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Who Murdered Roxanne Wood? | Bloodline Detectives with Nancy Grace

May 08, 2023 / 42:16

This episode covers the 1987 murder of Roxanne Wood, the investigation led by police, and the eventual identification of her killer through genetic genealogy.

Roxanne Wood was found dead in her home in Niles, Michigan, with severe injuries. Her husband, Terry Wood, became the primary suspect due to being the last person to see her alive. Despite his emotional 911 call and insistence on his innocence, police struggled to gather enough evidence to charge him.

After years of investigation, the case went cold until advancements in forensic science, particularly genetic genealogy, provided a new avenue for solving the crime. Detective John Moore and his team discovered previously overlooked DNA evidence.

In 2021, they identified a suspect, Patrick Gillum, through a family tree built from DNA matches. Gillum had a history of violent crimes and was arrested after police collected his DNA from a discarded cigarette.

Despite initially denying involvement, Gillum eventually accepted a plea deal for 23 years in prison. The episode highlights the importance of genetic genealogy in solving cold cases and bringing justice to victims and their families.

TL;DR

The 1987 murder of Roxanne Wood is solved through genetic genealogy, identifying Patrick Gillum as the killer after decades of investigation.

Episode

42:16
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foreign
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[Music]
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Niles Michigan 1987 Terry Wood comes
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home to find his wife Roxanne dead on
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the kitchen floor she's covered in blood
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when he arrived he saw her laying on the
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floor he saw a large pool of blood on
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the floor he saw that her neck had been
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cut although Terry Wood finds his wife
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Roxanne and calls police he quickly
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becomes the number one suspect
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they're the last person that saw them
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they're the first person that discovered
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them
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with no eyewitnesses and not much
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evidence the case quickly goes cold
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police have only one hope left a
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groundbreaking tool genetic genealogy
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genealogy and fat advanced in science is
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what got us to where we are here today
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The Killers DNA sample is in very bad
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condition however raising doubts that
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bloodline detectives can crack the code
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just like dealing with a puzzle piece
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where lots of pieces are missing
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after Decades of waiting for justice
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there's only one forensic tool and one
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hope left to identify the killer of
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Roxanne wood
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I'm Nancy Grace this is bloodline
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detectives
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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Niles Michigan a small City located just
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over the state line from South Bend
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Indiana it's a quiet place to live
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all in all it's really just a blue
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collar Town family oriented nice place
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to live actually
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on the night of February 20 1987 Roxanne
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wood and husband Terry are out with
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friends
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Terry and Roxanne have been married for
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about five years
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they both had steady jobs lived in a
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nice neighborhood had a nice house
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had a couple pets
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and no children however they were
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talking about having children when
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Roxanne was killed they
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went out with some friends
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they went to dinner then they went to
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the bowling alley where a lot of Terry
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and Roxanne's friends were playing in a
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league
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Roxanne left the bowling alley prior to
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Terry
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at at the most about 45 minutes before
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him she went directly home by all
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indications
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Terry comes through the garage
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he shuts the garage he goes in the house
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and he looks and sees his wife laying
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there on the kitchen floor
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[Music]
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approaches her when he kneels down he
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sees there's pool of blood
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he lifts her head up and notices a
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gaping wound under her neck
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he saw her laying on the floor he saw
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blood a large pool of blood on the floor
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he saw that her neck had been cut
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as he went to check on her and called
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9-1-1 he did check for a pulse at the
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recommendation of dispatch did not have
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a pulse he noticed that there was a
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knife sheath on the floor and relayed
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that to the dispatchers well obviously
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he was he was in shock in the 911
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dispatcher was trying to keep him
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focused
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and wait for the Troopers to arrive at
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the scene which ultimately they did
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Mr wood greeted them at the door he was
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obviously covered in blood because he'd
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gone over and had held his wife when
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they walked in they also observed
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Roxanne laying on the floor a puddle of
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blood around her also observed was there
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was a frying pan that was on the kitchen
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floor there was a handle that was in the
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sink when they investigated a little bit
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further they also found a back door that
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was standing a jar with a droplet of
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blood on it
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her underwear is pulled down over her
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buttocks and it appears that maybe she
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was raped so what they did is they
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locked it down crime scene texts get
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there and continue to go through the
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process of checking for evidence they
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were able to get Terry away from the
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house
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foreign
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[Music]
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like this one it's standard operating
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procedure the first person police look
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at is the spouse in this case Roxanne
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Wood's husband Terry
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[Music]
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Terry was kind of animated and maybe a
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little bit tipsy from drinking they were
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able to bring him down to the station
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and our detective surgeon at the time
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took him up to his office and began to
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interview
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interview wasn't recorded so we don't
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have the luxury of viewing that
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interview but from the interview that
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was transcribed into notes he was very
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emotional
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he was adamant that he had nothing to do
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with the death of Roxanne
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and just very very
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emotional
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[Music]
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Terry said some strange things in the
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interview that put some red flags up for
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the detective Sergeant I know he
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mentioned something about the amount of
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blood that he saw and how long it would
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take for someone to die to expel that
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amount of blood and that seemed to the
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detective that wasn't something and
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someone would even fathom of saying
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under those circumstances one of Terry's
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family members came rushing into the
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lobby of the station and and yelled up
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to the detective's office and said don't
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say anything we got an attorney
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so that kind of sets off another red
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flag
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he had retained an attorney so at that
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point the interview stopped
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police secure the crime scene and hope
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that Roxanne Woods autopsy provides
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Clues
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[Music]
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the autopsy revealed that Roxanne had a
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contusion on the right side of her head
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and also a bruise on her right shoulder
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the frying pan was broken because
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the suspect struck Roxanne
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with that frying pan
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also it showed two slash marks one
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completely
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around her neck and one that started and
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stopped
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sexual assault kit was conducted at the
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time of the autopsy and sent to the
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Michigan State Police lab and processed
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from that and elimination there had been
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some seminal fluid found
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within her and on her clothing
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Roxanne wood is the victim of a brutal
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sex attack her assailant has left
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potential evidence a DNA sample off his
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semen found on and in Roxanne's body
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I mean it put a black cloud over to town
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I am confident that there are young
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girls that grew up at that time
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that went to bed scared at night
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without a dog
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a young wife brutally sex attacked then
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murdered a community living in fear
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there's a rapist and a killer on the
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loose and police have only one potential
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suspect that's next on bloodline
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Detectives
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foreign
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[Music]
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Michigan 1987 police investigating the
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brutal murder of 30 year old Roxanne
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wood their only person of interest
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Roxanne's own husband who actually makes
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a 9-1-1 call the night of her murder
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Roxanne's husband Terry Wood
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well you definitely look at it with
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suspicion I mean obviously he's got the
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right to to come and speak to the police
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or not to come and speak with the police
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but it definitely you look at it with a
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different
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I think a different perspective of okay
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why why is this why does he not want to
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talk to us
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everybody thought Terry did it but there
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wasn't anything to move forward I
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believe they submitted to the prosecutor
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but there just wasn't enough evidence to
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arrest Terry
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police do not have enough evidence to
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charge Terry Wood so they began to look
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at other theories for Roxanne's brutal
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murder
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they were looking at individuals that
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could could have committed the crime but
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they were looking at individuals that
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knew her interviews were conducted of
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everybody that was at the bowling alley
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that night a neighborhood canvas was
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conducted back in the neighborhood where
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this occurred where she was living to
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determine if anybody saw anything or
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heard anything
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it was all over the news the neighboring
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agencies all knew what was going on
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believed they did look at all the sex
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offenders in the area
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and still weren't able to to pinpoint
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one particular person even being near
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that residence
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there were a lot of different suspects
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you know none of them that took all the
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heat away from Terry
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everybody was a suspect not to the
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extent of Terry but everybody was pretty
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much a Suspect with it we we didn't have
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any idea I think once All Leads and no
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tips were coming in everybody had been
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that they knew could be interviewed
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they've been interviewed it went stale
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pretty pretty quick they continued to be
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worked on by the detective at the time
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but there's only so much information
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that that he could go on
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so from 87 until 2001.
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it's pretty much dead in the water
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police have a case rapidly going cold so
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they seek an unusual source for help a
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local University Professor named Ashland
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Kirsten and her students
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in the 80s you know a lot of it is
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handwritten and so we needed to turn all
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of these evidence boxes into one primary
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document that a busy detective could
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just pull it up on on the screen of his
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phone and then do a search for whatever
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A variation on a person's name a partial
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license plate number partial phone
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number whatever they needed at that time
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and be able to do it on their phone in
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real time and and that's what my team
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did
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so we were able to have a a scanner like
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a regular traditional scanner but we
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were able to use the special software
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that was able to recognize the
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characters in the words in these
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documents so basically we were able to
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feed these papers into a scanner and the
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software was able to take the words that
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were on the page and make them digital
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words
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we could
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hit one button and search any name in
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that entire report and that report
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consisted of three thousand six hundred
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plus pages
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with the help of Professor Kirsten and
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her students police now study the main
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piece of evidence from the crime scene
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from reading through the reports I
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learned that Roxanne was on her period
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her menstrual cycle we knew that Roxanne
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had a pad
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when she was killed it was stuck in her
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underwear
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the semen deposit was in the pad
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and it wasn't a mixture it was a single
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source
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which means
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that Roxanne came home took her tampon
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out put a pad on and then within minutes
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before going to bed because she was in
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her night clothes ready for bed
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she was attacked and sexually assaulted
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the evidence from the rape kit was
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re-examined at that time by our lab in
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Grand Rapids at that point they were
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able to obtain a profile and they
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entered it into CODIS
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and essentially that is continually
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searched through CODIS for arrestees and
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the resty database in the process of
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doing that when the Cold Case team came
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in because of this being relatively new
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they essentially started taking DNA
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swabs or buccal swabs from potential
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Witnesses potential suspects anybody
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they received a tip on that would be
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willing to to submit to these DNA Buckle
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swabs
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Professor Kirsten and her students
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police now determine Roxanne Woods
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menstrual pad could hold vital evidence
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to identify her murderer
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we obtained Buckle swabs from
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over 60 people back then to compare to
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the known sample that we had and in all
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of those that we did we did not have any
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hits we even went as far as to contact
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the local paper as well as the media
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and said that if anybody has had a
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relationship with Roxanne
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let us know we will be discreet and we
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just need to know who that person was
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the DNA results tell police everything
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they need to know about their number one
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suspect husband Terry Wood
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I grabbed the file I got the okay from
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the detective Sergeant to look at it
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you know to really spend some time with
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it when I was done I said to myself
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Terry didn't do it
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the original investigators based a lot
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of their Direction
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towards theories and how you would think
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someone would act and it kind of wasn't
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fair
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if you want to look at it you know just
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based on the evidence what what I I did
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was I let
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the evidence lead
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to the murderer
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and one of the big things that we had
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problems with was the DNA and Roxanne
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had DNA on her that was not teres
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[Music]
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number one suspect cleared by forensic
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science available at that time but as we
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see next a revolutionary new tool called
00:15:44
genetic genealogy will emerge as a
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critical weapon for bloodline Detectives
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oh
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[Music]
00:16:00
Niles Michigan
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2021 police investigating the sex
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assault and brutal murder of Roxanne
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wood all the way back in
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1987. police have sort through the CODIS
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National Database but find no matches
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now cops consider the possibility of a
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revolutionary forensic tool genetic
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genealogy but there's the catch the only
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DNA sample they have may be two degraded
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to produce results
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I had actually myself had called up to
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the lab asking about the DNA and then
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what was left of it because at the time
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everything in Michigan was transforming
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from paperwork to digital and just how
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air stuff was being stored how they were
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going to store it in proper procedures
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and at that time I was told that DNA had
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been used up and there was nothing left
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the case can't go anywhere without
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knowing who that DNA belonged to
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John had called me and said I want to
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pick up the Roxanne wood case and work
00:17:04
it is is that okay and I said absolutely
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but if we're going to work it we got to
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work it
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as hard as we can because the family
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once they hear we're working this again
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they're going to have some element of of
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Hope here in this as well
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look through the case for all looked at
00:17:23
the evidence looked at what we got back
00:17:24
from the lab and in 2017
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we got a new computer system Statewide
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and so all the evidence had to be placed
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from hard copies into this new system
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and in the process
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the extracts that were kept from all the
00:17:42
analysis got lumped into one sealed
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package everybody thought we didn't have
00:17:47
them you know they didn't exist
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but they did and I found it
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sometimes it's a combination of luck and
00:17:58
old school detective work that provides
00:18:01
a Lifeline for the bloodline detectives
00:18:03
and that's what happens when detective
00:18:05
John Moore miraculously finds one last
00:18:10
shred of DNA evidence
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we were able to find some minuscule
00:18:17
amount of DNA left that we were able to
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send away for forensic genealogy
00:18:22
we knew with the sample that there was a
00:18:25
potential it was going to get absorbed
00:18:27
by the test so we wouldn't have any left
00:18:29
but it was to a point where you know we
00:18:33
had to try something we hired
00:18:35
identifinders
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and Dr Colleen Fitzpatrick her company
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to do the genealogy testing for us
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investigate
00:18:45
ideology all so called forensic genetic
00:18:47
genealogy is
00:18:50
ideology to Cold Case work in other
00:18:53
words genealogists have been using DNA
00:18:56
to identify adoptees for a long time for
00:18:59
a couple of decades now all those
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techniques we've used to identify the
00:19:03
birth parents of adoptees are now being
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applied to cold cases because in the
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long run it doesn't matter if you're an
00:19:10
adoptee that is you don't know who you
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are or the DNA comes from say a violent
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offender a DNA left at a crime scene or
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DNA from a John or Jane Doe you have DNA
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and you don't know whose DNA it is so
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the techniques from there can be applied
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to any of those situations
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initially when when we sent it out there
00:19:30
we were we were hopeful because we knew
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how powerful the genealogy tool was and
00:19:37
could be it had been around for for some
00:19:40
time now we have been using it for our
00:19:42
unidentified remains cases and had great
00:19:45
success with that
00:19:47
it was actually an email sent to us in
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2020 about the Roxanne wood
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so we start talking to you about it we
00:19:55
were in the middle of covid and we you
00:19:58
know took a long time to say find the
00:20:00
records find what DNA samples were
00:20:03
available it was a very difficult case
00:20:05
with very low level degraded DNA
00:20:08
foreign after we had sent it out to the
00:20:11
company and they did their initial work
00:20:12
on it we were on a video conference call
00:20:16
and during that call
00:20:18
Dr Fitzpatrick was
00:20:21
not very positive with us about the
00:20:25
state and the degradation of the sample
00:20:28
degraded DNA means pieces of DNA it's
00:20:30
fragmented it's like a puzzle with big
00:20:33
pieces missing this was the last chance
00:20:36
it took us nine months of careful
00:20:38
discussion on what to do with this DNA
00:20:41
because it was the last hope of solving
00:20:43
the case
00:20:46
at that point then the team Jason Bailey
00:20:50
and John Moore and myself we were
00:20:54
you know we we weren't as hopeful at
00:20:57
that point
00:20:58
we like to work with a nanogram of DNA
00:21:01
which is a billionth of a gram of DNA
00:21:03
and it turned out we we got down to 30
00:21:06
picograms which is about what three
00:21:09
percent of that and the value of only a
00:21:12
few cells in the body it very small
00:21:15
amount
00:21:16
the DNA sample is badly degraded Colleen
00:21:20
Fitzpatrick and her team wonder if it
00:21:23
will work
00:21:25
all humans are basically 90 something
00:21:27
percent the same so even if you have
00:21:29
fragmented DNA sometimes you can
00:21:32
reconstruct some of the missing pieces
00:21:34
because you know what humans look like
00:21:36
you know what a human genome is so you
00:21:39
can deduce some of the missing pieces
00:21:42
which is part of what we did to kind of
00:21:44
get the thing to move forward
00:21:46
a couple of weeks later we get a call
00:21:49
from Dr Fitzpatrick where it had totally
00:21:53
flipped 180 degrees they were hopeful
00:21:56
now that they were going to be able to
00:21:57
make a match
00:21:59
she never gave up we never gave up and
00:22:01
she had contact with the program writers
00:22:04
for the software that deals with
00:22:07
processing the data from the DNA and
00:22:10
they were able to kind of work it
00:22:13
enough that we were able to get a full
00:22:17
profile
00:22:19
you upload your data and you
00:22:23
just in the
00:22:24
military DNA
00:22:26
DNA exterx you know if they share more
00:22:28
DNA they more closely related
00:22:31
they share less DNA they're more
00:22:33
distantly related but they're all
00:22:35
related to Mr X
00:22:38
amazingly the bloodline detectives have
00:22:41
done it they patched together a DNA
00:22:45
sample now Colleen Fitzpatrick Begins
00:22:48
the tedious work of looking for DNA
00:22:51
matches while co-worker Gabriella Vargas
00:22:55
works with police to build the suspect's
00:22:57
family tree
00:23:01
I was on the phone with Gabby from like
00:23:03
Thursday to a Sunday and you know if she
00:23:07
needed somebody's last name I would look
00:23:09
it up if she needed a birth certificate
00:23:11
I'd call the police department and get
00:23:13
that and you know just trying to piece
00:23:15
together because there's so much that it
00:23:17
entails you know with divorces and
00:23:19
adoptions and deaths and other siblings
00:23:23
or relatives that are you know Black
00:23:26
Sheep it's just it's kind of a detailed
00:23:29
process
00:23:32
Colleen Fitzpatrick is ready to ID a
00:23:35
suspect for police
00:23:38
in April of 2021 Gabby was able to
00:23:43
determine that the DNA belonged to one
00:23:48
of three brothers
00:23:51
the biggest thing we first check on is
00:23:53
just to kind of see background and
00:23:54
history on on these three names and two
00:23:57
of them we pretty much could eliminate
00:23:59
relatively quick because they did not
00:24:00
appear to be in the area in 1987 with
00:24:03
one of the names being left had been in
00:24:05
the general Michigan Indiana area the
00:24:08
entire time
00:24:10
[Music]
00:24:12
intelligence and background information
00:24:15
was being conducted by the detectives at
00:24:18
that point
00:24:19
so yes we did a deep dive into it we did
00:24:22
a criminal history search we got
00:24:23
multiple police reports and found that
00:24:25
this subject had a extensive criminal
00:24:28
history and
00:24:29
it happened to be that a lot of this
00:24:31
criminal history was in some form of
00:24:32
sexual deviancy in nature
00:24:34
we quickly isolated
00:24:37
Patrick Gillum as an individual of those
00:24:40
three brothers that was the most likely
00:24:42
suspect
00:24:46
thanks to the incredible work of Colleen
00:24:49
Fitzpatrick and her whole team police
00:24:51
now have a name Patrick Gillum
00:24:56
after 34 years they've got to make an
00:25:00
arrest before it's too late that's next
00:25:03
on bloodline Detectives
00:25:07
foreign
00:25:11
[Music]
00:25:15
Michigan 2021 the bloodline detectives
00:25:20
have a suspect in the brutal sex assault
00:25:23
and 1987 murder of 30 year old wife
00:25:27
Roxanne wood his name Patrick Gillum but
00:25:32
now police must track him down and make
00:25:35
that arrest
00:25:38
went crazy on digging information on him
00:25:42
we found he had a prison history in
00:25:45
Texas he was arrested in Arizona he had
00:25:49
a prison history in Indiana it was just
00:25:52
a gamut of criminal history and it just
00:25:55
so happens in 1979 a home invasion rape
00:26:00
occurred in Gary Indiana
00:26:03
that case was an individual located down
00:26:06
in Indiana and she was she was in her
00:26:08
home with with her young children as
00:26:11
well Patrick Gillum broke into that home
00:26:13
sexually assaulted her didn't kill her
00:26:17
took some items from the home was pulled
00:26:21
over by a police department in Indiana
00:26:23
ultimately he was interviewed and he
00:26:26
confessed to being in that house
00:26:29
and said he blacked out and all he
00:26:31
remembered was pulling his pants up
00:26:35
against to 14 years in the Indiana
00:26:38
Correctional and was released after
00:26:41
seven years and paroled
00:26:43
he was on supervised parole
00:26:47
to South Bend Indiana in September of
00:26:50
86.
00:26:52
he had been paroled for about six months
00:26:55
before he broke into Roxanne's home and
00:26:59
killed her
00:27:02
have the information they need to
00:27:05
touch Gillum down
00:27:08
we knew because we had genealogy DNA
00:27:11
that we were going to need to get
00:27:13
another sample of DNA to match
00:27:17
his profile through our lab through
00:27:19
CODIS as part of that we came up with a
00:27:23
strategy or plan to utilize one of our
00:27:27
undercover units our fugitive team to
00:27:30
surveil him
00:27:31
we knew he was a smoker and we were
00:27:34
hopeful that when he moved or went
00:27:38
mobile from his
00:27:40
house slash apartment
00:27:42
he would discard a cigarette butt or go
00:27:45
into a restaurant leave his DNA behind
00:27:48
on a class or on a cigarette butt
00:27:51
the first time they went out they sat on
00:27:52
the house like four days and no movement
00:27:56
but when Patrick left he was smoking in
00:27:59
his windows down
00:28:01
they see Patrick flip a cigarette out
00:28:03
his window
00:28:04
one of the Troopers pulled his car over
00:28:07
jumped out grabbed it put it in an
00:28:09
envelope brought it straight up to me I
00:28:12
took it straight to the lab
00:28:15
what they're trying to do is develop a
00:28:17
code
00:28:17
of file from that to match the
00:28:20
DNA because that's the legal form of
00:28:23
identification now once they have that
00:28:25
they can go and arrest him you know you
00:28:27
just can't arrest somebody you've got to
00:28:29
have that proof that it matches the
00:28:31
crime scene
00:28:33
and in this case they went to pick up a
00:28:35
cigarette butt and at first it didn't
00:28:37
match the crime scene DNA
00:28:40
[Music]
00:28:41
I thought to myself that's impossible
00:28:44
and I even told him I said there's no
00:28:46
way this guy
00:28:48
was convicted of an identical crime went
00:28:51
to prison this is the guy I don't care
00:28:53
this is the guy and he's like sorry yep
00:28:56
don't match I'm a scientist I deal with
00:28:58
science and I was like
00:29:00
man that's that's not good
00:29:05
I don't believe that Gillum is not the
00:29:08
guy gillum's the guy a week later or so
00:29:10
we set up another sting where our
00:29:13
surveillance team went out there and
00:29:14
this time I think they got three
00:29:15
cigarettes
00:29:18
said well he did lose line of sight eye
00:29:21
contact with the cigarette butt just for
00:29:23
a moment so we said well can you go back
00:29:26
and pick up the you know another
00:29:29
cigarette this time you know make sure
00:29:31
and he did and it was a match so the
00:29:33
first time he had the wrong cigarette
00:29:35
but thank goodness
00:29:37
old school police work meets the latest
00:29:40
in forensic science that's how the
00:29:42
bloodline detectives I did the killer of
00:29:45
Roxanne wood after 30 years
00:29:51
we went to him when we found this DNA
00:29:53
out and one of the things that that we
00:29:55
were asked by the prosecute attorney is
00:29:57
we need to get an interview into him
00:29:58
because they could have some other
00:30:00
explanation how his DNA came to be
00:30:05
I personally call left him messages and
00:30:07
one point knocked on his door to try to
00:30:09
attempted to raise him and there was
00:30:12
never any answer either way we didn't
00:30:14
want him to know we were coming so we
00:30:16
developed a strategy to meet him at his
00:30:19
home and basically set up surveillance
00:30:22
on him wait for him to leave the
00:30:24
residence and then approach him and
00:30:26
explain to him we need to talk to him
00:30:28
about an old case that we believe he had
00:30:30
some information on
00:30:32
so essentially that same undercover team
00:30:35
they had been watching Mr gillum's house
00:30:37
they they let us know that yes Mr Gillum
00:30:40
just left we knew from previous
00:30:42
surveillance that usually when Mr Gillum
00:30:45
left it was not for very long usually it
00:30:47
was a short trip and he he came back to
00:30:49
the house so when he came back home
00:30:51
detective Moore and I were sitting in
00:30:52
his driveway waiting for him
00:30:56
I see the door open on this truck and I
00:30:59
jump out of the car kind of Dash up
00:31:01
there and say hey uh do you mind talking
00:31:04
to me for a minute I'm a Michigan State
00:31:05
Trooper he automatically you know
00:31:07
started getting nervous and tried to
00:31:09
kind of make his way towards his door
00:31:12
and I got his attention got him to come
00:31:14
back and talk to him I said hey we're
00:31:16
you know my partner I said we're working
00:31:19
on this case and we just need to touch
00:31:20
base with you your name came up and he
00:31:23
was like okay I said you just drive
00:31:25
yourself over South MPD we'll meet you
00:31:26
over there before we left he said is
00:31:29
this about the Australian girl
00:31:31
and I said well we'll talk about when
00:31:33
you get over there and my partner I
00:31:35
looked at each other when we got in the
00:31:37
car and we're like what the heck just
00:31:39
happened who was this Australian girl
00:31:42
he comes into the lobby I greet him out
00:31:45
there I asked him if it's okay if I
00:31:47
checked his pockets
00:31:48
and he's got five pocket knives on him
00:31:53
he looked old not not in great shape
00:31:57
kind of shuffled as he walked didn't
00:31:59
look like he was very mobile
00:32:03
we asked about this Australian girl and
00:32:05
he said you know there was a lake up
00:32:07
there in Michigan that I was at with my
00:32:09
buddy's cabin and there was a girl that
00:32:11
got raped but I had nothing to do with
00:32:12
it
00:32:13
so we just kind of put that in the back
00:32:16
of our mind and and kind of went to the
00:32:18
direction of why we needed to talk to
00:32:20
him he was definitely nervous I mean but
00:32:22
that is a lot of times to be expected
00:32:24
with anybody their first contact with
00:32:26
the police you know he was shaking
00:32:29
he wanted to work with us but on the
00:32:31
other hand it was obvious that
00:32:33
he wasn't going to let a lot of
00:32:35
information out no matter what what it
00:32:37
was
00:32:38
he said in 87 he was in South Bend he
00:32:43
was working as a welder we ascertained
00:32:45
whether or not he was allowed to come
00:32:47
into Michigan at all being on parole
00:32:50
asked him if he knew any Roxanne's he
00:32:52
said I only know two one of them's moved
00:32:54
out of state and the other one's a
00:32:55
stripper but we knew that neither one of
00:32:58
those applied to to Roxanne wood we'd
00:33:01
asked him questions about if he'd ever
00:33:02
had any girlfriends in Michigan to which
00:33:04
he told us no we'd asked him about his
00:33:06
general knowledge of Niles Township and
00:33:08
Rhodes and
00:33:09
and he didn't know any of that either
00:33:13
and he started getting
00:33:15
you know a little a little nervous and
00:33:18
my partner said to him We're
00:33:21
investigating an assault they showed him
00:33:24
a picture of Roxanne Woods at the time A
00:33:27
Portrait of her and asked him if he'd
00:33:28
ever met this woman or seen this woman
00:33:33
that girl looks familiar
00:33:39
that's his newer pictures and here's an
00:33:41
older picture it kind of looks the same
00:33:43
but just a little bit of a
00:33:46
little bit of difference
00:33:48
I've never seen her never met her don't
00:33:50
know who she is
00:33:55
when he put the picture out in front of
00:33:58
Patrick he started shaking and he said I
00:34:00
I need a lawyer I need a lawyer
00:34:07
I gotta talk to my lawyer I gotta talk
00:34:10
to my lawyer man
00:34:12
okay
00:34:14
his reaction to that was an admission of
00:34:18
that this guy did something and he knows
00:34:20
exactly what he did
00:34:23
if we would have had a full confession
00:34:25
at that point we would have arrested him
00:34:28
very likely but that's we didn't have
00:34:29
that we let him walk out the front door
00:34:32
which was our plan we knew we were going
00:34:34
to do that if the interview went in in
00:34:36
that direction
00:34:38
we had a meeting then with the
00:34:41
prosecutor's office we had an agreement
00:34:43
from them that they were going to charge
00:34:46
and that he would be arrested
00:34:49
he was charged with with open murder
00:34:54
didn't want to use a SWAT team we didn't
00:34:55
want this to turn into a an overly
00:34:58
violent situation when we didn't have to
00:35:00
to do that so the plan was devised that
00:35:03
we would use a wrecker and tow his
00:35:05
vehicle because we had a search warrant
00:35:06
for the vehicle as well and when that
00:35:08
wrecker pulled up Mr Gillum came out
00:35:11
asked what was going on and at that
00:35:13
point he was taken into custody
00:35:15
after 34 years have the bloodline
00:35:18
detectives finally identified and
00:35:21
captured the violent monster who raped
00:35:25
and killed Roxanne wood
00:35:28
that's next
00:35:32
[Music]
00:35:34
oh
00:35:36
[Music]
00:35:40
2021 after 34 years police from Niles
00:35:45
Michigan finally make an arrest in the
00:35:48
Savage sex assault of a young wife 34
00:35:51
years before now they had the suspect
00:35:55
under questioning
00:35:57
we have a team that was searching and
00:36:00
processing the scene his house as well
00:36:02
as his vehicle while that was happening
00:36:04
he came into the police department and
00:36:07
that is when we conducted the second
00:36:09
interview
00:36:10
we told him this is why you're being or
00:36:13
why you're under arrest because of
00:36:14
Roxanne Woods murder I started asking
00:36:16
him I guess essentially to say what have
00:36:18
you got to say about this you gave him
00:36:19
several opportunities to to explain
00:36:22
himself told him that his DNA was found
00:36:24
at the scene how do you explain your DNA
00:36:28
being there
00:36:29
as we
00:36:31
proceeded with the interview he would
00:36:33
make comments of
00:36:35
you have my DNA you have the photos
00:36:39
I must have done it
00:36:40
he would never go into detail about the
00:36:44
incident
00:36:45
and he would use his drug abuse
00:36:48
as a as a pawn as why he couldn't
00:36:52
remember things but at no point in time
00:36:54
did he ever say he did not do it
00:36:58
police Grill Patrick Gillum still he
00:37:02
will not admit to the crime even when
00:37:04
he's told about DNA evidence
00:37:06
incriminating him but then detective
00:37:10
John Moore tells Patrick Gillum what
00:37:13
lies ahead for him
00:37:16
I said I don't care what you say
00:37:18
I want this to go to trial I want this
00:37:21
to go to trial I want people to see what
00:37:24
you did and I want you to give an
00:37:25
explanation at the end of why you did it
00:37:27
because our judge will will require that
00:37:30
think that stuck in the back of his mind
00:37:32
and might have pushed him to request a
00:37:36
plea in the end because it wasn't a
00:37:39
situation where our prosecutor went out
00:37:40
and said hey we'll give you this plea
00:37:41
the defense came to the prosecutor and
00:37:44
said this is what we want to do and
00:37:45
we're willing to plea
00:37:48
he pleaded to 23 years
00:37:51
for a secondary murder charge
00:37:54
I was kind of dumbfounded because
00:37:57
you know we were prepping for a big long
00:38:00
heavy duty trial
00:38:01
Patrick Gillum takes a plea deal the
00:38:06
very first person police want to contact
00:38:09
is that person their own colleagues
00:38:12
thought may have committed the crime
00:38:14
Roxanne Woods then husband Terry Wood
00:38:19
after we made the arrest I called him he
00:38:22
showed up to State Police post in Niles
00:38:25
with his brother Robert
00:38:26
and I sat talked with him and obviously
00:38:31
he was very emotional being told that we
00:38:35
have the individual
00:38:36
that killed Roxanne finally after 35
00:38:39
years
00:38:40
it was a great feeling knowing that
00:38:43
finally we were able to give him
00:38:45
hopefully some peace of mind and the
00:38:47
community that it always questioned on
00:38:50
whether or not he was the one that
00:38:51
killed his wife
00:38:53
after over 35 years cops put Roxanne's
00:38:58
killer where he belongs behind bars now
00:39:03
the team reflects on how important the
00:39:05
use of genetic genealogy is to solving
00:39:09
this case
00:39:11
on a scale of
00:39:13
0 to 100 100 being the most important it
00:39:17
was a hundred
00:39:18
because genealogy
00:39:22
and that advance in science
00:39:26
is is what got us to where we are here
00:39:29
today
00:39:30
they took something from nothing and
00:39:34
they it turned into a person I mean
00:39:36
that's really it's just the most amazing
00:39:39
journey I I couldn't make this up
00:39:42
I want to say the genealogists that did
00:39:45
the work on this was Gabby Vargas she
00:39:48
did an absolute brilliant job and after
00:39:50
35 years she saw this in four days I
00:39:53
mean the woman is brilliant
00:39:56
Patrick Gillum had almost 35 years of
00:40:00
freedom that he shouldn't have had
00:40:03
and Terry Wood the woods family her
00:40:07
siblings
00:40:08
had to go through 35 years of not
00:40:12
knowing so yes yes there's Justice
00:40:17
I sure wish it would have happened
00:40:18
sooner though
00:40:19
for Monsters like that if they left
00:40:22
their DNA at the crime scene we're gonna
00:40:25
find you it's just a matter of time
00:40:29
The Savage Sex Attack rape and murder of
00:40:33
Roxanne wood is solved thanks to the
00:40:37
incredible science of genetic genealogy
00:40:40
the more people whose DNA becomes
00:40:43
available the more crimes can be solved
00:40:45
and always remember your DNA is
00:40:48
everywhere on that glassy touch on the
00:40:51
sheets you sleep on and in the case of
00:40:54
Patrick Gillum on the cigarette butt he
00:40:57
flicked away a cigarette butt that
00:41:00
provided bloodline detectives the match
00:41:03
they desperately needed to find a killer
00:41:07
and bring resolution to a 34 year old
00:41:11
Cold Case murder
00:41:14
I'm Nancy Grace thank you for joining us
00:41:17
here on bloodline detectives
00:41:22
[Music]
00:41:40
foreign
00:41:45
[Music]
00:42:03
[Music]
00:42:10
[Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 80
    Most shocking
  • 80
    Best concept / idea
  • 75
    Most heartbreaking
  • 75
    Best overall

Episode Highlights

  • The Murder of Roxanne Wood
    In 1987, Roxanne Wood was found dead in her home, leading to a cold case that would last decades.
    “A community living in fear: there's a rapist and a killer on the loose.”
    @ 08m 21s
    May 08, 2023
  • Breakthrough in Forensic Science
    Detectives turn to genetic genealogy to solve the cold case of Roxanne Wood's murder.
    “A revolutionary new tool called genetic genealogy will emerge as a critical weapon.”
    @ 15m 44s
    May 08, 2023
  • Identifying the Suspect
    In 2021, DNA leads detectives to Patrick Gillum, a suspect in Roxanne's murder after 34 years.
    “After 34 years, they've got to make an arrest before it's too late.”
    @ 25m 00s
    May 08, 2023
  • The Arrest After 34 Years
    In 2021, police finally arrest Patrick Gillum for the murder of Roxanne Wood after 34 years.
    “After 34 years, police from Niles Michigan finally make an arrest in the Savage sex assault.”
    @ 35m 45s
    May 08, 2023
  • Justice for Roxanne Wood
    After decades, the killer of Roxanne Wood is finally brought to justice, providing closure to her family.
    “It was a great feeling knowing that finally we were able to give him some peace of mind.”
    @ 38m 43s
    May 08, 2023
  • DNA Evidence Leads to Capture
    Detectives use DNA from a cigarette butt to connect Gillum to the crime scene.
    “The cigarette butt provided bloodline detectives the match they desperately needed.”
    @ 40m 57s
    May 08, 2023

Episode Quotes

  • A young wife brutally sex attacked then murdered.
    Who Murdered Roxanne Wood? | Bloodline Detectives with Nancy Grace
  • The DNA results tell police everything they need to know about their number one suspect.
    Who Murdered Roxanne Wood? | Bloodline Detectives with Nancy Grace
  • Sometimes it’s a combination of luck and old school detective work.
    Who Murdered Roxanne Wood? | Bloodline Detectives with Nancy Grace
  • I thought to myself that’s impossible.
    Who Murdered Roxanne Wood? | Bloodline Detectives with Nancy Grace
  • Thank goodness old school police work meets the latest in forensic science.
    Who Murdered Roxanne Wood? | Bloodline Detectives with Nancy Grace
  • Yes, yes there’s Justice.
    Who Murdered Roxanne Wood? | Bloodline Detectives with Nancy Grace

Key Moments

  • Brutal Murder08:45
  • Cold Case10:40
  • Suspect Identified24:56
  • Criminal History25:42
  • DNA Match28:25
  • Surveillance Sting29:10
  • Lawyer Request34:00
  • Justice Served40:18

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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Bloodline Detectives - Episode 14 - The Clearfield Rapist
April 01, 2021
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41:59
Bloodline Detectives - Episode 14 - The Clearfield Rapist
Forensic Files - Season 12, Episode 25 - Printed Proof - Full Episode
January 28, 2022
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21:45
Forensic Files - Season 12, Episode 25 - Printed Proof - Full Episode
The 1976 Campground Murder | Bloodline Detectives with Nancy Grace
May 04, 2025
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41:46
The 1976 Campground Murder | Bloodline Detectives with Nancy Grace
Bloodline Detectives - Episode 12 - Carnage in Cardiff
April 01, 2021
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41:59
Bloodline Detectives - Episode 12 - Carnage in Cardiff
Bloodline Detectives - Episode 8 - Blood Bath
April 01, 2021
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42:00
Bloodline Detectives - Episode 8 - Blood Bath
The Santee Strangler | Bloodline Detectives with Nancy Grace
May 24, 2023
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41:45
The Santee Strangler | Bloodline Detectives with Nancy Grace
Bloodline Detectives - Episode 13 - Llandarcy Serial Killer
April 01, 2021
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41:58
Bloodline Detectives - Episode 13 - Llandarcy Serial Killer