Up next...
No one knows why
she is a target for m*rder.
There's a little PTSD
from when you see
this young girl
and what he did to her.
There are a lot of very sick...
sick people out there.
Tremendous v*olence has analysts
scouring the scene for evidence.
I was collecting
everything on the floor
except the floor itself.
The search is on
for a pair of boots
worn by the k*ller.
The search is on
for a pair of boots
worn by the k*ller.
Police say
whoever k*lled Kalee Bruce
at this condo office
left tracks at the scene.
Ultimately
a microscopic clue
tells the story
and exposes a k*ller
hiding in plain sight.
Forensic evidence in this case
was the whole case.
Without it, we wouldn't
have this animal
off the street.
Located on
the banks of Lake Michigan,
Traverse City draws
thousands of tourists
every summer.
It's beautiful.
There's a lot of people
think it looks like
the Mediterranean.
The bay itself is a
world-class sailing venue.
They've had people
from all over the world
come out here to sail West Bay.
Come out here to sail West Bay.
But once summer is over,
most tourists are long gone.
The locals stay behind
to brave the region's
notoriously brutal
winter weather.
And the city goes back
to being a small town.
It's a close-knit town.
It's a safe enough area
where you pull up
to like a stop light,
you look in the car
next to you
to see if you know somebody
who is driving next to you.
You wouldn't do that
in a big city.
During the winter of 1998,
Kim Kelderhouse
and her friend,
18-year-old Kalee Bruce,
Kim Kelderhouse
and her friend,
18-year-old Kalee Bruce,
worked at an apartment complex
called Beach Condominiums.
Kalee, in her first year
of college,
worked the front desk.
We both worked weekends.
Kalee always smiled.
Ear-to-ear smiles,
beautiful ice blue eyes.
You don't ever forget
those eyes.
She was just stunning.
She was happy,
laughing all the time.
Very nice girl.
On a Tuesday morning,
On a Tuesday morning,
reporter Peter Forton
got a surprise tip
from the local
sheriff's department.
I received a call
early in the morning
from a very good
inside law enforcement
contact friend of mine
who literally just said,
"There's something going on
at the Beach Condominiums.
You need to get down there."
Inside the utility
room at Beach Condominiums
was a scene
of stupefying v*olence.
What he did to that young girl
was beyond any
norm or standard
I can think of.
Was beyond any
norm or standard
I can think of.
You know, this person
was an animal.
I mean, he just lost it
and just...
you know, tore the place
apart and just b*at
the crap out of her.
I have seen a number
of m*rder scenes
and covered them in my life time
and was allowed into them.
This is the worst thing
I think I have ever seen.
Sorry, guys.
Kalee Bruce
had been beaten repeatedly
with clothes irons
stored in the utility room.
It appeared that he
would disintegrate one iron
with the b*ating
and then went and got
a second iron and then
a third iron.
Third iron cord
was wrapped around
her neck.
The others were just scattered
over the floor.
When I learned
that Kalee had d*ed,
I was just...
I was stunned.
I was shocked.
And it's like a blur.
And it's like a blur.
Kalee had been
sexually violated,
but apparently not r*ped.
Bloody boot prints on her body
made it clear her k*ller
actually stomped on her
during the course of the m*rder.
The shoe impressions
that were created by him
walking in blood
and standing on her stomach
or kicking her.
This level
of v*olence almost
always indicates
a prior relationship
between the k*ller
and his victim.
And a b*ating this severe
would have taken some time.
Also, there had to have been
a lot of noise.
Also, there had to have been
a lot of noise.
I've always wondered
why nobody heard anything?
Terrified. I was terrified.
So, despite
Kalee's m*rder appearing
to be a spur-of-the-moment
rage k*lling,
there was a very
real possibility
that her k*ller knew
where Kalee would be.
Knew when she'd be
most vulnerable.
And knew the ideal time
to k*ll her without
being caught.
That's the kind of life
that that animal's living.
And he's an animal.
That... that's not
a human being.
And he's an animal.
That... that's not
a human being.
After Kalee Bruce's m*rder,
her family, friends,
and all of Traverse City
were at a loss
as to how and why this happened.
You couldn't buy pepper spray.
Like, it was gone.
It was flying off the shelves.
Girls everywhere were
carrying it.
High school, to college,
you didn't go anywhere
any more in the dark at night.
Kalee's final hours
gave detectives
a rough timeline for her m*rder.
She's working by herself,
there's no security cameras
in the office building.
She's working by herself,
there's no security cameras
in the office building.
We found that Kalee
had punched out
right around 8:00 p.m.
Her body
temperature told detectives
Kalee's m*rder happened
shortly after this.
The few clients renting
condos in the wintertime
were questioned
and weren't much help.
Initial testing appeared
to show that all the blood
at the scene was Kalee's.
Including the prints,
investigators now have
178 items of evidence
from the crime scene.
178 items of evidence
from the crime scene.
No foreign
fingerprints were found,
leading to speculation
that the k*ller might have
worn gloves.
But he did leave
something behind.
When he stomped on Kalee,
partial bloody boot prints
were left on and around
her body.
We know that this is
the footprint of the k*ller.
High-quality 35mm
photographs were taken
of these partial prints,
which were treated
with a substance called
Leuco Crystal Violet
which helps clarify the images.
Which helps clarify the images.
The treads or lugs
on the soles were
clearly visible.
What we discovered was
we knew we were looking
for a larger footprint,
like a 12.
In an attempt
to identify the brand
of the boot,
analysts took the photographs
to local stores.
They appeared to be
the Caterpillar brand.
In an attempt to make
a definitive identification,
analysts turned to an
old-school forensic technique.
I traced
the sole pattern
on a sheet of acetate
so that we could take that sheet
so that we could take that sheet
and place it on
the crime scene photos
of her and the floor.
With the acetate overlay,
you could see different shapes
on her body and on the floor
that were consistent
with Caterpillar boots.
Since it appeared
Kalee's k*ller was familiar
with her movements,
and with the condominium office,
suspicion fell immediately
on people who had
this information.
Which led to an elevator
repair man who regularly
worked in the building.
Which led to an elevator
repair man who regularly
worked in the building.
Other housekeepers,
they all had mentioned
that he made them
very uncomfortable.
They weren't
comfortable around him.
I mean, he was kind of
make inappropriate gestures
towards them.
They defined him
as being creepy.
But this man
had an apparent alibi
and no connection
could be made
to Kalee's m*rder.
He wore work boots,
but they were not
the Caterpillar.
They weren't the shoe
impression that we were
looking for.
Another suspect
was Kalee's boyfriend, Kurt.
Another suspect
was Kalee's boyfriend, Kurt.
Their relationship
was off and on,
especially after Kalee
left for college.
She got a phone call
and it was him saying,
"You're the worst girlfriend
I've ever had."
And at that point,
Kalee was getting
to the point where she...
wanted more for herself.
Investigators went
to Kurt's workplace
to question him.
He worked for a heating
company over there and...
as we went into the shop,
we noticed his footwear.
We noticed his footwear.
He was wearing
Caterpillar boots.
Not only were
these boots the right brand,
they were large,
possibly the right size.
But not a single shred
of evidence was found
on them.
Detectives faced
a daunting prospect.
If Kalee's k*ller
was not someone she knew,
if her m*rder was a random act,
then almost anyone
could be responsible.
It was private property,
but it was open to the public.
Anyone could
come and go in there.
Anyone could
come and go in there.
Uh... people that lived there,
people from the public,
people traveling through town.
Maybe this was just
transient going through town,
they needed money.
They robbed the place
which led to this...
terrible b*ating and death
of Kalee.
And that meant
the pool of suspects
was practically unlimited.
And also that Kalee's k*ller,
or K*llers,
could be miles away
by the time her m*rder
was even discovered.
Could be miles away
by the time her m*rder
was even discovered.
An odd possible clue
at Kalee Bruce's crime scene
was what's known
as a tire valve stem,
essentially the entry point
for anyone who's put air
in a bicycle tire
or car tire.
It wasn't until the next day
when we were packaging
evidence to go
to the state police crime lab,
that I noticed
there was a hair stuck to it.
The single hair had no root,
which appeared to make it
impossible for DNA
to identify who it came from.
Which appeared to make it
impossible for DNA
to identify who it came from.
But for now,
the hair and valve stem
took a back seat.
Investigators and analysts
were convinced
the bloody boot prints
were the key to finding
Kalee's k*ller.
So they made
an unusual decision.
They immediately went public
with their evidence.
The police got to the media
and had a very large
press conference.
And they said,
we have these boots,
we need your help in finding
anybody that might have
worn these.
We need your help in finding
anybody that might have
worn these.
And the press
put that out
all over the place.
Investigators release pictures
of Caterpillar boots,
size 11 or 12,
they said the k*ller
was wearing when
Kalee Bruce d*ed.
The day after
the press conference,
a potential tipster told
police he heard an
odd conversation
while in the waiting room
of a local tire store.
He recalls
the store employee saying,
"Yeah, I know he has
those kind of shoes
"Yeah, I know he has
those kind of shoes
and he didn't show up
for work today."
More or less asked himself,
"Well, I wonder if he's
talking about the shoes
of the suspect m*rder*r."
Well, he called the police.
The man in question
was 25-year-old
Kevin Holtzer,
the son of the tire store owner.
Those boots were
common for the people there.
His coworker said,
"Yeah, Kevin owned
a pair of those boots.
He wore them.
After the m*rder,
they weren't there.
He was wearing
something else."
He was wearing
something else."
With this news,
the valve stem at the crime
scene suddenly became
valuable evidence.
But it's pretty common
for them to be all over
the floor at a tire shop.
And there was yet
another possible connection
between Holtzer and Kalee.
Holtzer was a tenant
at Beach Condominiums.
In fact, he was interviewed
the morning Kalee's
body was discovered.
When police initially
interviewed about
five or six
When police initially
interviewed about
five or six
people who lived
at the Beach Condominiums,
the only person
that didn't ask
what's going on
was Kevin Holtzer.
That's a big red flag
for almost anybody
investigating a crime.
But it didn't raise
a red flag at the time
of that interview.
Kevin Holtzer was calm
and cooperative with police.
There were no marks on him.
There was no blood on him
or his clothing.
At the time, the investigators
didn't know they'd be
looking for someone
At the time, the investigators
didn't know they'd be
looking for someone
who owned Caterpillar boots.
And people who worked
at Beach Condominiums
had nothing bad
to say about Holtzer
who'd been living there
for the past six months.
When I was
at the condos working,
he was always polite.
To me, Kalee had
mentioned that he
would come into the office
and ask for things and...
that he would linger.
But it was never
anything that
made her too uncomfortable.
But a subsequent
background check revealed
a r*pe charge,
But a subsequent
background check revealed
a r*pe charge,
later thrown out
from five years earlier.
And now that Holtzer
emerged as a possible suspect,
somethings about him stood out.
He was 6'4", 225.
Big into martial arts.
I mean, if you saw
Kevin on the street,
you'd think he's
probably a Division I
football player.
I mean, he looked very athletic.
He's no one
I would wanna mess with.
It turned out
that three weeks earlier,
a young woman from Traverse City
was overpowered late one night
was overpowered late one night
and beaten nearly to death.
She got grabbed,
pulled into an alley
beaten severely and left there.
Thank God she survived.
She basically survived
because she played dead.
Whoever did it left her because
they felt that she was either
dead or going to die.
The only evidence
at the scene was a large
shoe print.
A partial print that was
photographed in the snow.
This image, captured shortly
before the print disappeared
This image, captured shortly
before the print disappeared
was so distinctive
that a shoe print database,
after comparing it
to thousands of images,
was able to identify the brand.
The shoes in question
had been identified
as K-Swiss tennis shoes.
An expensive shoe.
Not found everywhere.
Was this att*ck
and Kalee Bruce's m*rder
connected?
Violent att*cks against women
was so rare in Traverse City
that to have two of them
inside of a month
that to have two of them
inside of a month
was starting to seem
like more than a coincidence.
I would have to say
that whoever did
the b*ating downtown,
it's a very good chance
that they also are the person
who k*lled Kalee.
Police soon discovered that
after they went public
with their boot print
evidence,
Kevin Holtzer took off.
Kevin Holtzer was in the wind.
He fled.
He disappeared.
Friday detectives
announced a warrant
for the arrest
of Kevin Carter Holtzer,
a 25-year-old white man
and short-time resident
at the Beach Condominiums.
A team of forensic technicians
descended on
Holtzer's former unit
at Beach Condominiums.
Assuming he was the k*ller
and would have been
covered with blood,
Assuming he was the k*ller
and would have been
covered with blood,
even the traps below
his sinks and drains
were examined.
To the consternation
of investigators,
they couldn't find anything.
If Holtzer was the k*ller,
he'd done an extraordinary
job of concealing
and destroying evidence.
At this point, nothing
had been found
that directly
proved he'd been
at the crime scene.
Meanwhile,
police found Holtzer
on a commuter train
traveling under
an assumed name
to Chicago.
As Kevin stepped off the train,
they were able to...
they were able to...
affect the arrest on him
without incident.
But once he was apprehended,
he lawyered up.
He was not gonna talk.
Detectives were in a quandary.
They couldn't find
evidence that Holtzer
had ever even owned
a pair of Caterpillar boots.
No credit card receipts
and, critically, no boots.
We made efforts
everywhere, uh...
to find those Caterpillar boots.
I mean, we had heard one tip
that he may have dumped
I mean, we had heard one tip
that he may have dumped
everything in a dumpster
close by to the Beach condo.
We sent a crew up there
to see if we could find it.
But once we got up there,
it was like a needle
in a haystack.
I mean, the dump, uh...
landfill was so large.
I mean, it'd be impossible.
Without solid evidence,
police would have to let
Holtzer go.
But one month
after Kalee's m*rder,
there was an unexpected break.
A detective on the as*ault case
that happened
just before Kalee's m*rder
that happened
just before Kalee's m*rder
saw evidence photos
of tennis shoes
taken from
Kevin Holtzer's condominium.
He saw a photograph
that I had taken and said,
"You know where
these shoes are?
They're K-Swiss.
And the guy that b*at up
this girl was wearing
K-Swiss."
Kevin Holtzer's
K-Swiss tennis shoes
collected from his condo
were still in evidence.
And a small trace of
what turned out to be blood
was found
on a piece of stitching.
DNA matched it back
to the victim nearly k*lled
just before Kalee's m*rder.
DNA matched it back
to the victim nearly k*lled
just before Kalee's m*rder.
This was enough to keep
Holtzer behind bars.
But the search for a connection
to Kalee Bruce's
m*rder continued.
Even after Kevin was arrested,
we still had to follow up.
Even though we had our guy
in custody,
the work still went on.
Detectives turned
back to the one piece
of potential evidence
they had from Kalee's case.
The single hair,
stuck to the blood-covered
tire valve stem
recovered from the crime scene.
Recovered from the crime scene.
Lab determined that the blood
of the valve stem belonged
to the victim Kalee Bruce.
Back then,
it was not possible
in the absence of DNA,
which generally comes
from the hair root,
to make a conclusive
identification with hair.
So analysts turned
to something relatively
new at the time,
mitochondrial DNA.
We weren't aware back then,
or at least I wasn't, of...
this was one of the first
mitochondrial cases
in Michigan.
This was one of the first
mitochondrial cases
in Michigan.
Mitochondrial DNA
is passed from mother
to child.
At the time,
it was the go-to option
when traditional nuclear DNA
could not be recovered.
This hair turned up
a usable sample
of mitochondrial DNA.
And it matched back
to Kevin Holtzer.
DNA was accepted
by the courts at that time,
but it was rare up here
and it was mitochondrial DNA.
Which makes it even more rare.
Kevin Holtzer had
a team of high-powered lawyers
Kevin Holtzer had
a team of high-powered lawyers
who fought the testing results
by saying mitochondrial DNA
was too new to be reliable.
In 1999,
this evidence was put
before a Michigan jury.
Kevin Holtzer was found
guilty of first-degree m*rder
and got life without parole.
He got an additional
for the as*ault that happened
three weeks before the m*rder
of Kalee Bruce.
Without the forensic evidence,
nobody could put him
in a room with her.
Nobody could put him
in a room with her.
To this day,
no one knows exactly
what happened
that February night.
And Holtzer isn't talking.
Investigators believe
he may have unsuccessfully
propositioned Kalee.
What's clear is that
he went berserk
and used anything he could
get his hands on
to b*at Kalee to death
in the utility room.
But prosecutors think
he didn't realize
that a valve stem
from his workplace
got caught in the treads
of his Caterpillar boots.
And when he stomped on her body,
the valve stem with one of his
hairs connected to it
was shaken loose
and ultimately identified him
as Kalee's k*ller.
In the end,
all investigators needed
to convict Holtzer
remained in the room
where he k*lled Kalee Bruce.
The DNA was everything.
The fact that they were
able to find DNA from a hair
in a place where
it would never have been
by coincidence,
in a place where
it would never have been
by coincidence,
I think was the final nail
for him.
Even though, at the time
DNA was kind of a new thing,
it was what sealed his fate.