DNA: ID

Caroline Bolen’s 1988 death in Silsbee, TX presented a real conundrum to investigators. No one, including the pathologist, was even certain that her death was a homicide. “Carol” had been found dead in her bed, nude and posed, with blood on the bedding and her young son alive next to her. The bizarre case had suspects coming out of the woodwork, but police followed the evidence, which led to none of the men in Caroline’s life. When IGG finally pointed to Caroline’s killer, the answer was surprising… because he had been there all along.

In 2001, an 84 year old woman was raped in her home in Manchester, CT. In 2004, another Manchester woman was raped. In 2007, another. In 2008, a fourth woman from the neighboring town of Vernon was victimized. A recognizable pattern emerged, and investigators knew they had a serial rapist on their hands. But they didn’t know who he was. A John Doe warrant provided probable cause for arrest, but 10 years elapsed before IGG gave a name to John Doe. And the identity of the suspect would shock the community to its core.

In the fall of 1982, seven people in the Chicago area died after taking Extra-Strength Tylenol capsules that had been deliberately laced with cyanide. The poisonings triggered a nationwide panic, an enormous investigation, and changes to product packaging that are still with us today. More than four decades later, no one has ever been charged with the murders. In this episode of The Consult: Real FBI Profilers, retired FBI profiler Julia Cowley is joined by her former FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit colleagues Angela Sercer, Susan Kossler Drew, and Bob Drew to examine the Tylenol Murders from a behavioral perspective. Who was the offender targeting? What can the method of poisoning tell us about motive, planning, and risk? And what does the behavior suggest about the person responsible?

In the summer of 1995, Patricia “Patsy” Barnes was a fixture in the Seattle, WA transient community. Patsy never met a stranger, and when she disappeared, police had a lot of work to do to try to figure out who shot her, wrapped her nude body in an old sleeping bag, and dumped her in a ditch in a residential neighborhood in Kitsap County. Despite their best efforts and a detailed sketch of her abductor, the case went unsolved. It took four consistent samples of DNA and IGG to identify her killer, whose own story was a tale as old as time, with a dramatic finalé.