Clothing, hair, DNA and technology: How police identified the 'I-65 killer' after 35 years
INDIANAPOLIS – For at least three years in the late 1980s, the man stalked the I-65 corridor from northwest Indiana to Kentucky, targeting lone women working at roadside motels. He would rape his victims before executing them, according to police.
The man's identity remained a mystery to local, state and federal law enforcement agencies for more than 35 years. Investigators collected ballistic and DNA evidence from multiple crime scenes but had been unable to match the findings to a potential suspect.
On Tuesday, however, authorities announced a breakthrough: The suspect's name is Harry Edward Greenwell. He died of cancer in 2013 at the age of 68. Technological advancements and investigative genealogy, police said, cracked the case.
Previously: Man known as the 'I-65 killer' has been revealed, bringing closure to decadeslong search
The investigation into the man now identified as Greenwell began Feb. 21, 1987. Vicki Heath, a 41-year-old mother of two, was found dead at a Super 8 Motel where she worked in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
Two years later, police would find Jeanne Gilbert, a part-time auditor at a Days Inn in Remington, Indiana, shot to death on March 3, 1989. The same day, and about 50 miles north, 24-year-old Margaret “Peggy” Gill was shot to death at a Days Inn in Merrillville.
Indiana State Police Master Trooper Glen Fifield told reporters Tuesday that investigators collected "DNA, clothing, hairs, fibers and ballistic evidence" from the three homicide scenes. Another woman survived an assault and stabbing at another Days Inn in Columbus, Indiana, on Jan. 2, 1990 and gave detectives "an excellent physical description of the suspect."
First breakthrough in 2010
It wasn't until 2010 that the first major breakthrough in the case came. Investigators connected the killings of Gilbert and Gill through ballistic evidence, Fifield said. They matched DNA evidence from the Gilbert and Heath murders to the assault in Columbus through the federal Combined DNA Index System.
The FBI's Gang Response Investigative Team joined the investigation in 2019 and began the investigative genealogy process thanks to technological upgrades.
More on the 'I-65 killer' from the Paste BN Network: What we know about three women who died, and one who survived
That process, officials said, involves uploading a crime scene DNA profile to genetic genealogy databases in an attempt to identify a suspect's genetic relatives and, in some cases, find where in a family tree a suspect may fall.
In the case of Greenwell, police said they were able to identify the man using the DNA of "a close family member." The match was 99.9999% positive.
“Fortunately, since these crimes were committed many years ago, there have been some scientific developments," said Herbert J. Stapleton, special agent in charge of the FBI's Indianapolis field office. "It’s through these technological advances, and perhaps more importantly strong, collaborative partnerships among law enforcement personnel, that we were able to identify this person and hopefully begin to bring closure to all those affected.”
Greenwell had a lengthy criminal history dating back to at least 1963, according to a timeline presented at Tuesday's news conference. He had been in and out of custody in multiple states over a 35-year span on accusations of sodomy, robbery, burglary and restraining order violations. In 1982, he escaped custody twice.
Still, police said those run-ins did not tip them off to Greenwell's alleged involvement in the three homicides and assaults.
ISP Superintendent Douglas Carter touted the work of all the agencies involved in the investigations, which ranged from state police to local police departments to the FBI's Houston, Texas, field office. Some officers, he said, have put years into the case.
"There’s detectives in this very room that have been involved in this, in some form or another, literally for generations," Carter said Tuesday. "And they’re owed a debt of gratitude that we cannot possibly repay.”
Addressing the families of the victims, he added: "We have a real opportunity here to change the very future of policing. The message here is, because of science and because of technological advances... we are better people."
"To anybody contemplating continuing to commit these kinds of crimes, you cannot hide. You cannot hide from this."
'Likely won't be the last time': NYC, DC shootings yet another stressor for homeless men
Investigative genealogy at forefront
Authorities' identification of Greenwell comes days after investigative genealogy led to a 650-year sentence in another decades-old case in Indiana.
In August 2020, a licked utility bill envelope helped police identify Steven Ray Hessler, 59, as the man responsible for a series of rapes between 1982 and 1985. Investigators in that case sent DNA samples to Parabon NanoLabs, a Virginia-based lab that combines DNA testing with genealogy and records research.
Hessler was sentenced last week to 650 years in prison.
When it comes to Greenwell, law enforcement officials said they are actively investigating the possibility the man is connected to more unsolved homicides throughout the Midwest, including one in Minnesota.
They would not elaborate on any details.
“Investigators have long believed that there's a distinct possibility that there have been murders, rapes, robberies, or assaults that have not yet been connected to this investigation," said Fifield, the state police trooper.
“We’re anticipating that this revelation today may generate new leads on other cases."
Follow reporter Lawrence Andrea on Twitter @lawrencegandrea.
Biden extends pause on student loan payments until Aug. 31: What does it mean for borrowers?
Health and wellness: TikTok swears by post-gym massage gun use. Is it a good idea?