and asked her
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for a cooperation and why she was in
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there taking the um or attempting to
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take the money from the the victim's
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account.
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>> Tanya Forester told police that she was
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given Lyn Breeden's wallet and
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identification by a man named Chris
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Cruz, who told her it was stolen.
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Together, they agreed to clean out her
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bank account before it was reported
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missing. She was unaware at the time
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that that was the um victim of a
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homicide's bank account.
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>> Chris Cruz was an unusual character. He
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was a model and actor, a student at the
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University of British Columbia who was
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planning to attend medical school. But
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Chris Cruz also went by the name of Tony
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Devans, the stage name he used as a
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stripper and professional escort. He
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reportedly had a healthy appetite for
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cocaine.
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Cruz told police that he had been out on
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the night of Breeden's murder. First at
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the Love Affair nightclub and later at
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the same after hours club that Lynn
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Breeden and her boyfriend attended. Crew
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said he only stayed for 20 minutes
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before leaving in a taxi cab to see her
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girlfriend. The next day, he said a
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friend offered him the contents of Lynn
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Breeden's purse, telling Cruz it had
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been stolen. We asked him, "Can we
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search your car?" And he said, "Yes, we
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could."
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We asked him what kind of a car it was,
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and he gave us the description, "Grey
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Olds's mobile."
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We asked them where it was, and he said,
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"Well, it's not running very well. It's
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out at my grandmother's place in Siri."
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>> But Cruz didn't know that he had been
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under police surveillance. They knew he
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had driven his car to police
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headquarters for questioning and parked
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it right down the street. Initially you
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you you think why is he lying? So the
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car must be playing a part um in the
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lie. So
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we looked that up and that was secured
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overnight when photographic experts
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reprocessed the bank photograph to
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remove the window glare from the sun.
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Police could see the individual standing
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outside when Tanya Forester attempted to
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withdraw Lynn Breeden's money. It was
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Chris Cruz. And when forensic detectives
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inspected Cruz's car, they found blood
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on the outside of the car and even more
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on the inside.
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>> Inside the trunk, uh, I think he was
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basically living out of the vehicle for
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some time. Uh, there was his own
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clothing,
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but there was evidence there that, uh,
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you could only hope for in any homicide
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case. Police also found a 22 caliber
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rifle, a 5gallon gasoline container in
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the trunk, and a suit jacket Cruz was
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seen wearing at the after hours club.
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Inside the pocket, police found a
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Playboy Bunny pendant stained with
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blood. It was similar to one Lyn Breeden
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wore in this photograph. Many items
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inside the car were covered with blood.
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the spare tire, clothing, a photo album,
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and a tire iron found in the back seat.
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In spite of all the evidence, police had
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a serious problem. They had no way of
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knowing to whom the blood in the car
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belonged.
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>> Now, our difficulty in this case is what
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what was it we were going to compare it
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to? The normal things that we would use
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from an autopsy in the toxicology
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exhibits were so badly damaged that the
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DNA exhibit from those toxicology
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exhibits was not possible.
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>> If the police couldn't figure out a way
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to match the blood inside Cruz's car to
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Lynn Breeden, it was entirely possible
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that Chris Cruz would walk free.
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Police had a lot of circumstantial
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evidence linking Chris Cruz to Lynn
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Breeden. They found blood in his car, on
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his clothes, and they found hair and
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blood on a tire iron found in the back
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seat. It was just incredible how much
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evidence we had. And it would be an
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absolute shame if uh the suspect had
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been successful, so successful in
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destroying the body that none of that
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evidence could be used in order to tie
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him into the crime.
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>> The fire not only incinerated Lynn
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Breeden's body, but also any chance of a
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DNA profile. Her skin, blood, saliva,
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and hair follicles, all possible areas
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for DNA testing, had all been destroyed.
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Dr. David Suite is a forensic
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odontologist who had been following the
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breed and murder in the newspapers. He
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suggested that scientists try something
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which had never been attempted before.
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That they try to harvest the genetic
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material from inside Breeden's teeth
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from the tooth pulp in order to generate
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a DNA profile.
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>> They ran with the idea uh released some
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evidence to me in the forms of uh some
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bones and teeth. Um, I was particularly
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interested in the impacted wisdom teeth
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or the teeth that were still embedded in
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the jawbone, both the upper jawbone and
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the lower jawbone. Um, it was my sense
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that these teeth were more protected
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from the fire than the other tissues and
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the other teeth because they were deeper
00:16:03
in the core of the body away from the
00:16:05
potential heat source.
00:16:07
>> The pulp was sent to the forensics lab
00:16:10
along with samples of blood collected
00:16:12
from Chris Cruz's car. I never thought
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for a second that tooth pulp uh could be
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used or any uh tooth
00:16:20
part of any tooth could be used for uh
00:16:22
for DNA testing.
00:16:23
>> Blood cells were extracted from the
00:16:25
tooth pulp and treated with a special
00:16:27
chemical cocktail and the DNA floated
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free, a sticky bundle of complex
00:16:35
molecules. Next, the DNA was cut into
00:16:38
smaller pieces marked with a radioactive
00:16:41
die and placed in separate lanes on an
00:16:45
electrofaretic gel where it was
00:16:48
subjected to an electric field. The
00:16:50
separated fragments are then visualized
00:16:53
on X-ray film called an auto radiogram,
00:16:57
which resembles a barcode. When
00:17:00
scientists compared the blood DNA found
00:17:03
in Cruz's trunk, on his jacket, and on
00:17:06
the photo album, it matched the DNA
00:17:10
profile of Lynn Breeden.
00:17:12
>> It was very clear the match uh showed
00:17:14
that the DNA typing profile from the
00:17:16
various exhibits submitted to me matched
00:17:19
that of the DNA typing profile from the
00:17:21
tooth belt from the victim. Based on the
00:17:23
forensic evidence, Chris Cruz was
00:17:26
charged with the murder of Lynn Breeden.
00:17:30
At the After Hours nightclub, Lynn
00:17:33
Breeden and her boyfriend Chris Peook
00:17:35
got into an argument when she flirted
00:17:38
with some other men she met there.
00:17:41
>> You back off.
00:17:42
>> Following the argument, Pook left the
00:17:44
club alone. Witnesses said Lynn was
00:17:48
looking for cocaine that night and at
00:17:51
some point made the acquaintance of
00:17:54
Chris Cruz. There was some evidence that
00:17:57
the two already knew one another. Both
00:18:00
were models, frequented the same night
00:18:03
spots, and reportedly shared an appetite
00:18:06
for cocaine.
00:18:10
[Music]
00:18:12
Shortly after daybreak, they left the
00:18:14
after hours club together and some sort
00:18:17
of disagreement took place, possibly
00:18:19
over payment for some drugs crews may
00:18:22
have provided.
00:18:23
>> I know. I know. I know.
00:18:28
>> As they drove home that morning, police
00:18:30
believe their argument escalated. You
00:18:32
>> did. You know, it's not.
00:18:34
>> Crew stopped the car and the
00:18:36
disagreement turned violent.
00:18:39
My money. My money. Now,
00:18:44
>> in a rage, Cruz grabbed a tire iron from
00:18:47
the trunk and struck Breeden on the head
00:18:49
and face.
00:18:52
As Lynn Breeden lay near death with a
00:18:55
fractured skull, Cruz grabbed his 22
00:18:57
caliber rifle and shot her three times
00:19:00
in the head.
00:19:02
Cruz placed the body into the trunk and
00:19:05
drove to the deserted parking lot where
00:19:08
he dumped the body inside a garbage bin
00:19:11
and emptied a 5gallon container of
00:19:14
gasoline he kept in the trunk.
00:19:19
[Music]
00:19:21
No one saw the fire as it burned for
00:19:24
hours shortly after daybreak on July
00:19:28
6th, 1991. According to the fire
00:19:31
department,
00:19:33
the fire was probably one gallon of gas
00:19:36
away from a total cremation. And looking
00:19:38
at the victim at the um at the time of
00:19:42
the discovery, you you'd have to believe
00:19:44
that it was close to a full cremation.
00:19:46
>> And without the scientific evidence, the
00:19:49
remains might have gone unidentified and
00:19:52
the blood in the car unmatched.
00:19:55
>> Absolutely. It made the case. It did the
00:19:57
ultimate link up to all this evidence
00:19:59
that we were so happy to find to our
00:20:02
victim, the murder.
00:20:03
>> And the case broke new ground for
00:20:05
forensic scientists since it was the
00:20:08
first time that DNA evidence from a
00:20:11
tooth was used in a criminal case. Chris
00:20:14
Cruz was convicted of secondderee murder
00:20:18
in the death of Lynn Breeden and
00:20:21
sentenced to life in prison. Lyn Breeden
00:20:24
was a very beautiful girl and a lot of
00:20:27
people acknowledge that. In fact, there
00:20:29
were a lot of areas where she could have
00:20:31
gone and things that she could have done
00:20:33
as a result of it. Unfortunately, she
00:20:35
got caught up in a little bit of this
00:20:38
cocaine problem and the result was that
00:20:42
uh it brought her to the circumstances
00:20:44
that led to her death. Very tragic.
00:20:46
Chris Cruz himself uh good-looking man,
00:20:50
a lot going for him. He had attended the
00:20:53
university here in town and he was doing
00:20:55
what he could that way. So it was
00:20:57
another spoiled life really by him being
00:20:59
involved in what had taken place here
00:21:00
again as a result of the drug
00:21:03
involvement. Uh if you take away the
00:21:05
drug, I don't believe any of this would
00:21:06
have happened.
00:21:09
[Music]
00:21:19
[Music]
00:21:22
Good morning.
00:21:23
[Music]
00:21:36
[Music]
