ARREST MADE IN 1989 BERTHA HAMINGHAUS MURDER

SOLVED?

KILLER?

HER body was found brutally raped and murdered at her home in the Good Samaritan Society retirement community, shocking it's aging residents.
But now more than 22-years on, cops say they have finally made a breakthrough in the vicious killing of Bertha Hemminghaus.
DNA, they claim links Johnny Lee Hilton, now 53 to the 1989 murder which sent shockwaves around the sleepy Kissimmee, FL community.
Sheriff Bob Hansell  was stunned to find his killer had actually moved back to the place where he committed his crime.
He said: "It's very ironic that the suspect responsible for this 1989 murder was still living in this neighborhood."

He added: "DNA is a science that continues to improve every day. It's a very painstaking process. It's not like in Hollywood where it's over in an hour. It's a very exact science."
The sheriff said they have no motive and Hilton who has a lengthy criminal history including burglaries, grand thefts and burglary with assault is refusing to cooperate with them.
He is being held at the Osceola County Jail without bond.

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SIMONE GREBE 1977 MURDER 'AN EXERCISE IN FUTILITY'

SHE WAS HOT. Stunning, cool, Simone Grebe was every man's dream in the dying days of flower power. In the fall of 1977, she arrived in the Philly suburb of Morrisville in a Ford Fairlane. No one quite knew how to take her. She was edgy, played chess and told stories. She was divorced. Lost a baby. battled cancer. Then, not six months after she arrived she was found murdered, stabbed to death in her apartment. It was February 1978.
But no one really knew the victim and theories on her murder flourished like weeds. She hung out with bikers, did drugs, was a rich girl. And now, all these years later cops still don't know the whos or whys of Simone Grebe's murder. One retired cop was blunt: "It was an exercise in futility--what can I say?"


Cops did learn this: she was about 30, born in England, grew up in Canada. After that...a series of conflicting stories. The one thing people interviewed at the time agreed on was that while Grebe was sexy, she wasn't very nice. She treated others like they were "stupid" and "that she could do anything better than you."
Detectives believe that whoever murdered her knew their way around a crime scene. her apartment was spotless, devoid of clues even though she had been ripped open with knives. But no blood.
MORE ON SIMONE GREBE MURDER

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ROBERT BOWMAN ON DNA: 'DOESN'T MEAN I KILLED HER'

THE HUNT for Eileen Adams' killer took decades. Cops chased hundreds of tips, interviewed scores of suspects and always, maddeningly came up empty. Adams, 14, disappeared on December 18, 1967 and her body was discovered in a field in January 1968.
Now, Robert Bowman, 75, is on trial in Toledo for the sickening sex slaying of the pretty schoolgirl. Cold case Det. Bart Beavers testified that only one person has ever linked anyone to Eileen's cruel killing: Bowman's ex-wife Margaret.
Beavers reopened the case in 2006 and testified (he was the last prosecution witness) he reviewed
hundreds of pages of police reports. And he also looked up Margaret, who came forward in 1981. DNA tests were ordered on Eileen's clothes--including a semen stain on her underwear. Semen that belonged to Bowman. And he described his interviews with Bowman once he finally tracked him down. Bowman told the cop of the semen: "That doesn't mean I killed her" and then proceeded to say the underwear belonged to his wife. The Toldeo Blade Beavers testified that "Bowman spoke of evil and vampires, and even referred to himself as "the devil to the devil."" That's about right. Good job Detective.

MORE IN THE TOLEDO BLADE

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NEW CLUE MAY CRACK SUSAN POWELL MISSING CASE

FOR THE past two years cops in Utah have been baffled by the disappearance of mom of two Susan Powell, 28. But they've never made a secret of the fact they think her husband Josh murdered the bubbly brunette. Now, detectives say that new information could solve the riddle and bring the fiend responsible to justice. Powell vanished on Dec. 6 2008 from her home in West Valley City.
FOR MORE SEE OUR SISTER SITE CRIME SCENE USA

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ROBERT BOWMAN 1967 DNA DEGRADED: ANALYST

A LAB rat testified yesterday in the murder trial of Robert Bowman, 75, that DNA from the 1967 sex slaying of Toledo schoolgirl Eileen Adams had degraded. For more, see the clip.  OR CHECK OUT THE TOLEDO BLADE

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PHILLIP GARRIDO EYED IN 1988 COLD CASE KIDNAPPING

COPS IN the Bay Area are taking a fresh look at Phillip and Nancy Garrido in the unsolved kidnapping of 9-year-old Michaela Garecht nearly 23 years ago. Michaela, cute and blonde, like Jaycee Dugard, vanished in November 1988 and has not been  seen since.
Capt. Darryl McAllister of the Hayward Police said: "This is one of those cases that nags at you throughout your whole career." Detectives questioned the couple last week about the Garecht case. There were many striking similarities between Jaycee and Michaela's case, cops said.

McAllister said: "They could almost be sisters. Both of the interviews lasted over two hours. Neither of the interviews revealed any direct link to the Michaela Garecht case."
However, at the time witnesses say a man snatched Michaela in front of a grocery store, taking her away in a car resembling the one Phillip Garrido had at the time. Sketches of the suspect look like  Garrido. At the time, he was living in a halfway house 20 miles away.
With any luck, Phillip Garrido may still end up with a needle in his arm and a one-way ticket to hell.

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BONES MAY END 9-YEAR CHRISTOPHER DAIGLE MYSTERY

MENDOZA

DAIGLE

THEY'VE waited almost a decade for answers, but it seems that the mother and grandmother of Christopher Daigle will get some peace, because cops say they've busted his killer.
The 17-year-old mysteriously disappeared without trace nine-years ago, but while there were no signs of him upping sticks and leaving, there didn't appear to be signs of foul play either.
Detectives didn't give up however, continuing to follow leads and eliminating suspects which eventually led them back to a man the victim's family had told them about years ago.
And Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested 26-year-old Richard Mendoza, Jr., Friday on suspicion of murder.
About six weeks ago, Daigle's ailing grandmother walked into the Missouri City Police Department and told the new detectives that she wanted closure before something happens to her.
Wanda Gregory KTRK:  "He promised they'd work on and find something. He did. They did."
Searching a rural area near their Arcola, MO home they found bones belonging to Daigle, who deputies believe was shot to death in the area and his body was left there.
DNA tests are still underway to conclude whether they belonged to Daigle.
Bond has been set for Mendoza at $250,000. He is being held in the Fort Bend County Jail.

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