00:00:15
- After a day of fishing in a
small quiet village in
Switzerland, a teenage boy did
00:00:21
not return home as planned. The
investigation revealed some
important microscopic evidence in the
water near where he was last
seen.
00:00:32
It was the only forensic
evidence detectives had. Late in the afternoon of August
4th, 1993 in the small Swiss
village of Noi Paradis,
00:01:14
13-year old Dario Chikoleckia
left his home to go fishing in a
nearby creek. As night fell on the town, Dario
had not returned home and his
mother called the
00:01:27
police to report her son
missing. - When we found the bike and his
clothing, we concluded that he
had last been fishing
00:01:36
there. Where and with whom he
could have left the place, we
had no idea. - Two days passed and the search
intensified with more than 100
policemen
00:01:46
patroling the area with search
dogs. A missing person poster
aired on local television and newspapers asked
"Where is Dario?" As time
passed, people feared the
00:01:59
worst. - To us, there were clear
indications that a crime had
taken place because of the
00:02:07
objects found: his bike and his
trunks. - Search teams meticulously
combed the field next to the
creek where Dario's swim
00:02:17
trunks and fishing pole had been
found. Farther downstream,
police found Dario's
00:02:22
t-shirt on the bank. A dam was placed in the creek in
order to search the muddy bottom
for evidence.
00:02:32
Many items were discovered
but nothing that could be linked to the missing boy. Two
nights after Dario was reported
missing, two
00:02:43
women were walking a dog along a
field path near Switzerland's
border with Germany.
00:02:50
They saw what appeared to be
blood. Just a few feet away, in a
nearby cornfield, laid the naked
body
00:03:01
of a young man. - When I got the message from
these two women, we immediately
sent a police
00:03:11
officer to check the site. When
he reported that the body was
that of a young man, we realized that it might
be Dario.
00:03:18
- The body was positively
identified as Dario Chicoleckia. He had been sexually mutilated.
00:03:29
- I certainly will never forget
this all of my life, that
terrible sight. It was quite obvious from the
beginning that it was a sex
crime.
00:03:36
This could be seen from the
injuries. There were cuts and
bruises also in the genital area.
00:03:41
- When the medical examiner
arrived at the scene, he
concluded that the cuts on the
00:03:47
body were consistent with a
pocket knife but were made some
time after the boy was
00:03:51
dead. - I found on the body a lot of
long cuts, side-by-side and this
helped me to think
00:04:01
that the boy did not move
during the cuts were made. And on the other hand,
there were no defensive wounds.
00:04:10
- Although blood had been found
near the body, Dr. Wyler
believed it wasn't enough
00:04:16
blood to indicate that the boy's
heart was still pumping when the mutilation took place.
00:04:22
- When there is no heart action
and no circulation in the body, there is no possibility
to, to bleed very much.
00:04:31
- With no evidence of a
struggle, police suspected that
Dario had been murdered somewhere else and the body
transported to the cornfield.
00:04:44
Police found Dario's sneakers in
the cornfield but they did not
find the knife used in the
mutilation.
00:04:53
- We were greatly alarmed. Such
crimes are frequently repeated if the killer is still at large.
00:04:59
We therefore started immediately
with a very thorough search of
the environment.
00:05:04
- Police could find no foreign
hair, fibers, or semen but Dr.
Wyler swabbed the inside of Dario's mouth for
possible forensic evidence. When
he analyzed that
00:05:16
sample, he discovered some
microscopic evidence. It was a discovery that would
change the course of the
investigation
00:05:26
and launch a new era
in crime science. After Dario Chicoleckia's
mutilated body was found lying
in a cornfield,
00:05:41
Dr. Daniel Wyler analyzed the
forensic evidence from Dario's
mouth. Something under the microscope
caught his attention.
00:05:51
He found what they are called
diatoms. Diatoms are a type of algae,
microscopic organisms that live
mostly in the sea,
00:06:02
in ponds, lakes and streams.
They can also be found on moist
rocks, even in mud and soil. These tiny
organisms are the most diverse
of all algae.
00:06:17
Globally, they account for
approximately 25% of all
photosynthesis. There are about 16,000 different
species of diatoms worldwide,
00:06:29
about 3,000 species
in Switzerland alone. Diatoms can tell scientists
about past environmental
conditions in fresh water
00:06:40
and marine environments as long
ago as tens of thousands of
years. And in the case of Dario
Chicoleckia, Dr. Wyler hoped
that the diatoms found
00:06:51
in his body would reveal
something about his murder. - I was absolutely sure that
this boy was drowned. In the
lungs, I found a lot of
00:07:04
mud and this helped me to see
that he has been in water with a
lot of mud, so it can't be a very deep
lake or something like that.
00:07:19
It must be a creek or a small
river or something like that. - Diatoms were also found on
Dario's sneakers, which were in
the cornfield near
00:07:31
his body. The next step was to
see if the diatoms in Dario's
lungs and on his sneakers could help determine
the exact body of water where
Dario had been
00:07:42
murdered. To find out, Dr. Wyler
called on the expertise of Dr.
Joachim Hurlimann,
00:07:49
a biologist who specializes
in the study of diatoms. - You can look to the diatoms in
the lungs and you can see the
species and the
00:07:58
species give you information
about the, the type of river or
lake, the water quality.
00:08:06
- Dr. Hurlimann was asked to
analyze the diatom populations
in Dario's lungs and
00:08:11
sneakers, as well as those found
in water samples from the
region. If he could find
00:08:16
significant similarities,
investigators would know the exact location of his
murder.
00:08:24
- If you have uh, a high
similarity you know that the two
samples must come from
00:08:30
the same place. - But with as many as 3,000
different species of diatoms in
Switzerland alone,
00:08:38
Dr. Hurlimann would have to test
water samples from the nearby
bodies of water to
00:08:42
make an accurate comparison. - To be very sure that there is
no other pond or river or creek
which has the
00:08:51
similar or the same diatom
community, so if you look to
other, uhm, water bodies
00:08:59
and you won't find the
communities, then you're quite
sure that uh, this special
00:09:03
place was the place
of the, of the drowning. - Water samples were collected
from the surrounding bodies of
water including the
00:09:13
Rhine River which flows between
the creek and the cornfield
where Dario's body had
00:09:19
been found. The water samples
were treated with acids to kill
any organic matter in
00:09:24
the diatoms, leaving their
glass-like skeletal remains, a
necessary step in identification according to
species. Under the microscope,
Dr. Hurlimann compared the
00:09:38
diatom populations found in
Dario's lungs and on his
sneakers to the thousands of
00:09:45
known species in his reference
journals. He found one dominant
species. The diatoms were identified
as Fragilaria Pinnata,
00:09:57
a fresh water species
usually found attached to sand grains in slowly moving
water. The next step was for Dr.
Hurlimann to
00:10:07
count and identify the diatom
populations from the various
water samples using an elaborate chart. It was
a tedious process but eventually
he found one body
00:10:22
of water which had, as it's
dominant species, Fragilaria
Pinnata, the same dominant species found in
Dario's lungs and on his
sneakers. It was from a water
00:10:35
sample taken from the creek just
a few feet away from where
Dario's bicycle was found. This discovery led Dr.
Hurlimann to one conclusion.
00:10:47
- We can say that the diatoms
found in the lungs of Dario must
be from the same place
00:10:53
and we have taken samples from
the creek. - Was it possible that the
diatom evidence could tell
investigators more than simply
00:11:02
where Dario was murdered? Could the diatoms lead
investigators to the killer? Armed with the diatom evidence
found inside Dario Chicoleckia's
lungs and on
00:11:20
his sneakers, police concluded
that he had been forcefully
drowned in the creek where
00:11:26
he had been fishing, before
being mutilated and dumped in
the cornfield. The question now, who murdered
Dario and how was the body
transported
00:11:38
to the cornfield
a few kilometers away? Police questioned friends
and acquaintances of the victim.
00:11:49
- We questioned about 200
persons, both in Switzerland and
Germany. Of course, the family
were also investigated
00:11:55
as it is always done in such
cases. Also, in case no responsible
person is found to clear the
family
00:12:01
that no suspicions remained with
them. - With no strong leads or
suspects, Swiss Police informed
Interpol of the case.
00:12:10
Interpol is an international
agency headquartered in France
that shares information about criminal
investigations with the 178
nations
00:12:19
who are members of the network. - As the body was found so close
to the border, it was possible
that the murderer
00:12:28
might have come from or gone to
a foreign country. It was a
difficult case. Interpol was also informed of
the case.
00:12:36
- Three months after the murder
of Dario Chicoleckia, Interpol
notified Swiss Police of a possible lead.
A man had been arrested in
France
00:12:45
for sexually assaulting a
hitchhiker and trying to kill
him. He was identified as
35-year old Roland Keebler,
00:12:55
a psychiatric nurse who was
divorced and the father of a
five-year old girl. What caught Interpol's attention
was the fact that Keebler lived
in Switzerland,
00:13:06
not far from the village where
Dario Chicoleckia was murdered. When Dr. Wyler heard of Roland
Keebler's arrest, he suggested
something unusual.
00:13:17
He told the Swiss Police
to examine Keebler's car. - Car is still in Switzerland so
I asked the police whether its
possible to get
00:13:31
the pedals of the car
and the carpet in the trunk, to bring all that stuff to Dr.
Hurlimann.
00:13:40
- It was clear that the people
who has done this drowning that,
uhm, he must have
00:13:47
diatoms on his shoes, on his
clothes or, or in his car. - Forensic scientists collected
microscopic debris from inside
Keebler's
00:13:57
car, including material from
both the gas and brake pedals the carpet in the passenger
compartment and the carpet from
the trunk.
00:14:08
When Dr. Hurlimann analyzed
those samples under a
microscope, he made a surprising
00:14:14
discovery. He found diatoms. They were found on both the gas
and brake pedals, in the carpet
under the pedals
00:14:25
and in the carpet in the trunk.
When he analyzed the diatoms found in the car, he discovered
they were Fragilaria Pinnata,
00:14:36
the same dominant species found
in Dario's lungs, on his
sneakers and in the creek.
00:14:44
With 3,000 different species of
diatoms in Switzerland, the
similarities in the diatom evidence was significant.
00:14:53
- We know now that the material
found in the car must come or is
similar to the one
00:15:00
of the lung of Dario and to the
material found in the creek. - Armed with this microscopic
evidence, Swiss Police
confronted Roland Keebler.
00:15:11
He denied he had anything to do
with Dario's murder and said he
only knew about the crime from what he read
in the newspapers.
00:15:19
But during questioning, Keebler
revealed details of Dario's
wounds, details which had never been
reported in the newspapers.
00:15:30
Roland Keebler knew too much. When confronted with the
discrepancy, Roland Keebler confessed to the
murder of Dario Chicoleckia.
00:15:44
A picture now emerged of what
took place at the creek the day
Dario disappeared and how his killer left behind a
microscopic trail of evidence.
00:16:01
During police interrogation,
Roland Keebler confessed to both the murder and the mutilation
of Dario Chicoleckia
00:16:09
and his long standing sexual
fantasies about young boys. - He is, in simple terms, a
pedophile
00:16:19
and he has suppressed his
homosexual tendencies for years. And when he lived his fantasies,
he had to kill the victim in
order to keep a secret.
00:16:28
- On August 4th, 1993, Dario
rode his bicycle to the creek
near his home for an afternoon of fishing.
00:16:39
He left his bike near the main
road and headed down to the
water. Roland Keebler was on vacation
and had been drinking heavily
00:16:50
when he drove in the area
where Dario was fishing. Keebler spotted Dario's bike and
told police just knowing a young
boy
00:17:02
was in the area excited him
greatly. Keebler parked his car and
walked to where Dario was
fishing.
00:17:12
[foreign language] After a brief conversation,
Keebler approached Dario again. He attacked the young boy,
pushing him into the water,
forced him to undress
00:17:31
and sexually molested him. Then Keebler forced Dario's head
under the water into the mud
00:17:40
of the stream bed. With his knee between Dario's
shoulderblades, he kept the boy
00:17:45
submerged until the struggling
stopped. Keebler decided not to leave the
body at the scene of the crime.
00:17:59
Instead, he placed the boy's
body into the trunk of his car and left for a social engagement
with his ex-wife.
00:18:12
Little did Keebler realize he
had left behind a trail of
evidence, microscopic single cell evidence
which would link him to the
scene of the crime.
00:18:24
From the moment Keebler pushed
his victim into the creek, microscopic diatoms in the water
attached themselves to the soles
of his shoes
00:18:32
and diatoms in the water
flooded Dario's mouth and lungs when he was forcefully drowned.
00:18:40
Keebler transferred those
diatoms from his shoes to the
pedals of his car when he drove away.
00:18:48
And diatoms from Dario's mouth
would later seep onto the carpet
in the trunk in which he was transported
to the cornfield.
00:18:59
Dr. Wyler's discovery of the
diatoms and Dr. Hurlimann's species
identification in the laboratory
00:19:07
were essential elements in
tracking down a vicious killer. Roland Keebler had silenced his
victim but the diatom evidence
spoke volumes.
00:19:20
- I am proud that I found these
diatoms. It was a very, very
good feeling for me
00:19:27
to have found a scientific way
to prove something which was
very important, to find a murderer.
00:19:40
- We know that we didn't make
big mistakes or errors in, in
the determination or in
00:19:48
the preparation of the
older samples, so it was, at this moment, it was a good
feeling, of course.
00:19:56
- This case therefore became
sort of a model case. Also worldwide and particularly
in Switzerland.
00:20:02
it had never been done in this
way before. We were pioneers and we
certainly hope that it will be
possible to solve
00:20:08
other cases in the same way
for the future. - Roland Keebler confessed not
only to the murder of Dario
Chicoleckia
00:20:17
but also admitted killing
another boy in the same area of
Switzerland ten years earlier.
00:20:24
Keebler was convicted of both
crimes and was sentenced to life
in prison. Candles burn near the
creek where Dario died,
00:20:36
a shrine built by villagers
to keep Dario's memory alive. And in the nearby churchyard
where Dario is buried,
00:20:48
his sculpture reminds visitors
of the gentle, innocent child
who died too soon. - Whenever children are the
victims of violent crimes, it's
much, much worse.
00:21:02
And this must be the same
all over the world.