Ewing, who was convicted of the murders on Aug. 6, broke into the family's new home the night of the killings. A typical way one would see this is that he likes control, that is wrong. Donna underwent several operations. I would re-profile the killer, re-examine the details of each victims daily life, re-examine the suspect pool, re-examine the crime scenes without any emotion whatsoever. He is more introverted when he is sober and an extrovert when he isnt. With time, multiple surgeries, and the support of her extended family, Vanessa began to recover from her physical injuries but living a normal life after losing both her parents to a murderer who had yet to be captured and convicted made childhood difficult. Later autopsies revealed that the Bennetts had died due to blunt force trauma and that their attacker had likely used a hammer. I lost the person who I was supposed to be.. On the night of Jan. 15, 1984, the Bennett family left their garage door open. Thieves like to hit them for the tools the guys leave at the sites overnight. He then proceeded to charge John Doe with 18 counts, including three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of sexual assault, first-degree assault and two counts of sexual assault on a child and burglary. One thing that hasnt been said would be that during the winter in Colorado construction slows and sometimes between Jan-March it slows to a crawl, a lot of guys get laid off or work inconsistently during the week. Umesh Pal murder case: Bulldozer action against Atiq Ahmad's close aides continues in Uttar Pradesh. Listen and Subscribe to The Generation Why Podcast! The Bennett family murders is a case that goes back more than three decades. Bruce and Debra were brutally attacked and killed inside their home, Melissa was killed and also raped. Ron kept vigil and kept guard in her hospital room day and night. The Military also submits DNA for specific types of crimes committed by its members. Apparently, although the authorities never followed up on this, there were a series of murders just like this across the country just off of I-70. The mandatory minimum sentence for each count is life with possibility of parole after 20 years, according to the prosecution. Patricia Smith had been laid straight, her arms crossed over her chest as if on display in a funeral home. Book Synopsis . Ewing, 23 at the time, killed the 27-year-old husband and his 26-year-old wife, as well as their daughter, inside their Aurora home. Dont forget to follow Generation Why on FB [X] , Instagram [X] and Twitter [X]. The Bennett family, consisting of Bruce (27), Debra (26), and their two young daughters, Melissa (7) and Vanessa (3), were all attacked inside their Aurora home by a serial killer named Alex. She had no idea how she got there and she didnt feel any pain. I just read this article and Im completely blown away so much of what you speculated turned out to be spot on. The four of them lived together in a townhome off of West Bayaud Avenue. They remain married to this day. This was the end of the first day of what would become a futile week-long dig for the body of Keith Bennett, who was 12 years old in 1964 when he was killed by the Moors murderers, Ian Brady and . Dont profile by LOOKING AT the behavior in an attempt to findclues to his or her psychology in an effort toaid in capturing a criminal. Alexander was not identified as a suspect until a DNA hit in July 2018 linked him to semen left at the crime scene. On Friday, August 10th, 2018 at 10:00 AM Mountain Time, a press conference was held to announce that two different jurisdictions in Colorado were filing charges against a man named Alex Christopher Ewing for the Patricia Smith and Bennett family homicides. Denver Post Archive Aurora Coroner's officers and police officers remove one of the three bodies from house at. The last family member left around 9:00 PM. During sentencing Aug. 17, members of the Bennett and Large families submitted impact statements and came to the courtroom. The Vampire Diaries Wiki Explore Main Page Discuss Bruce finally succumbed to his injuries and the family was left vulnerable. How can you describe what he feels during the crime? Another resident, Donna Dixon, was also struck with a hammer. Even though Vanessas jaw was crushed, sending jagged bones into her windpipe, she survived after her grandmother, Constance Bennett, checked on the family later that morning when they didnt show up to work at a family-owned furniture store. As she got older, unresolved anger issues caused Vanessa to clash with her grandmother who had become her primary caretaker after the death of her parents. This is a harsh, cold fact profilers must learn if they are to more accurately profile. When a telephone call came for Steve Bennett on the afternoon of July 4, 1985, his daughter, Whitney, opened her bedroom window to summon her father, who was outside watering the front yard. Your email address will not be published. He likes that violent way of killing so going from a hammer to a gun would be a jump for this killer and simply would not be the first choice for him. Police later linked the murder of the Bennett family with another rape and murder that happened just less than a week before. Investigators had collected and stored the killers DNA from the crime scene back in 1984 and since they did not know the hammer killers identity at the time issued a warrant for the arrest of John Doe on three counts of murder, attempted murder, felony murder, two counts of sexual assault, and two counts of child sexual assault in the hope that technology in the future could aid in identifying the assailant. Detective Steve Conner has investigated this case for many years, taking over from an investigator named Marv Brandt. Hecontinued to attack the child causing severe injuries, but the 3 year old held on to life and was alive the next morning when she was discovered by her grandmother. The police swarmed through the residence, quickly assessing the condition of each family member as they cordoned off certain areas of the home to gather evidence. In fact, there was a string of unsolved crimes in the area that took place just days apart from each other. The Bennett family was your average middle class family living the American dream. Patricia had only been living in Lakewood for about three and a half months, having moved there from Nebraska with her daughter, who was recently divorced. View the map. WordPress. At around 8:00 PM on January 10th, 1984, her boyfriend Ron Holm arrived home. He either got turned on by the prospect of killing or used the rapes as a way to cover up the true motive which was to murder. The Bennett family murders is a case that goes back more than three decades. He then tries to strangle her with a telephone . JonBenet was 6 years old when she was reported missing on Dec. 26, 1996, after her family reported finding a ransom note inside their home in the 700 block of 15th Street. The victims may not have ever known one another but the killer found them somehow, it was not random although it appears that way. Its also interesting to note that the first incidence of violence, the Snelling murder, didnt stop him, but he did seem to be gradually slowing down after what appears on the surface to be the 1975 peak. I also believe this is the killers first stint at killing humans he most likely as with most serial killers did in fact kill animals earlier in life. Here are the days of the week the alleged killer struck each victim (s). This case impacted not just the victims, but it also terrorized an entire community, he said. The news that the killer had been identified this year left Metz elated, he said. Twenty-eight-year-old Donna Dixon, fresh off a shift working as a flight attendant, had been out running some errands. On the night of January 16th, 1984 a gruesome discovery was made at a house on 16300 East Center Drive, Aurora. We wanted to know if there was any way that we could determine whether the voices matched or not. Its probably nothing that will move the case forward, but that show is coming out pretty soon so youll be able to find out what that is in just a couple months! As an adult, she developed a drug habit and became an addict. It was Colorado Bureau of Investigation Director John Camper who got to break the news to Aurora PD that there had been a DNA match. Before exiting the vehicle, she turned to grab her flight attendant uniform, which was hanging in the back. Look at the area, the artery that the crimes were committed along. In Aug 2018, Alexander Christopher Ewing was accused and charged in both cases. It would also be a really good idea to look at troubled or violent teens in the area because I do not believe the killer was over the age of 25. For years the case was cold, until in 2018 a DNA profile from semen the killer left at the scene was matched to Ewing. The 3-year-old sister, Vanessa, was the only survivor. Before he was sentenced, Ewing declined the chance to speak to the victim's family members, who were present in the courtroom including Vanessa Bennett, who is now 41. The guy here fit the profile you provided over that of the fbi. When they arrived home, they found it very odd that Patricias car was still there and that the television appeared to be on in the upstairs bedroom. She was born August 12, 1946 in Mississippi. But he isnt going to talk about this crime to just a friend or bar mate. Bruce Alan Bennett was twenty-seven years old. The family had been celebrating Melissas birthday that night. Remember me? Only 3-year-old Vanessa, at. Your email address will not be published. She was also left with a shattered pelvis and fell into in a coma. If he had not done that, they may have been the unfortunately victims. Why did they have to get murdered? Bennett Family Then, just as the community was reeling from this attack, 50-year-old Patricia Smith became a murder victim at her Lakewood, Colorado, home on January 10, 1984. Victim #14received a phone call from a man who whispered Remember when we played? She positively identified the man as the voice of the East Area Rapist. In 2018, a DNA match linked Alex Ewing to the Jan. 15, 1984, killings of Bruce and Debra Bennett, as well as their daughter Melissa. Perhaps, though put in tp the system (and hopefully still there, maybe for good), his DNA was never taken to match the DNA from the crime scenes. He shouted her name, but she could only groan in response. RELATED: Bennett family murders: Full coverage of suspect's trial. is finished: Fri, 09/08/23 09:00 PM EDT. According to some sources, they were able to match a shoe print from the Bennett household to a shoe print found in the garage at the Donna Dixon assault. The colossal 1,772-acre South Carolina hunting farm where Maggie and Paul. Amazing!!!!!!!! Despite the trauma of the attack and losing an incredible amount of blood, the doctors and nurses were able to save her life. She survived. The Bennett Family (Latin: Benedictus; English: Benedict; translates as "blessed" or "one who is blessed") is one of the main families in The Vampire Diaries and a matriarchal bloodline of powerful witches. This killer did in fact re-offend, the issuehe was in the learning phase of actually killing humans during this time frame in Colorado. A handful spoke in court, including the surviving daughter. The victim was fifty-year-old Patricia Louise Smith. Become a Patreon Supporter for bonus content! There are potentially other crimes that Ewing could be charged for, and Brauchler emphasized that he wont prosecute a crime that he cant ethically prove theres a high standard for evidence in these types of cases. I would not limit the list to any type of profession or lack of any type of profession until suspects can be eliminated. In 2002, Arapahoe County filed a John Doe arrest warrant for the perpetrator of the Bennet murders based on the DNA profile. ': Ohio Man Sentenced for Murdering Family of 8, Accused Stockton Serial Killer Charged with 4 More Murders, Bringing Total to 7, She Saw Her Family Murdered by a Hammer-Wielding Stranger When She Was 3. Constance entered the home, encountered the grisly scene, and immediately dialed the authorities. EAR brought his own ligatures to almost every attack he didnt rely exclusively on what was found at the scene. A hammer. Amazingly, it was thought that spending so many hours naked on the garage floor in the freezing temperatures may have kept her from bleeding to death. The investigators and the CBI were safe to guess that it might have been a construction worker that had been working in the area. Additionally, an audio expert associated with an upcoming television show that were a part of was able to isolate the background sounds of the Gonna Kill You phone call, and there was a tiny bit of a surprise in there. Not one part of this familys life would indicate such a violent predator was going to kill them. You got the age closer than the fbi and police you described exactly what the guy was feeling when he was killing them. He was among many who worked the case tirelessly for many years and is directly responsible for using some of the innovative DNA technologies, such as the Parabon Nanolabs imaging that came out a few years ago. Most importantly take the need to judge them and all of your own emotions and personal beliefs out of the picture. Here are a few of the notable phone calls: January 15th, 1979 Alexander Christopher Ewing, who is serving a prison sentence in Nevada for beating a couple there with an axe handle, has been charged with killing Bruce and Debra Bennett and their 7-year-old daughter, as well as trying to kill their 3-year-old daughter, as well as a charge for sexual assault. Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. The Bennett family. Blood was all over the garage floor. I agree with you. No other motive like robbery could be found as the only items missing were the knife used to cut Bruce and Debras purse, yet the contents of the purse were strewn in the front yard. He said the detectives who have worked it over the years, in particular Detective Steve Conner, the departments cold case investigator, never quit on. From 1987 to 1991, a serial offender known as Mr Cruel abducted children around Melbourne, Australia. They lived on the other side of the Denver metro area, but their home and Smith's home were both near a main east-west road, Alameda Avenue, leading investigators to suspect the killer used that route. The jury agreed, and on Aug. 6, 2021, they found Ewing guilty of murder in the three deaths. Fourth Crime Scene There is no innocent explanation for how you explain all of the evidence.. Thankfully, this community, these families and everyone impacted by the horrific crimes now knows this defendant will never hurt anyone ever again., 2022 - DISTRICT ATTORNEYS OFFICE 18 JUDICIAL DISTRICT, Murderer of Auroras Bennett family sentenced to life in prison, Victim Impact Statement and Restitution Information, Bad Check Restitution Program DISCONTINUED, Senior Law & Safety Summit: May 21, 2022, Peace Officer Credibility Disclosure Notification. It helps bring the other EAR phone escapades into the fold. Thankfully, this community, these families and everyone impacted by the horrific crimes now knows this defendant will never hurt anyone ever again.". There was no sign of the couple and theyve never been found. The couple's 3-year-old daughter Vanessa was also beaten but survived with permanent injuries. Just your average everyday normal family. His attacker slit his throat before eventually delivering a final fatal blow with a hammer. The truck was in a designated parking area with the radio and windshield wipers turned on. The family got a ride from someone else. There were reportedly no signs of robbery or sexual assault both women were clothed and their purses were still with them. How to Become a Crime Scene Investigator in India? Begins: Fri, 03/03/23 10:00 AM EST. The jury found Ewing guilty on all counts. He kept the hammer. Advancements in DNA evidence led investigators to a match with Ewing and samples collected from the crime scene as well as one of the victims 34 years later. DeAngelo was a police officer in nearby Exeter at the time, and has been confirmed by police to be tied to a string of over 100 burglaries, a murder, and an attempted murder that occurred in Visalia in 1974 and 1975. The other victim murdered in the terrifying crime spree. 21-year-old Polish national, Julia Faustyna, claims to be Madeleine McCann- the story so far, CCTV Footage from New Jersey Gas Station Shows Woman Escaping Alleged Captor, Two men arrested in connection with the 1975 murder of Indiana teenager Laurel Jean Mitchell. For over thirty years, this killer has remained unidentified. She screamed because he would have had to go through an open gate into their yard. There was no sign of forced entry. De Ligonnes Family. Being able to track the victim down (the call occurred at her workplace) meant that most likely, he was a free man and had stopped killing of his own volition. The FAIR School, Minneapolis Public Schools and West Metro Education Program. In just two days, Melissa would turn 8 years old. There was no sign of forced entry into the home, some articles you come across say that the killer entered through an unlocked garage door. August 17, 2021 / 3:31 PM What are Dr. Bennett's areas of care? This article in the Denver post describes how after he murdered the Bennetts he went on to enter the house of a man in Kingman, Arizona and attempted to bludgeon the man to death with a 20lb rock. The killer was practicing, he was unsure of himself and he was unsure of the weapon he would eventually use. He tossed it onto the seat of the car and began pulling her from the vehicle. Matthew Nicholas, of no fixed address, was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Friday, January 20, after being found guilty of 10 counts of sexual assault of a child under 13. He was known as the "Happy Face Killer" because he drew smiley faces on his many letters to the media and authorities. The bludgeoned bodies of husband and wife, Bruce and Debra Bennett, were discovered and it soon became evident that they had both attacked with a knife and beaten to death. All rights reserved. Both men were fiercely dedicated to seeing this case solved, and Conner started an effort to use every technology available to him to identify the offender. All three were beaten to death with a claw hammer. KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) _ Two men were arrested Friday in the killing of an elderly man and his wife, a crime whose brutality traumatized this small town and went unsolved for more than a year. But some states were slow to add DNA to CODIS and the Damn ACLU had to butt its nose into it and doesnt like how some states collect DNA beyond certain felony charges or convictions. I hurt myself. Sadly, technology was not as advanced in the mid-eighties as it is today, and the case went cold, remaining that way for over 30 years.