Criminology - Robert Eugene Brashers

Episode Date: October 27, 2018

Robert Eugene Brashers began murdering in 1985 as he drifted from state to state. Police had his DNA but he never made their radar since he wasn't in any database. His murderous ways ended in 1999 when he died in a stand-off with police. But it wasn't until 2018 that Brashers was tied to his murders through the use of Genetic Genealogy. You can support the show at patreon.com/criminology An Emash Digital production Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Criminology is a true crime podcast that may contain discussion about violent or disturbing topics. Listener discretion is advised. I'd like to welcome everyone to season four, episode five of criminology. We're about halfway through another season, and it's kind of hard to believe. It goes very fast. But we're hoping that everyone is enjoying this season. We've had a lot of really positive comments about the cases and the information that we're bringing to you this season and we appreciate that.

We have a very good episode today about more, what is it say, really bad guy. But before we dive into that, let's give our Patreon shoutouts. We had Nancy Gerard, Key Sardi jumped out to our highest level, J.W. Brock and Brandy Rouse. So big shout out to all of those folks, much appreciated that. that they chose to support the show on Patreon. And we appreciate all the people that continue to support the show month after month. Yeah, thanks to all of our Patreon supporters.

We're happy to be able to put some stuff on Patreon, like ad-free, early access to episodes of criminology, plus Patreon exclusive material that you don't hear on regular episodes. And if you want full access to all of that, you can get it by going to patreon.com slash criminology. and once again we can't thank you enough for your support. Now, this episode is about Robert Eugene Brasher's, a serial rapist and a killer who some dubbed over the years Mr. Maroon for reasons that we'll get into later.

He died in 1999 following a standoff with police. Brasher's had been in trouble on and off with police for years before that. But the exact level of just what kind of criminal he was wouldn't be realized until 2018, almost 20 years after his death. 2018, the year that a lot of these cold cases have been and continue to be solved. And the story of Robert Brasher's is proof that even in death, if you're a criminal, you can't hide from your DNA. But to understand the path that led to this revelation, we have to go back to the beginning.

Robert Brasher's was born to Dulles and Nellie Brasher's on March 13, 1958 in Newport, Newport, Newarkia. He had a brother and two sisters. And not much is known about Brasher's during his high school years, but once he was an adult, he sort of became a nomad. He traveled across the southeastern and south-central areas of the United States, living for stretches of time in South-Coleged. Carolina, Florida, Texas, Louisiana, and Missouri. While it's been reported that Brasher's had a checkered past, dating back to his youth, details are sketchy. What we do know is that in November of 1985, when Brashers was 27 years old, he got into

some very big trouble down in Florida where he was living in Fort Myers. On Friday, November 22nd, 1985, Brasher's was driving a pickup truck in an area of Fort Pierce, about 130 miles east of where he was living when he spotted a woman walking down the street. He stopped and offered her a ride and she accepted. The woman was 25-year-old Michelle Wilkerson, and it wasn't long before Brasher's began to act very oddly. And Michelle started to regret accepting the ride. She had expected to be taken to her home, but instead Brasher's drove west into a secluded area and made his way into an orange grove.

Once he arrived at this secluded farm, he started making sexual advances towards Michelle and she refused them. She pleaded with him to stop, but Brasher's pulled a gun on the frightened woman. She tried to fend both him and the gun off, but Brasher's fired two shots at very close range, which struck Wilkerson twice in the head. But amazingly, somehow she jumped out of the truck and took off running. She scrambled down a small culvert that ran under the road. And although it was only 18 inches wide and filled with mud, she squeezed into this culvert and

crawled in to get out of sight. Brashers wasn't able to find her, and he got back into his truck and drove off. After waiting a while, until she felt he was definitely gone, Michelle crawled out, dazed and in pain, and got to her feet. And remember, she was shot twice in the head, but she somehow hung on and stayed conscious. Once she was on her feet, she saw a house in the distance and ran towards it. But when she got to it, she realized that the house was empty, and it was actually a makeshift the office for the orchard. Although the building was empty and locked, there was a phone outside, and Michelle called police from it. Trying not to pass out and hoping that her attacker wouldn't return, she described their location to police over the phone. It wasn't until after 3 a.m.

that police found the orchard. When police arrived, Michelle crawled into a truck that was parked on the farm. She was worried that police wouldn't see her, wouldn't find her in the darkness. So she began flashing the truck's lights to get the officer's attention. Police spotted the lights and they drove down the dirt road to the office. When they got to Michelle, she was barely coherent. Michelle couldn't sit up on her own and stayed upright by leaning against the wall. An officer tried to ask Michelle what happened, but she couldn't answer. She was rushed to the closest hospital, which was the lawn.

Regional Medical Center, where doctors worked quickly to stabilize her. Now, as they worked on her, Michelle was able to give some details of the attack and a description of the attacker. Once the police had this information, they put it out on the radio. About 20 minutes after the information was broadcast, Officer Angela Darling was on patrol near Frederick Douglas Beach when she spotted a truck that matched the one that Michelle Wilkerson described getting into. When the officer got a look at the driver,

she quickly realized that he matched the description of Wilkerson's attacker. Officer Darling ordered the man out of the truck and onto the ground. She was able to take him into custody without incident. The man turned out to be Robert Eugene Brasher's. Miraculously, Michelle Wilkerson, although being badly wounded, survived her ordeal. Brashers was placed in the St. Lucy County, County Jail and held on bonds totally more than $107,000. He was charged with attempted first degree murder, attempted second degree murder, aggravated battery, and the use of a firearm in commission of a felony.

Robert Brasher's eventually went to trial for the attack on Michelle Wilkerson and was convicted of lesser charges. He served three and a half years and was released in 1980. but his time in prison didn't set Brasher straight. And in fact, when he got out, he was more of a hardened, ruthless criminal than he was before he went in. And his crimes would only get worse during the next decade. On Friday, April 6th, 1990, maintenance workers entered an apartment in the Hidden Lakes apartments in Greenville, South Carolina. The resident of that apartment, 28-year-old Genevieve-Sitrived,

who went by Jenny, had not shown up for work at the local Michelin plant, and concerned friends asked the workers to check on her well-being. When they entered the apartment, they made a horrifying discovery. Jenny Satriki was dead in her bathtub. The water was running, but wasn't overflowing because it was draining out of the overflow. The maintenance men summoned police, and investigators quickly arrived on the scene to work it for clues. It didn't take long for the detectives to establish that the woman had been murdered. It appeared to them that she had been beaten to death around her head area by a blunt object.

Zatriki's body was clothed and the apartment was in disarray from what appeared to be some type of struggle. There was a hand-scrawled note on a mirror that read, Don't fuck with my family. And investigators felt that the killer had written it. Jenny Zatriki was divorced.

and didn't have any children. She had lived alone in the apartment for about three years. There were no immediate suspects, but police did question her ex-husband, who also lived in Greenville, but they quickly ruled him out as a suspect. Residents of the complex, as well as Zatriki's friends, were questioned,

but police didn't come up with anything to lead them in the direction of any solid persons of interest. They traced her. movements from the Tuesday night before her body was found. Jenny had a couple of drinks with some residents who lived in another apartment in her complex. Just after midnight, early on Wednesday morning, Jenny left the gathering and headed back to her apartment. Once she got there, she called a girlfriend and they chatted until about 1230 a.m.

Two days later, Jenny's body was discovered. An autopsy was performed on the body, and the Tricky was officially declared to be a victim of homicide. Cause of death was trauma to the head, approximately 24 to 36 hours before the body was found. Sometime early on Thursday, April 5th. The examination also revealed that Jenny had been sexually assaulted. Only days after the murder, police divers were using underwater metal detectors to search a lake on the apartment complex property. They were hoping to recover the murder weapon, but only found. cans and other garbage. By late May, the investigation in the Jenny Satriki's murder wasn't gaining

any steam. As a result, the Greenville County Crime Stoppers offered a $1,000 reward for information about the murder. Police revealed at that time that they believed that the killer had gained entry to the apartment by forcing open a backsliding glass door. By July, over 100 people had been questioned by police, and a reward of $15,000 was offered. offered in Jenny's case by her family. But the reward offers didn't spur any new leads, nor did it help develop any suspects. By January of 1991, Jenny Zatriki's case was the only open homicide in the county. Police wanted to clear her case badly, but it was growing cold very quickly.

By mid-91, police, desperate for any leads, released more details than they had before. They stated that Jenny Zatricky's killer had wrapped panty hose around her neck and dragged her to the bathtub. And before leaving the apartment, the killer filled up the kitchen sink with water and dumped the contents of Jenny's purse into the water. They also announced that they believed the writing on the mirror was made to intentionally mislead the police. Over the next few years, no new lead surfaced and the case stalled. Police became interested in a killer from Charlotte, North Carolina, named Henry Lewis Wallace, because a murder he committed had similarities to the tricky murder. But there were several differences, too, and he was quickly ruled out.

By 1994, there were no real suspects in Jenny's murder. Then in 1995, police became interested in another suspect, a man named Glenn Roger. after he was involved in a high-speed chase. The car that he was driving had been stolen from a woman who was found strangled in Tampa, Florida, and dumped in her bathtub. Rogers had grown up in Hamilton, Ohio, and Jenny's Hatricky in Youngstown, Ohio. Besides the bathtub connection and the fact they both grew up in Ohio, there was nothing even remotely connecting Rogers to Jenny's murder,

and he was dismissed as a suspect. For the next decade, Jenny's case sat cold on the shelf. in 2006 it heated up. Unknown to the public, Jenny's killer had left DNA at her crime scene. When she was killed in 1990, DNA was still relatively new as far as it being used in crime fighting. But by 2006, investigators could do a lot with it. They took the DNA profile of Jenny's killer and entered it into the CODIS National Database, hoping that it would lead to a suspect or be connected to other cases.

And their hunch paid off. Although there was no DNA connection to a suspect, DNA from Jenny's case did prove to be connected to other crimes, including a 1998 double murder in the state of Missouri. Portageville is a farming community, almost 200 miles south of St. Louis. The population there consists of about 3,000 people, which was also true in 1998. This is a small town where shocking crimes just don't happen.

But in 1998, that all changed. On Saturday, March 28, 1998, at around 6 p.m., a father and son had just finished working on their farmland and decided to drive home. Tony Scherer and his teenage son, Stephen, made a stop along the way home to talk to a local resident. At about 6.20 p.m., Stephen took a moment to call his mom Sherry from the road, to ask her if she would be able to give him a ride into town later that evening.

Sherry, who was at home with her 12-year-old daughter, Megan, answered the phone and talked with Stephen for a couple minutes. She agreed she would drive him into town, and everything seemed normal. About 20 minutes later, Stephen called back to talk to his mom, but this time she didn't answer. The father and son figured that the girls had gone for a ride, maybe even went to get pizza. when the two men arrived home.

Everything seemed normal. Sherry's car was parked in the garage, but the house was quiet. When they entered the home, Stephen walked through the hallway and looked down and saw his mom and sister lying on the floor. In disbelief or maybe even shock, Stephen bent down and grabbed his mom's wrist,

but she didn't respond. He touched his sister's hand and she felt cool to the touch. The shocked teenager called. called out to his dad that mom and Megan are dead. His dad, Tony, looked down horrified to see his wife and daughter lifeless on the floor. And he quickly called Portageville Police. Two officers responded to the scene and quickly established that Sherry and Megan were murder victims. Soon, other police officers responded, and many of them were distraught over the dead mother and daughter laid out on the floor in front of them.

Investigator Don Wyndham of the Missouri Highway Patrol was assigned to work the case. And when he arrived, he began to assess the crime scene. He first examined Sherry's body, which was face down. She had been shot in the back of the head execution style. Wyndham then turned his attention to Megan's body. She too had been shot, but that wasn't all. Evidence at the scene suggested Megan had been sexually assaulted, and her body was posed in a sexually suggestive manner.

as investigator Wyndham continued to process the scene, he determined that the killer had brought his own items to the crime scene to bind and control both victims. After the murders, he left with those items, which likely included rope and material used to gag both mother and daughter. Wyndham was convinced that Megan, the daughter, was the main target of the killer. As Wyndham searched for clues and evidence, he found a hair in Megan's left hand. And he made the decision to try and retrieve touch DNA from Megan's body in the hopes that he could obtain the killer's DNA.

The touch DNA and hair were both sent to a lab and they were proven to be a match for each other. But this evidence didn't lead to any suspects. Wyndham surmise that the killer likely approached Sherry and Megan as soon as Sherry hung up the phone with Stephen shortly before 6.30 p.m. He forced his way into their house. Dogs that were normally inside dogs were found outside in the kennel area, and it was likely that the killer forced Sherry and Megan to take the dogs out there. Then he began his assault on the pair, raping Megan in the process. After the attack was over, the killer savagely executed the mother and daughter, with shot from a 22-cali-hand gun. All of this happened in approximately 30 minutes or less, and the killer fled the scene just before Tony and Stephen arrived home.

As Wyndham wrapped up the investigation at the sheriff's home, local police, the county sheriff's department, and the highway patrol all put out alerts that there was a dangerous killer on the loose in that area of Missouri. And they wondered if the killer was someone local or a stranger passing through. Portageville is in the southern portion of Missouri and less than 50 miles away from the Tennessee and Arkansas borders. Missouri police reached out to authorities in those border areas of Tennessee and Arkansas to alert them to be on the lookout for anyone that may have been involved in the Portageville murders. Less than three hours after Sherry and Megan were murdered, a Dyer County Tennessee mother arrived home with their children after running an errand.

As they entered their home, they heard a vehicle pull up outside. The mom looked at her front door and saw a man she didn't know getting out of a maroon van. He began walking towards her front door, and she stepped outside to confront him and asked what he wanted. The stranger told the woman that he was lost and was looking for a particular road. He then mentioned that he was also looking for his friend Jeremy Taller's house. The man reached into his van telling the woman he was getting a map, but she had a feeling that something was off with the stranger. As he began walking towards her, the woman blurted out that he should go ask a neighbor up the road for directions.

As he got closer to her, he pulled out a handgun. Instinctively, wanting to protect her children, the woman grabbed the gun in a struggle ensued. She backed up her steps and into her front door, fending off the attacker along the way. But he wouldn't stop the attack. She slammed the door shut, but the stranger fire shot through the door hitting the woman in her upper body. as all of this was going on, one of her children had dialed police, and the attacker retreated to his van and fled the scene. Police and then an ambulance arrived at the home minutes later. Luckily, the woman wasn't seriously wounded and her children were unharmed.

She gave police a detailed description of the man that attacked her, and police created a sketch of the attacker. He was described as being at least 30 years old, white, short, around 5'6 with a slender bill. He had dark hair, mixed with gray, and had a thin graying mustache. His van was described as a full-size maroon van, but the witness didn't know the exact make. Police investigating this Tennessee attack immediately thought that the man may have been the killer that police in Missouri had reached out to them about. And they began to investigate the case.

as being linked. And ballistics would eventually link these two cases together and prove that the murderer of Sherry and Megan Scherer, less than three hours after murdering them, made his way south to Tennessee and attacked a woman and her children there. After the connection was made, police had a description of the killer, as well as his DNA. and they knew what vehicle he was driving at the time of the attacks. And we mentioned early on that this killer was known as Mr. Maroon. And this is why, right?

The Maroon van, the description of the maroon van given by this woman in Tennessee is the reason why he was referred to as Mr. Maroon. But despite all of that, they couldn't identify the suspect and police along those bordering states were on high alert, worried that a maniac was on the loose. But again, this trail would wind up going cold, and the killer slipped away. Finally, in 2006, DNA connected the 1990 murder of Jenny Satricki in Greenville, South Carolina, to the 1998 murders of Sherry and Megan Sherrer in Portageville, Missouri. Police knew that they were looking for a serial rapist and killer, but they didn't have a name to match the DNA

left at the various crime scenes. Investigators waited patiently for over a decade to catch another break in the case. Then, in 2017, a newly turned up in Memphis, Tennessee. Authorities there were testing previously untested rape kits when they pulled out a kit from a 1997 rape of a 14-year-old Memphis girl. When they entered the DNA from that kit in Dakotis, they found a match to the murder of Jenny Satriki and Sherry and Megan Shearer. In the 1997 rape, a man had forced the 14-year-old girl into her Memphis home, saying that he wouldn't hurt her.

He said he just needed a car. That girl was raped but survived and went on to give details in a description about the man that raped her. Unfortunately, as is the case in this country, there are thousands and thousands of untested rape kits sitting on shelves waiting to be tested. Who knows how many crimes would be linked or solved if they were all tested? and in this particular case, it turned out that the man who raped the 14-year-old in Memphis was also a serial killer. On January 13, 1999, police in Kennett, Missouri, about 30 miles from where Sherry and Megan Scherer had been murdered, less than a year before, were investigating stolen license plates. Their investigation led them to a room at a Super 8 motel. Inside the room, there was a small group of people.

When police tried to talk to the suspect connected to the stolen plates, a standoff with the man broke out and he pulled out a semi-automatic pistol. Even though this man was engaged in an active standoff with police, he did let the other people in the room leave. Authorities learned that the man they were dealing with inside the hotel room was Robert Eugene Brasher's. And he had outstanding warrants for his arrest in Paraguold, Arkansas. The standoff with police ended after four hours when Brasher's fired a single shot into his own head. He died from the gunshot six days later on January 19, 1999. When police checked into his past, they found multiple arrests and learned of his prison stint for the attempted murder of Michelle Wilkerson in Florida in 1985. As they continued sorting through his background, more troubling things popped up.

In 1992, Brasher's was arrested in Cobb County, Georgia for possession of a stolen gun and car. Also found in his possession was a police jacket, a police scanner, burglary tools, and a fake Tennessee driver's license. On April 12, 1998, a little over a month after Sherry and Megan Sherer were murdered, Brasher's was arrested 65 miles away in Paragold, Arkansas, for breaking into the home of a single woman that he had once done handiwork for. He cut the phone line to the woman's home and was armed, but luckily he was arrested before he could make it inside the house. But the mind-boggling thing is, despite his lengthy criminal record for various things like burglary, impersonating a police officer, and attempted murder, Brasher's was released pending a court appearance. He fled the area and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Eight months later, Brasher's died in Missouri.

He was laid to rest at Shiloh's Cemetery and Paragulb. He laid there for almost 20 years. It seemed as if Brasher's was definitely a career criminal and took some secrets to his grave with him. But those secrets wouldn't stay buried forever. In the suburbs of D.C. A woman fails to show up for work and is found brutally murdered. I wonder what's emergency.

We just walked in the door and there's blood in the foyer. For the next two decades, the case remained unsolved until new technology allowed investigators to do what had once been impossible. A new series from ABC Audio in 2020, Blood and Water. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. In 2018, Parabon Nanolab was tasked with trying to ID the unknown murderer of Jenny Zatricky, Sherry-Sharrer, and Megan Scherer, using genetic genealogy. A profile of the killer was uploaded into Jedmatch and it was linked to various relatives and ancestors. From there, the painstaking work of tracing that family tree

back to the actual killer began. It soon pointed to Robert Eugene Brasher's as being the likely serial rapist and killer who left his DNA at multiple murder scenes during the 90s. But we said Brasher's had been dead since 1999. And before investigators took the steps needed to exhum his body to collect DNA, they got voluntary samples from some of his close family members.

Subsequent testing indicated that the killer was a very close relative of the family members that gave DNA. Armed with that knowledge in September of 2018, investigators obtained clearance to dig up Brasher's remains to collect a DNA sample. They fast-tracked the analysis of Brasher's DNA and quickly verified he was, without a doubt, the serial killer and rapist that had murdered at least three people. Today, the Gringo Police Department announces it now knows the identity of the person responsible for the brutal murder of 28-year-old Genevieve, Jenny Zatricki.

on her about April 4th of 1990. More than 28 years ago now, Jenny was a resident of Hidden Lake Apartments, now known as Lakeside Place apartments located along Villa Road. She was young, active, well-liked, in her circles of colleagues and friends, often the life of the party. During the late night, early morning hours of April 4th and 5th of 1990,

an intruder entered her apartment by prying open the sliding glass door. He attacked her as she slept, bludgeoned her, strangled her, and sexually assaulted her. In the days and weeks that followed, investigators worked tirelessly to identify the person or persons responsible. These efforts included talking with neighbors, conducting interviews, following up on numerous tips, leads and analyzing many pieces of physical evidence. Days turned in weeks, weeks to months, months to years, despite our best efforts this case went cold. Technologies to assess criminal evidence have evolved dramatically over the past few decades.

In 2005, evidence collected from the murder scene was given to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division's DNA lab, for the purposes of developing a DNA profile. This proved successful, and the profile was entered into the FBI's combined DNA index system commonly referred to as CODIS. In 2006, the Greenville Police Department was notified that the DNA profile submitted from Jenny's case matched a DNA profile from another brutal double murder occurring in 1998 in Portageville, Missouri. Though a major development, this evidence did not provide the needed information to identify the murderer, as the DNA profile was from an unidentified unknown male. In 2009, Jenny's case was featured on America's Most Wanted.

Investigators had hoped that national exposure would help bring the murderer to justice by divulging specific never-released details about Jenny's case. Although many more tips followed, critical information continued to elude us and the case again went cold. In May 2017, the Greenville Police Department was alerted to another CODIS match. This profile was collected from a sexual assault victim in Memphis, Tennessee in 1997. It was processed for DNA in 2017. Again, this was a match without a known offender identification. Investigators from multiple agencies collaborated to further their investigations.

Suspect identification efforts provided produced no results. On July 3rd of this year in an effort to produce a breakthrough, investigators from Memphis, Tennessee, Missouri State Highway Patrol, New Madrid Sheriff's Department, and the Greenville Police Department participated in a conference call with Parabon Nanolabs, genealogy research company in Reston, Virginia. Following consultation with the company's representatives, investigators from all agencies decided to submit DNA profiles for comparative DNA analyses. Just as Parabon nano-lebs had done in

other hard-profile cases, we had hoped that they could help identify the murderer linked to cases in each of our jurisdiction. On August 23rd of this year, investigators received the findings from Parabon. Based on the preponderance of genealogical, genetic, and circumstantial evidence, analysts concluded the identity of a man highly likely to be the suspect. With this information, investigators contacted the family of the suspect and obtained consensual buckle swabs for further analysis. These swabs were submitted to South Carolina South Carolina law enforcement divisions DNA led. The results indicated that these family members were directly related to the suspect,

a man who committed suicide during a police encounter in Kennett, Missouri in 1999, at the age of 40. On September 27th, in an effort funded by the Greenville Police Department, investigators exhumed the body of the deceased suspect in Paragold. Arkansas. The purpose of the exhumation was to obtain DNA directly from the body and compare this profile with a profile from the multiple unsolved murders and sexual assaults. The subsequent analysis by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division's DNA lab confirmed the work of Parabon Nanolabs. The unknown DNA profile collected from Jenny's body and from all the others belong to the deceased subject,

now confirmed to be Robert Eugene Brasher's, a 40-year-old man from Paragold, Arkansas. Robert Brashers lived the majority of his life in Huntsville, Alabama, but lived in Paragold, Arkansas after being released from prison in 1997. While we are indebted to his family for assisting us and consenting to the DNA analysis, we now know that Robert Brasher was a violent serial rapist and murderer.

His criminal history tells a story of a vicious, brutal murderer. In 1986, Brasher's was convicted for beating and shooting a woman in Port St. Lucie, Florida. For this, he served three and a half years in prison and was released on May 4, 1989. In April of 1990, Brasher's brutally raped and murdered Jenny Zittricki here in Greenville, and until now, an unsolved crime. In 1992, Brashers was arrested in Cobb County, Georgia for possession of a stolen pistol and possession of a stolen vehicle. At the time of his arrest, he had a scanner, a police coat or jacket, burglary tools, and a fake Tennessee life. He again was sentenced to prison and was released on February 17, 1997. On March 11, 1997, Brashers entered a home in Memphis, Tennessee, and sexually assaulted

a 14-year-old female visiting with friends. Brashers fled the home, and until now, this case was unsolved. On March 28, 1998, Brasher's brutally murdered Sherry Shearer and her 12-year-old daughter, Megan. He shot them multiple times. Megan was also sexually assaulted. Until now, this case was unsolved. Later that same day, March 28, 1998, Brasher's attempt to force his way into a home in Dyersburg, Tennessee. The 25-year-old mother, home with a small child, fought with Brasher's, and was shot in the doorway

of her home. She survived and provided a description to police. The projectile retrieved from her body was also later linked to the Sherer murders. Until now, that case was unsolved. On April 12, 1998, Brashers was arrested as he attempted to break. into a single woman's home, for whom he had previously done handyman work. Brasher had cut the phone lines to the home, was armed with a firearm, had a video camera, and possessed other tools. He was released from custody the following day. On January 13, 1999, officers located a vehicle

displaying a stolen tag in a parking lot of Super 8 motel, of a Super 8 motel in Kennet, Missouri. Officers were directed to a room occupied by Brasher's and located him hiding under a bed armed with a firearm. After four hours of police hostage negotiations, Brasher's released the other room occupants who were his wife and children, and then shot himself. He died six days later on January 19th, 1999. So today is a bittersweet moment in that we had finally been able to be able to be able to be able to be in that. had finally been able to bring closure to the family of Jenny Zatriki. Time has enhanced technologies and organizations like Parabon, Nanolabs, SLED, and the FBI have filled that space with competent teams who help us revisit unsolved crimes and actually solve

them. Generations of detectives who worked Jenny's murder investigation and gave all they had to solve it, including some who have returned in their retirements to continue this important work are able to see this case now closed. None of these efforts can bring Jenny back. We can only hope that this day brings peace to her soul, peace to her family, and honor to her memory. At this time, I'd like to invite Jenny's brother, Philip, the podium to tell us about Jenny how this tragedy has impacted his family all these years. Thank you for being here, Philip, and for sharing your memories with us.

28 years, 28 years. It's been a long time. It's been time enough for trails to go cold, for memories to fade, and for connections to fray and sever. It's almost been time enough to give up hope. But the men and women of this outstanding organization in concert with professionals from other far-flung jurisdictions

never gave up. never gave up. They never wavered. They never forgot their promise. The intersection of their dedication and the recent advances of DNA technology and data science have paid a huge dividend with this resolution. On behalf of Jenny's family, my mother Rosemary, our dear departed father Ed, and all of our relatives across the country, We thank you for your persistence, your teamwork, and your zeal to succeed. You have traveled the long road and reached the goal. Words a little cannot express our appreciation.

Our hearts also go out to the family and friends of the other victims. We pray that you find similar solace in the conclusion, and may God bless you all. It's been 28 years since Jenny was taken from us. Jenny was taken from us. The intervening years have brought painful sorrow of loss and the longing for what could have been. But we do well to remember her in life. She was a force of nature, a firecracker,

a bundle of infectious energy, an intelligent, vibrant, caring human being, all of whose lives she touched, near and far, then and now. Should keep her in their hearts, not as she left, but as she lived. It's amazing that despite the passage of time, almost 20 years, that they could dig up rashers and verify without a doubt that he was a cold-blooded serial rapist and serial killer. And what's scary is that who knows how many other victims he may have had along the way that were never found,

never linked to him. It's clear that Brasher's was a very dangerous man, a violent offender who targeted women and children throughout much of his adult life. And I think you nailed it more by saying, you know, it is scary to think about how many other victims this guy may have had. We know that he traveled throughout many states in the U.S. So I think it's very likely that he had other victims. And the question is, are those going to be linked as well at some point in the future? But that's it for the case of serial killer and rapist, Robert Eugene Brasher's. So far this season, we've talked about some of the cold cases that were solved, some of the bad guys that were identified using this DNA technology.

But not all of the cases solved in 2018 were cold cases, or even cases. or even cases involving serial killer. Some of the cases solved in 2018 using genetic genealogy turned out to be the identification of people whose true identity wasn't known for one reason or another. In the next episode, we'll be discussing some of those high-profile cases that have generated a lot of online sleuthing over the years. And those are the cases of two mystery men who called themselves Lyle Stevich

and Joseph Newton Chandler, who used false identities for different reasons. And we'll also talk about the case of a victim known as Buckskin Girl, who was found murdered in Troy, Ohio in 1981. And once again, we'll be joined by genetic genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick, who helped solve these three cases. And more of the case of the victim that, you know, people have called Buckskin Girl is close to me. Troy Ohio is literally just a little ways north of me. So, you know, that's a case that's always been of interest to me.

I'm looking forward to covering that case. If you like to show, please take a minute, go out, give us a five-star rating. You can give us a review if you'd like to. But it does go a long way towards helping other people find the podcast. And if you want to find criminology on social media, you can find us on Twitter. with the handle at Criminology Pod. You can also find us on Facebook by searching for Criminology Podcast. And if you'd like to join our discussion group, search for Criminology Podcast,

Discussion, and Fans. Earlier in this episode, you heard us discuss a brand new podcast called Kingpins. We wanted to tell you about a great podcast that's been around for a while. And that's The Trail Went Cold, hosted by Robin Warder. If you enjoy detailed and well-researched podcasts like Criminology, We think you'll enjoy The Trail Went Cold. Hello everyone, this is Robin Warder, host of the True Crime podcast, The Trail Went Cold. If you grew up watching the classic television show Unsolved Mysteries, then this is the podcast for you.

Each week, I profile a new Unsolved Murder or Missing Person's Case and share all the baffling details. Afterward, I provide my own personal analysis and theories about what might have happened. This is a show for true crime buffs who are fascinated by cold cases and love to discuss them and pick them apart in an attempt to figure out the truth. So be sure to check out our podcast to learn about some truly bizarre unsolved mysteries where the trail went cold.