20 Cold Cases That Were Finally Solved

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Certainly! Cold cases are haunting reminders of unresolved mysteries that linger in the corridors of justice. They often involve crimes that defy easy explanations, leaving investigators grappling with elusive clues and fading memories. The Death of Nova Welsh and The Murder of Joyce McLain are poignant examples, etched into the fabric of their communities, where the passage of time has not dulled the ache of loss.  The Accidental Drowning of Dalbert Aposhian offers a twist, a case initially presumed closed until new evidence or fresh eyes cast doubt on the original conclusion. These cases underscore the fluidity of justice, where what once seemed definitive can be reexamined through the lens of evolving forensic techniques or breakthroughs in investigative methodology.  The BTK Killer and The Golden State Killer stand as chilling testaments to the tenacity of evil and the resilience of those who pursue justice. Decades passed before their identities were finally uncovered, reminding us that closure can be elusive but never impossible.  In the realm of cold cases, hope is a fragile yet persistent ember, fueled by the tireless dedication of investigators and the enduring vigilance of communities unwilling to forget. Each case represents not just a search for answers but a quest for justice that spans generations, leaving an indelible mark on those touched by the crimes.

Transcript

00:00After more than 30 years, the mystery was finally solved.

00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at 20 cold cases that were finally solved.

00:11And I look, and I say, what's up? And she's like, I've been trapped in here, and he won't let me out, it's me and my baby.

00:18For this list, we're looking at the most infamous crime cases that went unsolved for many years before they were finally cracked.

00:25What cold case are you hoping investigators get a break in?

00:29Let us know in the comments.

00:31The Death of Nova Welsh

00:34In 1981, 24-year-old mother-of-two Nova Welsh had just split from her partner, Osmond Bell,

00:40and was starting to date again. Welsh had reportedly left Bell because he was violent towards her.

00:45On August 18th that year, her body was found in a cupboard at her home.

00:50A piece of chewing gum had been used to keep the cupboard closed. Welsh's friend received

00:54an anonymous handwritten letter purporting to be from a woman who saw Welsh being attacked

00:59by the man she was dating. In 2017, over 35 years later, Bell was charged with Welsh's murder

01:06after his DNA was found on the chewing gum and the envelope of the letter.

01:11He was found guilty of manslaughter and received a 12-year sentence.

01:16The Abduction of Jacob Wetterling

01:18For nearly three decades, the disappearance of young Jacob Wetterling remained unsolved.

01:23On October 22nd, 1989, Wetterling was biking home when he was abducted by a man wearing a

01:29stocking cap mask. He was never seen again. It's something that really changed the lives

01:34of both children and parents here in the state. Multiple people were questioned about the incident,

01:39but no one was ever officially charged. It wasn't until 2014, when investigators revisited the case,

01:46that the name Danny Heinrich rose to the surface. After police found illicit materials in his house,

01:52Heinrich decided to come clean and took responsibility for Wetterling's death.

01:56He struck a plea deal with the authorities, which prevented him from being charged with the murder.

02:01Heinrich later told police where he buried Jacob's body in exchange for prosecutors

02:06dropping potential kidnapping and murder charges. Instead, he was handed a 20-year

02:11jail term for possession of the illicit materials. The Murder of Anna Palmer

02:16It took over a decade, but groundbreaking DNA techniques finally brought closure to this case.

02:22In September 1998, young Anna Palmer was coming back from seeing a friend when she was attacked

02:27on the front porch of her family home in Salt Lake City, Utah. Palmer's mother returned home

02:32to find her daughter pale and cold, with several stab wounds. She was pronounced dead at the

02:38hospital. In 2010, DNA evidence from Palmer's fingernails was examined and linked to a man

02:44named Matthew Breck. And 13 years after her murder, Anna Palmer's family found closure

02:49when forensic experts found DNA under her fingernails that led them to her killer,

02:54a man already serving a 10-year sentence in Idaho. Breck, who lived close to the

02:59Palmers at the time, was sentenced to life in prison. The Murder of Joyce McLean

03:05August 8, 1980, was the last night high school student Joyce McLean was seen by her family.

03:10That evening, McLean had gone out jogging and never returned home.

03:23Her body was found two days later, right behind her school. A few hours after McLean disappeared,

03:29a young man named Philip Fournier got into a serious accident after stealing a truck.

03:34The crash left him with serious head injuries. However, he eventually confessed to his priest

03:39and his mother that he had killed McLean. These confessions remained secret until 2016,

03:45when he was arrested and charged with McLean's murder. Fournier's defense claimed his head

03:56trauma distorted his memory, leading to the hasty confessions. Regardless, he was found guilty.

04:03The Murder of Irene Garza

04:05It took 56 years for Irene Garza's killer to be charged.

04:17Garza was a schoolteacher and beauty queen in McAllen, Texas,

04:21who went to church for confession in April 1960 and was never seen alive again. Her body was

04:26discovered days later in a canal. The first and pretty much only suspect in the case was Father

04:32John Fite, the priest who'd heard Garza's confession. Yet somehow the case grew cold.

04:48Fite confessed to church officials, who kept his secret for decades.

04:52He pled no contest in a separate sexual assault case, but remained in the priesthood. It wasn't

04:58until a new DA took office that Fite was tried and convicted of Garza's murder, dying in prison

05:03in 2020. The Murder of Sherry Rasmussen

05:08Sherry Rasmussen lived a seemingly perfect life. She was married to her loving husband,

05:12John Rutten, and at 29, she was already the director of nursing at a medical center.

05:18That all came to a gloomy end on February 24, 1986, when Rutten returned home to find Rasmussen

05:25dead on the living room floor. Investigators concluded that it was a burglary gone wrong,

05:42but Rasmussen's father was convinced it was LAPD officer Stephanie Lazarus,

05:46who had had a relationship with Rutten. Detectives scoffed at the idea,

05:51telling him he watched too much TV. It took 23 years for Lazarus to be convicted using DNA

05:57evidence. Lazarus is currently serving 27 years to life in prison.

06:12The Peterson-Schussler Murders Brothers John and Anton Schussler and their

06:16friend Robert Peterson left their home in Chicago on October 16, 1955, and never returned. The boys

06:23had made the trip downtown to see a screening of the Disney documentary The African Lion,

06:28and fell prey to an unknown killer. Their bodies were found in a ditch after two days.

06:34Over two decades later, while investigating the disappearance of millionaire heiress Helen

06:38Voorhees Brock, police learned that staplehand Kenneth Hansen had allegedly boasted about

06:43killing the three boys. Almost another two decades passed before Hansen was arrested

06:48and charged with the boys' deaths. He maintained his innocence, but died in prison.

06:53The Kidnapping of J.C. Dugard For 18 years, J.C. Lee Dugard seemed

06:59to have disappeared from the surface of the Earth. In 1991, Dugard was on her way to the bus stop in

07:05Myers, California, when convicted sex offender Philip Garrido and his wife Nancy abducted her.

07:11She reaches the road. A gray car pulls up. A stranger rolls down the window.

07:16And his hand shoots out, and I just feel numb. He had shocked her with a stun gun.

07:22The incident was witnessed by Dugard's stepfather, who unsuccessfully tried to

07:26chase down the car. She remained in captivity, where she gave birth to two daughters until 2009,

07:32when Garrido made a trip to a college campus with the two girls. Observing his suspicious behavior,

07:37a campus official alerted the parole office. This is the place where J.C. was held prisoner

07:43for 18 years, and where police say she was forced to raise the two children she had with the

07:47kidnapper. Garrido was brought in for questioning, accompanied by Nancy, Dugard, and her daughters.

07:53During interrogation, Garrido cracked and confessed. Dugard and her daughters were finally

07:59free. The Murder of Jessica Lynn Keene Jessica Lynn Keene was a bright student and cheerleader

08:05whose promising life came to a brutal end on March 16, 1991. After disappearing for two days,

08:22Keene's badly beaten body was found at a cemetery in West Jefferson, Ohio. Police first suspected

08:28her boyfriend, but this was ruled out by the DNA evidence. The actual killer was caught 17 years

08:34later when DNA from the crime scene matched that of Marvin Lee Smith. Smith had been out on bond

08:40and was living in Columbus, Ohio when the incident occurred. 17 years to the day after Jessica Keene

08:47was murdered, detectives on the case learned that a DNA match had been found. The suspect

08:54was an ex-con named Marvin Lee Smith Jr. In exchange for avoiding the death penalty,

09:00Smith pleaded guilty to the crime and was sentenced to 30 years to life.

09:04The Murders of Minnie and Ed Morin On Christmas Eve, 1985, the bodies of Minnie and Ed Morin were

09:11found in a secluded wooded area in Washington state. The elderly couple had been shot in the

09:16backs and dumped in the woods. I was out scouring the different county roads when I got the call

09:21over the radio and said they had found their bodies. A friend of mine was the one that found

09:29them. The eyes of suspicion were cast onto two brothers, local drug dealers John and Rick Reif.

09:36But police lacked enough evidence to bring the men to trial. Reportedly, witnesses were too

09:41afraid to speak out. In 2012, nearly three decades after the initial crime, police had enough

09:48incriminating statements to travel to Alaska to arrest the brothers. Unfortunately, justice could

09:53only be served to one half of the murderous duo, as John Reif died one week prior to the arrest.

09:59You know, we spent all these years working up to this and the day we get the warrant,

10:04he's dead. But I knew that Rick Reif was still alive, so we knew we had to get on this now.

10:09Rick was found guilty and sentenced to 103 years in prison.

10:1425-year-old Diane Maxwell worked as a phone operator for the telecommunications company

10:21Southwestern Bell. On December 14, 1969, she was on her way back to work when she was taken to a

10:27nearby shack, assaulted and slain. Diane was just 25 years old, a single mother of a four-year-old son.

10:35Well, I will tell you that it was the most devastating thing I'd ever experienced.

10:40The investigation failed to turn up promising leads, but police preserved a set of fingerprints

10:45found on Maxwell's car. The case was reopened in 2003 at the insistence of Maxwell's brother.

10:51By this time, the fingerprints were able to be traced to James Ray Davis, a criminal with a long

10:57rap sheet. James Ray Davis spent the majority of his adult life incarcerated, auto theft, forgery,

11:06Davis confessed to the murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

11:14By the time he was arrested in 2003 for killing two El Segundo, California police officers,

11:20George Mason was a 69-year-old grandfather living a quiet life in a South Carolina suburb.

11:25Back in 1957, Mason assaulted two teenage couples and stole their vehicle.

11:31The man, a white male in his early 20s, demanded their money and jewelry.

11:37Then he ordered the two couples to get out of the car. He was fleeing the scene when officers

11:42Richard Phillips and Milton Curtis pulled him over for a traffic violation. Fearing that he'd

11:46be arrested for his earlier crime, Mason discharged his firearm at the officers,

11:51fatally wounding them. Mason's fingerprint on the abandoned vehicle and a scar he sustained

11:56from a bullet fired by Officer Phillips were instrumental in nailing him.

12:07THE MYSTERIOUS SHOOTING OF ROY MCCALOB

12:10When Roy Joe McCalob was shot and killed in his sleep on September 22,

12:141985, his wife, Carolyn Crisin Wilson, claimed it was the work of an intruder.

12:19When she was questioned, Crisin Wilson told police that she had been attacked by a man

12:2410 days prior, and the same man had struck again. With no known suspects,

12:29the case eventually grew cold, until 23 years later when it was reopened and reexamined.

12:44Crisin Wilson was arrested after investigators uncovered a ploy to cash out two life insurance

12:49policies on McCalob. At the time of her arrest, Crisin Wilson was 71 and suffering from lupus and

12:55Alzheimer's disease. She pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to just six months in

13:00jail. The murder of Susan Schwartz

13:11A deck of cold case playing cards was instrumental in solving the 1979 murder of 22-year-old Susan

13:18Schwartz. Schwartz met her end at the hands of her friend's husband, Gregory Johnson.

13:33Johnson was reportedly violent towards his wife, and Schwartz helped her move out of his house and

13:38out of state with their child. This act of friendship didn't go down well with Johnson,

13:43who detested Schwartz for meddling in his marriage. Johnson drove to her house,

13:47dragged her out of the shower, and shot her dead. He remained free until 2010, when a prison

13:59inmate saw Schwartz's face on a cold case card and recalled Johnson confessing to the murder.

14:04Johnson was arrested and dealt a 24-year prison sentence.

14:09The familial crimes of John List

14:12On November 9, 1971, John List wiped out his entire family in their Westfield,

14:17New Jersey home and basically disappeared. The brutal massacre wasn't discovered until

14:31almost a full month later, and by that time, List was already hundreds of miles away from home.

14:37Over the next 18 years, List settled in Denver, Colorado, where he took up a new name,

14:43became an accountant, and even got remarried. By 1989, the case was nearly ice cold when it

14:49was featured on America's Most Wanted. A neighbor of List watched the segment

14:53and quickly called the police on him.

15:08He was arrested at his workplace and extradited back to New Jersey,

15:13where he stood trial for his crimes. He died in prison in 2008.

15:17The accidental drowning of Dalbert Opogean

15:21The oldest case on our list, the apparent murder of Dalbert Opogean took over 70 years to be

15:26solved. In July 1933, young Opogean was declared missing by his family, and six days later,

15:33his body was found floating in the San Diego Bay. Opogean's body was mutilated,

15:38sparking fears in the city of a degenerate killer. While investigating the case, police spoke with

15:43Jack Confer, a friend of Opogean, who claimed to have been fishing with the boy when he

15:48accidentally fell into the bay. However, this possibility was ruled out by the coroner.

15:53It was decades later in 2005 when detectives officially ruled it an accident,

15:58chalking up the boy's wounds to crustaceans and fish.

16:02The disappearance of Eitan Pates

16:04Eitan Pates left home for his school bus stop on the morning of May 25,

16:081979, and was never seen by his loved ones again.

16:12At the end of the school day, when he didn't come home, his mom calls police.

16:17By that time, several hours had passed before anyone had any idea that there was something

16:22wrong. Those were crucial hours for an investigation.

16:25The young boy's disappearance gained nationwide attention and helped establish several movements

16:30that were instrumental in curbing child abductions. With no promising leads,

16:34Pates was declared legally dead in 2001. The case, however, was officially reopened in 2010.

16:41Two years later, police received a tip from the brother-in-law of Pedro Hernandez,

16:45who had worked at a nearby bodega at the time of Pates' disappearance.

16:49The Pates family has waited a long time, but we finally have found some measure of justice

16:57for our wonderful little boy Eitan.

17:00Hernandez had allegedly confessed to his prayer group in the 80s.

17:03He admitted to police that he had attacked Pates and is currently serving a life sentence.

17:09The BTK Killer

17:11The BTK killings began in 1974, when the Otero family of Wichita,

17:16Kansas lost four of its members on January 15. From that time till 1991,

17:21the killer claimed six more lives and sent mysterious letters to police in which he bragged

17:26of his crimes. His spree lasted from 1974 to 1991, during which time he claimed 10 lives.

17:34After 1991, the deaths ceased, and so did the letters. The case gradually became cold

17:41and would probably have stayed that way had the killer not rekindled his written

17:44correspondence to authorities. Police later discovered that the BTK killer was a church

17:49official named Dennis Rader, a local Boy Scout leader, churchgoer, Air Force veteran,

17:55husband and father, admitted to being BTK. Rader had sent his writings on a floppy disk,

18:01and the metadata on it was traced back to him. He was handed 10 consecutive life sentences for

18:06his crimes. The Ariel Castro Kidnappings

18:10Starting in 2002, Ariel Castro kidnapped three young women and held them prisoner in his home

18:16for more than a decade. All three women, Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Georgina DeJesus,

18:21were assaulted by Castro throughout their time in captivity.

18:34On May 6, 2013, a full 10 years after she was abducted, Berry managed to escape from

18:41Castro's house with her six-year-old daughter. A neighbor helped her call the police,

18:45leading to the rescue of the other women and the arrest of Castro.

18:58He was indicted on nearly a thousand criminal counts, including kidnapping,

19:02assault, child endangerment, and aggravated murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment,

19:08but hanged himself in his cell about a month later.

19:16The Golden State Killer

19:29It's one of the most notorious cold cases in crime history. Between 1974 and 1986,

19:35a series of crimes prevailed across the state of California that were thought to have been

19:40committed by three different people. As DNA technology advanced over the years,

19:54samples from the different crimes showed that they were all orchestrated by

19:57one person. Crime writer Michelle McNamara named him the Golden State Killer.

20:02In April 2018, former police officer Joseph James DeAngelo was arrested

20:07after investigators matched crime scene DNA with that of one of his relatives.

20:27DeAngelo was 74 years old before he was sent to prison for life, without the possibility of parole.

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