Latest news with #unsolvedcrime
Fox News
11 hours ago
- Fox News
Unsolved home invasion mirrors Idaho student murders just miles away in Washington state
Washington police have released documents describing an unsolved home invasion involving an intruder with a knife and ski mask just a few miles from the Idaho students' murders crime scene. "[The victim] said she was asleep in bed in her room in the basement when she awoke to her bedroom door being opened," according to a Washington police report obtained through public records. "She said she saw a person enter the room and approach her bed. She said the person was wearing a full-face burgundy ski mask and was holding a knife in their right hand." She was unable to tell if the intruder was male or female, but they raised the knife, she told a responding officer. "I like kicked the s--- out of their stomach and screamed super loud, and they like flew back into my closet and then ran out my door and up the stairs," she told responding officers in bodycam video. WATCH: Woman describes waking up to find armed man in a ski mask in her bedroom miles from Idaho crime scene The officer told her to sit tight in a locked vehicle with her roommates as police swept the house and surrounding neighborhood and confirmed the intruder had fled. "This is not something that happens in Pullman," the officer told them all later. "About 18 years ago, we had some situations like this, but this is very, very unusual for Pullman." The following fall, a mass murder with eerily similar details would rock the community. The Pullman Police Department reopened the case days after Bryan Kohberger's arrest for the Idaho students' murders in December 2022 – more than a year after the incident, but it remains unsolved. It had been reported previously, but following Kohberger's sentencing and the end of the gag order, police files have been released to the public. The suspect was described as between 5-feet, 3-inches and 5-feet, 5-inches tall, wearing a maroon mask. He or she has not been identified, but police suspected a neighbor early on and later looked for ties to Kohberger. Read the police report: It happened around 3:30 a.m. on October 2021 in Pullman, Washington. Kohberger moved there to attend Washington State University in pursuit of a Ph.D. in criminology for the fall 2022 semester. The town is on the state border with Moscow, Idaho, and a 10-mile drive from the University of Idaho, where Kohberger killed four students, three of them in their sleep, in a November 2022 home invasion stabbing spree. After his arrest in the quadruple murder of four University of Idaho students just 10 miles away, police looked for a possible connection to the Pullman case due to the similarities between the two home invasions. The police report indicates they found no evidence linking him to the earlier case, and they ruled him out and dubbed the investigation "inactive." The victim was not attending WSU at the time but had ties to students there. Like two of the four Idaho victims, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21, she worked at a small restaurant in town. Police investigated the neighbor, identified as Jose Anibal Cruz, but while they identified alleged holes in his alibi, they said they did not have probable cause to arrest him. Even Cruz's connection to the case is reminiscent of how Kohberger stalked his victims repeatedly before the murders. The victim told police she worried he could see through her bedroom window when he went outside to smoke. He even told police that he rarely spoke with his neighbors – except when they complained he was smoking too close to their door. Cruz could not immediately be reached for comment. According to police records, he allegedly broke into another woman's apartment in 2017 and watched her sleep. Police also received another, albeit unconfirmed, report of a man in a burgundy ski mask up to no good. Two days after the Pullman break-in, other residents reported a masked man waving at students through their window. Another similarity between the two home invasions is that police found unlocked doors and windows. "Without the DNA on the sheath, this would've been nearly impossible, and he would've probably struck again," said Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and criminal justice professor at Penn State Lehigh Valley. Kohberger, who had a master's degree in criminal justice from DeSales University in Pennsylvania, studied crime scene cleanup extensively and appears to have known how to avoid detection as a result. However, he left a Ka-Bar knife sheath with his DNA on it under Mogen's body. It wasn't until the FBI assisted Idaho police with investigative genetic genealogy techniques that Kohberger's name surfaced in the investigation. The lead investigators said after his sentencing last month that they would have caught him eventually – explaining how they had a plan to whittle down the list of suspect vehicles until they had their man. Pullman police asked WSU officials if Kohberger had come to campus for any recruiting events, but they had no record of his presence during that timeframe. There's a chance he could've been in town without having documented it with the university, but air travel, toll booth records or cellphone data could be used to conclusively place Kohberger in his home state of Pennsylvania or in Washington at the time of the incident, Giacalone said. "But at this stage of the game, it doesn't matter," he said. Idaho Judge Steven Hippler sentenced Kohberger to four consecutive sentences of life in prison without parole – plus another 10 years. As part of a plea deal that spared him from the potential death penalty, he waived his rights to appeal and to seek a sentence reduction.
The Sun
03-08-2025
- The Sun
Key clue in unsolved murder of mum, 22, shot dead on her sofa when three men burst into her home 20 years ago
A KEY CLUE has been found in the unsolved murder of a mum shot dead on her sofa when three men burst into her home 20 years ago. The family of the mother, 22, has appealed for anyone with information to come forward. 3 Lucy Hargreaves, 22, was asleep on the sofa when three men burst into her home in Walton, Liverpool, on August 3 2005 and fatally injured her. The killers then set fire to the home on Lambourne Road, where her partner and two-year-old daughter were upstairs, and they had to escape through a window. Two decades on, her family released a previously unshared photograph of the mother-of-three, taken at college. They said: "Over the past 20 years, people will have talked with family and friends. "A number of people were contacted by males using a phone that was stolen, along with a vehicle used in Lucy's murder. "The people who received those calls, along with others, could have information which could be crucial in achieving justice for Lucy, her parents, sister, children and all her extended family and friends. "We appeal directly to them to please come forward. Now is the time." Police arrested 21 people as part of their investigations, but no-one has been convicted. Manhunt Launched in Northampton: River Nene Murder Investigation Underway A comprehensive review into her murder was launched by Merseyside Police two years ago and remains ongoing. Howard Rubbery, head of the serious case review unit, said: "It is now 20 years since Lucy was taken from her family in the most brutal of circumstances. "After carrying out the killing, the offenders ignored the cries of a toddler upstairs as they poured petrol around the house and set fire to it. "Their callous and reckless actions could have claimed the lives of two more people that night, had they not escaped the flames by jumping from a window upstairs. "We are as determined as ever to get justice for Lucy, whose death robbed her family of a loving mother and daughter. "As with any unsolved murder, time is no barrier to our pursuit of justice for Lucy and we appeal to anyone with any information, no matter how small it may seem, to contact us." Ms Hargreaves' family, who said they "miss her every single day", welcomed a focus on tackling violence against women and girls in recent years. They praised the families of other victims of gun crime, including the mothers of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt Korbel and Ashley Dale, 28, who were shot in their homes in separate incidents in Liverpool in August 2022. The family said: "We greatly admire the determination and guts of the families of those who have more recently been killed as a result of gun crime here in Merseyside. "The mums of both Ashley Dale and Olivia Pratt Korbel have led a real and powerful community challenge to men of violence." The family added: "We consider ourselves to be an ordinary local family with strong roots in the Walton, Norris Green, Croxteth and Dovecot areas of Liverpool. "Lucy's nanny Joyce was a strong mother of eight who had to cope with the loss of three granddaughters in her lifetime - including Lucy. "Her nanny Betty, left a widow aged 35 with six children to bring up, was awarded the British Empire Medal for her services to nursing as an auxiliary nurse in the Royal Liverpool Hospital. "They were two strong local women typical of their generation, and Lucy too was a strong woman who could have achieved so much had she only been given the opportunity." Detectives are continuing to appeal for anyone with information about a gold Lexus car, believed to have been dumped shortly after the shooting on Richard Kelly Drive, Clubmoor, by a number of men who then ran in the direction of Normandale Road. Police previously said they wanted to speak to Kevin Thomas Parle in connection with Ms Hargreaves' murder. Parle, who was believed to be living abroad, was also wanted in connection with the murder of Liam Kelly, 16, who was shot in the early hours of June 19 2004 in Dingle, Liverpool. 3
CTV News
18-07-2025
- CTV News
Halifax police still trying to solve 2000 shooting death of Tyrone Oliver
Tyrone Oliver died in hospital after he was found suffering from gunshot wounds in the 2400 block of Creighton Street in Halifax on July 20, 2000. (Halifax Regional Police) Sunday will mark 25 years since 20-year-old Tyrone Oliver was shot and killed in Halifax, and police are still trying to solve his murder. Halifax Regional Police responded to a report of shots fired in the 2400 block of Creighton Street after 11 p.m. on July 20, 2000. Officers found Oliver at a basketball court, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to hospital, where he died later that night. Police also responded to two stabbings and an assault in the same area around the same time and they believe all four incidents are related. Oliver's murder is part of the Rewards for Major Unsolved Crimes Program, which offers up to $150,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in certain cases. 'Investigators believe there are people who have information that could help solve Tyrone's murder,' said Halifax Regional Police in a news release Friday. 'Investigators hope that the passage of time will encourage them to do the right thing and come forward with what they know. It is never too late to come forward and the smallest piece of information may be just what is needed to progress the investigation.' Police are asking anyone with information about Oliver's murder to contact them at 902-490-5020 or the rewards program at 1-888-710-9090. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
The Sun
30-06-2025
- The Sun
Who was Veronica Anderson and how did she die?
VERA Anderson received a phone call prompting her to leave her seven-year-old son in the care of a neighbour, saying she would be gone for 10 minutes. Described as fun-loving, popular and family-oriented, five hours later she was found dead in her own car with her throat slit — a crime which remains unsolved since 1991. 5 Who was Veronica Anderson? Veronica Anderson, often known as Vera, was a 42-year-old single mother residing in Widnes, Cheshire. She was well-liked in her community and co-ran a sandwich business with her teenage daughter, supplying local shops and factories. On the night of August 24, 1991, Veronica was at home with her two children. Her daughter, Lorraine, was 19 and pregnant, while her son, Neil, was just seven years old. At around 10pm, Veronica received a phone call. The identity of the caller has never been established, but whatever was said prompted her to ask a neighbour to look after her son Neil, explaining she would be back in about 10 minutes. Roughly ten minutes after she received the phone call, Veronica left her home and headed out in her blue Ford Cortina — she was never seen alive again. In the early hours of August 25, 1991, Veronica's body was discovered in her car off Tannery Lane in Penketh, Warrington, more than four miles from her home. She had been brutally murdered — her throat was cut, and there were signs of a violent struggle. A blood-stained glove and a length of cord, similar to window sash cord, were found at the scene — both believed to have been left by her killer. The attack was neither sexual nor a robbery, but the level and nature of the violence had the hallmarks of a hitman. Despite extensive investigations, the person responsible for her murder has never been identified or brought to justice. Over the years, the case has remained unsolved, despite renewed appeals and even arrests. 5 At the time of her death, Vera had been seeing a trucker for about three years. The man, who was eliminated from inquiries, stayed overnight at her home on August 23, 1991. In September 2024, Vera's daughter Lorraine Newton made a fresh plea for justice, saying: "It would be fantastic if the police could get someone for the murder. "It would be a form of relief to think they have got what they deserved." She continued: "I still hope that one day the culprit will get the justice they deserve. 5 "I would say to anyone who knows who did it to speak to the police. He has got away with this for so long and he could do it again. "Somebody knows — maybe his wife — if they do I don't know how they could live with that for 33 years. It is a very hard secret to keep. "She might have been threatened of course — 'open your mouth and I'm going to do it to you'." Media coverage The case has been featured in media and true crime programs, including reconstructions on Crimewatch. An episode of In The Footsteps of Killers examines the case of Veronica Anderson's unsolved murder. Emilia Fox and David Wilson investigate the mother-of-two's tragic demise. In The Footsteps of Killers: The Murder of Vera Anderson airs on Channel 4 at 10pm on Tuesday, July 1, 2025.
