Cold case slayings of 2 women in Las Vegas solved with DNA

Sixteen-year-old Kim Bryant was adjacent Western High School connected Jan. 26, 1979, earlier she was kidnapped, raped and slain by a stranger.

The killing of the promising Western sophomore caused a stream of heartache that hasn’t stopped flowing implicit 40 years later.

“It doesn’t spell away,” said Bryant’s father, Edward Elliott, of Missouri. “A 16-year-old miss — this SOB took her beingness and everything she had going for her.”

Four years aft Bryant was abducted, a astir identical crime was committed against Clark High School postgraduate Diana Hanson, 22. The assemblage pupil was location successful Las Vegas for the Christmas holidays erstwhile she was abducted connected Dec. 30, 1983, portion jogging. She, too, was raped and killed, her assemblage aboriginal recovered connected the outskirts of Las Vegas.

“It was hardest connected my parents, to suffer a child,” said Hanson’s brother, Kevin Hanson, of Florida, adding, “Time doesn’t heal. It conscionable makes you enactment it successful the backmost of your head. So for the longest time, I was truly aggravated and hated the guy.”

The months, years and decades would walk with nary arrests. The agelong hold for answers for some families, however, yet arrived successful a span of 1 week starting successful precocious November. Las Vegas constabulary said they had utilized advances successful DNA exertion by a Texas-based lab, a philanthropist’s donations and gumshoe detective enactment to nexus long-deceased Las Vegas nonmigratory Johnny Blake Peterson to some killings.

“I ever knew they would yet fig retired who it was,” Hanson said. “I truly admit that the constabulary section ne'er gave up connected her, and I don’t deliberation they springiness up connected immoderate of the victims similar my sister.”

Search, heartbreak

There were fewer leads for constabulary to enactment with successful some the Bryant and Hanson cases. There were nary precocious postulation cameras astatine large intersections, nary DNA investigating available. Instead, determination were witnesser accounts, humor typing, fluid collection, a hunt for fingerprints, hopefully a jailhouse snitch and, successful the Hanson case, besides immoderate tyre tracks to enactment with.

Bryant was past seen with a person astatine a Dairy Queen adjacent Western connected Decatur Boulevard the greeting she disappeared. Her begetter described her arsenic a beautiful, kindhearted, loving kid with a agleam aboriginal ahead. On that day, Bryant planned to get a thrust from her boyfriend, but erstwhile helium showed up, she was gone. Her tote container holding her belongings was recovered successful the street, alerting her parents instantly that thing was wrong.

What followed was a frustrating hold successful getting the connection retired arsenic immoderate questioned whether she could person tally away. Her assemblage was recovered successful the godforsaken connected Feb. 20.

Retired Las Vegas constabulary Detective John Silbaugh started moving connected the lawsuit a fewer months aft the find erstwhile helium joined the homicide detective squad for a 2nd clip successful his career. He said helium and others worked connected the lawsuit for years. It was evident the idiosyncratic who killed Bryant was a cold-blooded predator, but constabulary had fewer clues.

“We had witnesser statements astir antithetic vehicles, 1 of them was a four-wheel thrust Jeep oregon SUV of immoderate type,” helium said. “A mates of guys successful it, seen talking to her. That was it. No statement … each we had was maybes and could bes.”

At 1 constituent detectives traveled to Michigan to interrogation a antheral who supposedly witnessed the transgression lone to larn the communicative was fiction.

Given the mode the transgression was carried out, constabulary believed Bryant’s slayer was apt liable for different akin crimes and would astir apt termination again if not caught.

“When you person a pistillate oregon a miss kidnapped, murdered, enactment successful a desert, that is an M.O.,” Silbaugh said. “From the archetypal 1 helium does to the past 1 helium does, it ne'er changes.”

Elliott said that astatine 1 constituent the household was told by constabulary that a transgression executed successful Texas was the apt killer, but the household ne'er believed it. As the years went by, the torment of not knowing was a colossal drain connected everyone.

His precocious wife, Sharrie Elliott, wrote to the Las Vegas Review-Journal months aft her daughter’s disappearance: “I cannot store for her day presents, I cannot person a barroom made for her, determination volition beryllium nary enactment with her smiling face.”

“I cognize it sounds stupid, but connected Kim’s day I would springiness thing if I could accidental to her, ‘Rest now, baby, they person caught those who wounded you truthful atrocious and took you distant from us,’” she wrote.

Diana Hanson’s begetter was a aviator stationed astatine Nellis Air Force Base astatine the clip of her abduction.

About 3 months earlier her death, Kevin Hanson said, his sister made a astonishment sojourn from assemblage to spot him successful Mississippi erstwhile he, similar his father, obtained his aviator wings astatine an Air Force base.

”She wanted to beryllium a exemplary for a while,” helium said. “She did immoderate modeling erstwhile she was 15, and erstwhile she ended up successful assemblage astatine North Texas State she was pursuing a plan degree, interior design. She was precise creative. She would marque Christmas presents much than bargain them.”

Diana Hanson was a regular jogger, and Kevin Hanson had talented his sister a Walkman with headphones truthful she could perceive to euphony portion running. Her member said erstwhile she was location successful Las Vegas, she would ever spell jogging with a person to beryllium safe. On the time she went missing, though, she went alone.

Within 24 hours of her disappearance and the constabulary being called, her begetter was asked to place his girl astatine the morgue. She had been stabbed much than a twelve times.

The devastation would ne'er spell distant for the Hanson family.

“For my mom, anytime she saw a movie oregon thing wherever a parent is helping her girl get acceptable for a wedding oregon something, she would beryllium upset,” Hanson said. “We grew up Catholics, and she was really praying for the guy’s soul. It took her years. She was aggravated astatine God for a while, and past she prayed for the killer’s soul.”

Like successful the Bryant case, determination was small to enactment on. Police acceptable up roadblocks searching for witnesses successful the days aft the killing. They recovered a azygous acceptable of tyre tracks astatine the transgression country that offered immoderate committedness that they would 1 time ace the case. Silbaugh was nary longer moving successful homicide erstwhile Diana Hanson was killed, but the constabulary suspected determination was a beardown accidental the Hanson and Bryant cases were related.

“We were reasoning it mightiness person been a transient. That is benignant of what I thought,” Kevin Hanson said.

DNA breakthrough

Both the Hanson and Elliott families remained steadfast successful the content that 1 time the slayer would beryllium identified, nary substance however agelong it took, and some families stayed successful interaction with police.

Current Metropolitan Police Department homicide Lt. Ray Spencer said the large interruption came this twelvemonth erstwhile detectives took DNA grounds collected from Bryant’s assemblage and sent it to a pioneering backstage laboratory successful Texas called Othram Inc. The laboratory had helped Las Vegas constabulary lick different acold lawsuit homicide by utilizing advances successful DNA exertion to place a Las Vegas slayer utilizing conscionable 0.12 nanograms of DNA. The investigating was made imaginable by wealth donated by Las Vegas philanthropist and entrepreneur Justin Woo.

“We decided that we wanted to physique a laboratory that would beryllium benignant of the forensic laboratory of the future,” said Kristen Mittelman, main concern improvement serviceman astatine Othram. “A laboratory that would beryllium capable unlock DNA clues from forensic grounds successful a mode that has ne'er been done before.”

The laboratory has developed proprietary methods to execute DNA sequencing connected highly tiny samples of grounds to make what Mittelman calls “high show profiles” of a suspected killer.

That’s what the laboratory did with the aged samples secured from the transgression country successful Bryant’s case. It past uses publically disposable genealogy databases, arsenic good arsenic their ain database, to illustration retired the household histrion of the killer, yet allowing constabulary to place the idiosyncratic done DNA comparison.

“It is the astir rewarding happening I person ever done,” Mittelman said. “I don’t deliberation anyone should person to hold 42 years to find retired what happened to their loved one.”

DNA matches

On Nov. 29, the slayer of Bryant was identified arsenic Peterson, who was 19 astatine the clip of the crime. He died successful the Las Vegas Valley successful 1993 and was ne'er connected anyone’s radar arsenic acold arsenic a fishy successful Bryant’s case, though helium was astatine 1 constituent a rape fishy successful the valley. Spencer said constabulary are inactive trying to fig retired the nonstop circumstances of Peterson’s death.

Kevin Hanson said erstwhile Bryant’s lawsuit was solved, a detective received a witnesser relationship from idiosyncratic who knew Peterson and who said astir the clip his sister went missing, Peterson had a marque caller acceptable of Walkman headphones successful his trunk. This prompted constabulary to bash a nonstop DNA lucifer betwixt Peterson’s DNA illustration and DNA from Diana Hanson’s case. It was different match, confirming Peterson had killed both.

Police and household members said they knew of nary transportation betwixt Peterson and the young women. Peterson had been a pupil astatine Western, but constabulary person nary denotation that helium knew Bryant. Spencer said constabulary are present checking 5 different acold lawsuit enactment battle homicides of women successful the vale successful the precocious 1970s and aboriginal 1980s to spot if Peterson is responsible.

“Saddened,” Kevin Hanson said. “For (my mother) I deliberation it was bully closure that we cognize who it is. I deliberation she was really relieved helium was deceased.”

Elliott said Peterson should beryllium thankful he’s dead, adding that if Peterson were live contiguous “there’d beryllium an apprehension warrant retired for me.”

“If helium was alive, and I’m 80 years old, he’d privation to hellhole helium was ne'er born,” Elliott said.

Elliott and Hanson expressed appreciation for each those progressive successful giving their families the sanction of who was liable for each the misery. Elliott, choking backmost emotion, had a elemental connection for Woo’s donation that made the DNA lucifer possible.

“Just archer him, from the Elliotts, we truly admit it,” helium said.

Contact Glenn Puit by email astatine gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ connected Twitter.