04x08 - Body of Evidence

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Narrator: on june , , -year-old karla brown was

Found brutally m*rder*d in the basement of her home.

No! No!

Narrator: it looked as if the k*ller had committed the perfect

Crime.

And police could find very little evidence.

But years later, investigators noticed something on a

Crime-scene photograph that had previously been overlooked.

The k*ller had left behind a clue.

-Year-old karla brown and her fiancé, a man we'll call

Mark hart, had recently purchased a home together in

Wood river, illinois.

Although the couple had a rocky past, friends and family saw

This as the beginning of a new phase in their relationship.

Karla brown was a beautiful little girl who grew up into a

Beautiful young woman, was very popular in her hometown --

In the wood river area -- had taken some college classes,

Had been a high-school cheerleader, was one of those

Girls that everybody knew.

Girls liked her.

Guys liked her.

She was just one of those people that was special, and everybody

Recognized that.

Narrator: on june st, karla brown took the day off

From work to unpack...

Yes, the house is great.

Narrator: ...and spoke to one of her friends on the telephone.

Maybe we can have you over.

They had talked for a few minutes -- in fact, were even

Talking about getting together later on that afternoon.

Wait a second.

I just heard something at the door.

And karla interrupted the conversation and said, "listen,

I'll have to call you back.

I'll see you later.

There's somebody at the door."

And that was the last that her friend ever talked to her.

Narrator: around : that afternoon, karla's fiancé and

His friend stopped by the house after work.

When they walked into the basement, they saw a horrible

Sight.

Karla was lying face down in a bucket of water.

She had her hands tied behind her.

There was evidence of struggle -- a death struggle in

The basement.

And a very strong suggestion of a sexual r*pe.

Narrator: but investigators were confused about some of the

Things they saw.

There were two men's socks tied around karla's neck.

They were tied neatly -- inconsistent with what you would

Expect to see in a life-and-death struggle.

The white electrical cord used to tie the victim's hands was

Not tight enough to effectively restrain an individual during an

as*ault.

There was too much length of cord behind her to where her

Hands could come up in front of her.

That would seem like to me that she would have access to the

Attacker -- given that much freedom with the length of rope

That was tied between the two wrists.

Narrator: she was found wearing a sweater her fiancé

Said she would never wear in the summer.

The top button was fastened -- another inconsistency with a

Life-and-death struggle.

The socks around karla's neck were from inside the home.

The mate to one was found in her fiancé's dresser.

The other was under the sofa in the adjacent room.

Under the sofa was a puddle of water tinted with blood.

The sofa cushions were also wet and there were blood drops on

The floor near the sofa.

In the rafters was a coffee carafe from the kitchen.

To homicide investigators, it looked as if the coffee carafe

Had been used to rinse blood from the sofa cushions.

The att*ck occurred near the sofa.

And the body was later moved into an adjacent room and placed

Into the barrel of water.

The crime scene staging told investigators that the

Perpetrator spent a great deal of time inside the house after

The m*rder.

But who knew that karla brown was home and alone on the day of

The m*rder?

And who would have felt free to spend so much time in the home,

Cleaning up and staging the scene?

Police began their investigation with a close look at

Karla brown's fiancé.

Narrator: the autopsy report on karla brown indicated death

By strangulation.

Although she was found nude from the waist down, there were no

Signs of sexual as*ault.

Investigators were convinced that the k*ller spent a great

Deal of time in the house after the m*rder, staging the crime

Scene.

I didn't know mark very well, although they had dated for a

Number of years -- off and on.

And there were times in their relationship that it wasn't

Great.

But she seemed to always be crazy about him anyway.

Narrator: police also questioned two neighbors who had

Been sitting in the yard next door on the day karla and her

Fiancé were moving in.

Hey, karla.

Karla brown.

I'm john prante.

We went to school together.

Remember me?

Hi, how are you?

Narrator: both men had alibis as to where they were on the day

Of the m*rder.

And they both willingly took lie-detector tests and passed.

With no other leads, police asked the fbi for a

Psychological profile of the k*ller and turned to fbi

Behavioral analyst john douglas.

In my research, we began to break down crimes by

"Disorganized" and "organized."

"Disorganized" means extremely sloppy, carelessness on the part

Of the offender.

The crime could be very, very impulsive.

"Organized" means that there's a high degree -- high level of

Criminal sophistication on the part of the subject.

Narrator: to douglas, this crime scene was

"Disorganized" -- an indication that the k*ller was

Inexperienced and probably had never k*lled before.

He came to the home with no intention of committing m*rder,

But did so after some sort of confrontation or rejection.

Since he spent so much time inside the home, douglas

Believed that he was familiar with the victim and her routine,

And might be living in the neighborhood or very close by.

Douglas said the k*ller was an unmarried white male in his mid-

To late s, high-school educated, with a sloppy

Appearance.

The use of electrical cord to tie the victim's hands indicated

The k*ller had taken shop classes or had vocational

Training.

Douglas also told investigators that they may have already

Interviewed the m*rder*r.

And that he was capable of passing a polygraph test.

And then it got kind of spooky.

I mean, I was sitting there and I wasn't sure I was believing

What he was saying after a certain point.

He started talking about how this individual would react, and

What kind of vehicle he'd be driving.

And he started talking about a volkswagen.

There was a high probability this guy would be a volks--

Driving a volkswagen.

And that it would be red or orange in color.

Narrator: this led investigators to focus, once

Again, on the two men sitting next door on the day

Karla brown and her fiancé were moving in.

But investigators needed more than just a psychological

Profile.

They needed hard evidence.

Narrator: crime-scene technician alva busch remained

Deeply troubled by the karla brown m*rder.

For one thing, he and his colleagues could not determine

What caused the wounds on karla brown's face and chin.

The first real break in the case occurred when busch attended a

Seminar on image enhancement at the university of new mexico.

Dr. Homer campbell taught that seminar.

He worked for the state of new mexico as a medical

Investigator.

Dr. Campbell was demonstrating a photographic technique that uses

Cameras, monitors, and computers to show details of crime-scene

Photographs that cannot otherwise be seen.

This was a technique that had been used for several years,

Both by engineers in non-destructive testing of

Materials and also by archaeologists looking at area

Photographs to find ancient ruins.

Narrator: after the seminar, busch told dr. Campbell about

The karla brown case.

And I said, "doc, do I have a case for you."

And I told him about the karla brown case and that we

Were never able to identify what type instrument had damaged her

Face.

I asked him to please send me the photographs that they had of

The deceased person, and also to send me an autopsy report.

Narrator: dr. Campbell used his image enhancement equipment

To look more closely at the crime-scene photos of

Karla brown.

The system not only improves the contrast of the photographs,

But can also create what appear to be three-dimensional views,

Adding depth to the image.

When dr. Campbell was through, he knew what caused the injuries

To karla brown's face.

He tells me that maybe the tv tray may have been the

Instrument that she was hit in the head with.

This tv tray was lying on the floor within three foot of the

Victim, where she had probably been on the couch.

But I had missed it.

Narrator: the tray tables were still in storage, untouched

In the two years since the m*rder.

In an extraordinary piece of luck, dr. Campbell found

Microscopic traces of blood and hair still present on the tray

Table.

And what dr. Campbell said next was even more revealing.

He says, "what about the bite mark?"

And I said, "bite mark?

What bike mark?

What are you talking about?" When we looked at the

Photograph and went ahead and enhanced it and magnified it,

Present on the shoulder was a bite injury on the shoulder.

And by looking at that bite injury, you could actually pick

Out individual teeth all the way across.

I'd trade that for five eyewitnesses anytime.

Eyewitness can make mistakes.

Things like fingerprints don't.

And it was my understanding that bite marks, properly

Preserved, with an identified defendant, could give you the

Defendant as good as a fingerprint.

Narrator: the k*ller had left behind a clue.

All investigators needed now was a suspect.

Narrator: two years after the brutal m*rder of -year-old

Karla brown, investigators got the break they needed when a

Photographic enhancement revealed a bite mark on karla's

Shoulder.

Police now turned to the two men sitting in the yard next door

When karla brown moved into her new home.

Both matched the fbi's behavioral profile of the

k*ller.

Police checked their alibis again.

Although both had passed the polygraph tests, police

Discovered that john prante had spoken about the m*rder to

Others.

John prante had mentioned to his friends that he had seen her

Body that day -- that he had looked over the shoulder of some

Policemen while they were investigating in the basement.

And he described the condition of her body.

And he even mentioned that she had bite marks on her neck and

Collar bone.

Narrator: the police were the only ones inside the house

After karla brown's body was found.

And it was a shock to us, as police officers, because there's

No way that he could have known that unless he put the bite mark

There.

Also the information about the location of the body, the way

The body was found -- the only way that that would have been

Known is either to have been there on the investigation or to

Have put the body there yourself, because we never

Released that information to the public or to the media.

Narrator: since the bite marks were overlooked during the

Original autopsy, investigators wanted to make sure nothing else

Was missed.

So karla brown's body was exhumed for a second autopsy.

This time, it was performed by dr. Mary case, the chief

Medical examiner for st. Louis county.

In the original autopsy, there was the ligature

Strangulation.

And the body was examined and, for some reason, the head was

Not examined.

So I opened the cranial cavity.

And there was bruising in the scalp.

Somebody struck her on the head.

At question is whether or not, for example, this blow would

Cause loss of consciousness.

Narrator: dr. Case thought that karla brown may have been

Alive when she was placed in the barrel of water because, when

She was found, there was foam around her mouth.

Because she was in water and she was producing that foam,

I feel like there may be some component of drowning, that she

Was still -- even though she'd been strangled -- that she was

Still maybe to a minimal degree breathing, because I believe

That she may have breathed in some water.

Narrator: during the autopsy, more photographs were taken of

The suspected bite wounds, which were sent to the new york state

Police forensic unit for an independent evaluation.

Prosecutors wanted to make sure that the mark on karla brown's

Neck was, in fact, a bite wound.

In my opinion, the pattern injury on karla brown's neck had

All the characteristics that a bite mark would have.

Narrator: dr. Levine was asked to compare the bite wound

To three different dental casts prosecutors sent along for

Analysis.

Dr. Levine had no idea to whom the casts belonged.

After making wax impressions of the models, dr. Levine concluded

That two of the models were not consistent with the bite wound.

I took the third model and examined all the individual

Characteristics that those teeth would have caused, compared

Those characteristics with the characteristics on the clarified

Photograph of karla brown's neck that I had, and came to the

Opinion that only that model was consistent with having caused

That pattern injury or that bite mark.

He measured the teeth.

He went back to the photograph.

He turned them different ways.

He held them up in the air.

Finally, he laid the dental impressions on the table, and he

Pointed to them, and he said, "that's your man."

Narrator: model number three belonged to john prante.

Interestingly, prante also matched john douglas'

Psychological profile.

He was in his late s, had a history of troubled

Relationships with women.

He attended industrial-arts school and had a sloppy, unkempt

Appearance.

Prante spent a great deal of time in the neighborhood, often

Visiting his friend who lived next door to karla brown.

And just as john douglas had predicted, prante had passed an

Earlier polygraph test.

The most unusual aspect of douglas' profile was the

Prediction that prante would be driving a red volkswagen.

Where that came from -- only john can say.

But it, in fact, did turn out that the individual did have a

Volkswagen.

Narrator: prosecutors believe that when karla brown's fiancé

Left for work, john prante walked over and knocked on the

Door.

Maybe we can have you over.

Narrator: karla was talking on the telephone.

[ Doorbell rings ] hello?

Wait a second.

I just heard something at the

Door.

Let me call you back.

What do you want?

Need some help moving in?

I want you to leave.

Mind if we talk a little?

I want you to leave now!

Narrator: there was some kind of argument or struggle,

Possibly after she had rejected prante's sexual advances.

He forced her into the basement and hit her with a tray table.

At some point, he bit her on the shoulder and strangled her.

Afterwards, he staged the scene to make it appear to be a sexual

as*ault.

But when he changed her clothes, he made the mistake of fastening

The top button.

The first clue that the scene had been staged.

He tied her hands with electrical cord, wrapped the

Socks around her neck...

And placed her into the water while she was unconscious, but

Still alive.

Prante tried to remove the blood stains on the sofa with water he

Carried from the kitchen in the coffee carafe, which he left in

The rafters above the sofa.

The clothes karla was wearing that day were never found.

Prante may have taken them as a trophy.

In july of , john prante was tried and convicted of

First-degree m*rder and was sentenced to years in the

State penitentiary.

After five long years, karla brown's family finally had

Some closure.

I would like to tell him that he took away a very wonderful

Person, who had a lot to offer -- and a family who cared

Very much about karla.

And that it was very, very selfish of him to not consider

Another person's life as something that can just be

Thrown away on a particular day.

He got caught because the techniques of investigation in

Law enforcement completely overpowered him.

He got away with the crime because he was lucky.

He got caught because law enforcement changed his luck.

Narrator: don weber, along with journalist

Charles bosworth, chronicled the many ups and downs of this case

In a best-selling book, "silent witness."

Karla's family was so intrigued by the bite-mark

Evidence that she embroidered a little tapestry that she

Presented to don weber as a token of her appreciation.

And it offers the slogan that don had used, "you can lie

Through your teeth, but your teeth don't lie."

And around the border is the pattern of rectangle, space,

Rectangle, space, triangle -- which is the bite-mark pattern

That don had proved had been made by john prante.