08x02 - The Music Case

[bunniefuu]

[music playing]

NARRATOR: A 12-year-old girl
is m*rder*d in her own home

and the case stalls
when investigators find

little forensic evidence
at the crime scene.

But scientists also know
that criminals unknowingly

take evidence with them as
they leave a crime scene.

And in this case,
the k*ller left

with the genetic
fingerprint of his victim.

[theme music]

NARRATOR: In between two
of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes

is the small town of
Waseca, a quiet community

with virtually no violent crime.

Not far from the
shores of Loon Lake

was the home of Connie Larson
and her three daughters.

CONNIE LARSON: They're all
like five and four years apart.

Um, but they are very close.

You-- they were never apart.

And they just adored each other.

Cally was definitely
the baby of the family.

And, uh, she was
daddy's little girl.

NARRATOR: 12-year-old Cally
Jo was in the seventh grade

and loved gymnastics.

-She was good, I think,
because she just loved it.

And she put a lot
of energy into it.

It was a wonderful
place for her to be.

And with her energy and
spirit she just, um,

she just really did
well in gymnastics.

NARRATOR: After school
on April 20, 1999,

Cally Jo got off her school
bus and walked down this path

towards home, just
as she always did.

Cally Jo was the first
one home that day.

Her mother and sister
were expected later.

-The rule in the family
was everyone needed

to be home and no
visitors at 5:00,

because that's
when I arrived home

and then we had our family time.

NARRATOR: 16-year-old
Jamie was the next family

member to arrive home.

When she opened the
door, she saw evidence

of a burglary and
something far worse.

Jamie immediately called her
mother at work and then police.

-I realized that there
was something wrong

and she wasn't telling me.

-Coming around the corner
and looking up the stairs

was a difficult sight
for everybody, I mean,

there were 30-year
investigators that

were having a difficult
time with that.

Um, but it's just looking at who
would do something like this.

NARRATOR: Upstairs,
Cally Jo was dead.

-The fatal s*ab wound was,
uh, in the left chest area--

severed the, or cut
the ascending aorta.

And she bled to
death internally.

-It's still hard for me
to think that she's gone.

I mean, that means dead.

Dead.

That's just-- it just can't be.

-I've got two kids of my own.

If somebody-- if this occurred
to one of my children,

I don't know what I would
do and I can't even imagine.

NARRATOR: Cally Jo's school
books were near the front door,

and indication that she may
have surprised the intruder.

The point of entry
was the basement door.

Some cash, silver
certificates, and the girls' CD

collection of
music were missing.

Forensic scientists found
blood on the stairs,

which was collected
for analysis.

Despite the clutter,
investigators

also looked for fingerprints.

-You kind of tend to
focus on the areas

where you're pretty sure
that the perpetrator was.

And then you focus on areas
where drawers were tossed

and stuff has been, you know,
taken out and moved around.

There weren't too many surfaces
left in that house that did not

have some kind of
fingerprint powder residue.

NARRATOR: Investigators
vacuumed the carpeted floors

for possible trace evidence.

They were convinced
that the k*ller had left

behind enough forensic
evidence to catch him.

-We had a lot of fingerprints.

There were hundreds of
hairs in those vacuuming.

I initially thought that
we were in good shape.

-A forensic case
is like a puzzle.

And you are trying to find
different pieces of the puzzle

that fit to give you
the picture as to what

happened in the case.

NARRATOR: Cally
Jo Larson's death

set a sad precedent
for Waseca, Minnesota.

The small town had never had
a homicide in its history.

-It destroys the--
the safety factor

of everybody in this town.
Everybody.

-Well, I think a lot more people
started locking their doors.

Um, which sounds
a little flippant,

but that's the reaction.

NARRATOR: Forensic scientists
thought the blood on the steps

near Cally Jo's body may
have been the k*ller's.

But forensic tests
revealed it was Cally Jo's.

Next, the investigators
hoped the k*ller

left his fingerprints
in the home.

But this was another dead end.

DAVE PERTERSON: When all the
dust had settled, so to speak,

all of these latent prints
that we had taken out

of the house were identified
to family members and friends.

There were no unknowns left.

NARRATOR: One of the
fingerprints found

on the bathroom
sink was initially

difficult to identify.

But later it was identified as
Cally Jo Larson's fingerprint.

Over time, Peterson
would come to easily

recognize Cally
Jo's unique pattern.

-She had a loop pattern.

But it had another loop
that was over the first loop

and kind of came to a
point on the other end.

That's unique.

You don't see that very often.

NARRATOR: The only
other physical evidence

from the crime scene were
two foreign hairs, one found

on Cally Jo's body, the
other on the carpet.

-But until you know whose
hairs to compare them to,

you've got nothing.

NARRATOR: And the hairs
didn't have any root material,

so they couldn't be sent
for nuclear DNA testing.

A neighbor reported seeing an
unfamiliar man near the Larson

home around the
time of the m*rder.

This is the composite
sketch of the man.

Another neighbor saw a black
pickup truck in the area.

Police searched their records
for individuals matching

this general
description, who also

had a past history of
burglary and sex offenses.

They found 12
potential suspects.

CHIEF JIM STALOCH: Well, what we
called them "the dirty dozen,"

because we had 12 suspects
that we could not exclude

from the investigation,
either, you know,

by alibi or for whatever reason.

NARRATOR: One of the
so-called "dirty dozen"

was a convicted sex
offender, Donald Blom.

The significant fact about
Blom was that he was also

a suspect in the kidnapping
and m*rder of 19-year-old Katie

Poirier, a convenience
store cashier

in Moose Lake, Minnesota,
just a few hours' drive away.

These are security camera
pictures of that abduction.

Unfortunately, they
weren't clear enough

to identify the abductor.

Police learned that Blom
made several trips to Waseca

around the time of
Cally Joe's m*rder.

He also drove a
black pickup truck

like the one seen
near Larson's home.

-And I was being bombarded
with so many truths

that I didn't want to know.

So as I heard more
about Donald Blom,

I-- I suppose the
more fascinated

we became with the
possibility that it could be.

NARRATOR: Blom denied any
involvement in Cally Jo's death

and said he had an alibi
for the day of the m*rder.

As winter approached
in Waseca, hope faded.

-November and December
was a very bleak time.

Everybody was very depressed.

NARRATOR: Despite
more than 30,000 pages

of reports and boxes
of physical evidence,

investigators weren't
any closer to solving

the crime then the
day it occurred.

-And at that point, we
had absolutely nothing.

And I was really
becoming concerned

whether this case was
ever going to be solved.

NARRATOR: And soon
police in Waseca

were faced with
another crime problem.

There were a rash of home
burglaries in Waseca,

not far from the Larson home.

And the perpetrator left
behind some evidence--

a shoe impression from
an athletic shoe, which

had a distinctive
zigzag pattern.

-A lot of the burglaries had
been happening on my shifts

and, uh, it was
becoming very personal.

NARRATOR: On a routine
patrol near the burglaries,

Officer Markeson spotted a man
walking along the sidewalk.

As Markeson drove past, the
man abruptly changed direction.

KRIS MARKESON: It just didn't
make a whole lot of sense.

Just-- it just kinda
rose the-- rose

the hair up on the
back of my neck.

NARRATOR: So Markeson stopped
the man to ask a few questions.

KRIS MARKESON: Can I
talk to you for a minute?

NARRATOR: When he did, he
noticed something familiar.

BILL KLUMPP: And Markeson
was able to look down

and saw the shoe
print in the snow.

And that looked
like the shoe print

that they'd been seeing from
some of those burglaries.

BOB BERG: And while
patting him down,

found a large screwdriver
and a flashlight

in his pocket-- burglary tools.

-There's no good
reason for this guy

to be walking in this
neighborhood at 8:00

at night with a screwdriver
and a flashlight in his pocket.

NARRATOR: The man was
identified as Lorenzo Sanchez,

an illegal immigrants
from Mexico.

In his home, police
found stolen property

from several burglaries.

And police couldn't help but
wonder whether Lorenzo Sanchez

was also the man who had
k*lled Cally Jo Larson.

Not surprisingly, with the
arrest of Lorenzo Sanchez,

the Waseca burglaries stopped.

In Sanchez's home,
police found items

stolen from the burglaries.

They also found many
compact discs, but not

the ones stolen from
Cally Jo Larson's home.

In the bottom of
Sanchez's closet,

police found two CD cases.

On a hunch, they
were photographed

and shown to Connie Larson.

CONNIE LARSON: An officer came
over with a picture of the CD

cases and said, they saw these.

And I just want you
to look at them,

and just tell me if
you recognize them.

And I took this
picture and I said,

yes, those are--
those are Cally's.

NARRATOR: Sanchez denied
the cases were stolen

and said they were his.

[speaking spanish]

TRANSLATOR: I bought
those in the store.

NARRATOR: It had been almost a
year since Cally Jo's m*rder.

And investigators
hoped there may

be some forensic
evidence on the CD cases.

The first problem was that
the outside cover was vinyl.

-Just getting the
latent fingerprints off

them is-- is slim to
none, to begin with.

If you do get one,
getting one that's

a good, usable, identifiable,
latent fingerprint

is even slimmer.

NARRATOR:
Nevertheless, the cases

were sent to Dave
Peterson for analysis.

DAVE PERTERSON: And
I got to the second

of the last page of
the second CD case.

I opened it up and
there was a blond hair

laying in between the sleeves.

Now, I got a little
excited about that.

Uh, in fact, my heart
started racing just a hair.

Pardon the pun.

NARRATOR: That hair was
sent for DNA testing.

Next, Peterson wanted to see
if there were any fingerprints

on the plastic sleeves which
hold the individual CDs.

For that, he used a technique
called super glue fuming.

DAVE PERTERSON: I suspended
these two CD cases from a rod

and then fanned out
these plastic sleeves

that were on the inside.

And what happens,
the super glue fumes,

as they are emitted
from heat, will

adhere to the moisture left
behind on the latent print

and turn the ridge detail white.

NARRATOR: Peterson
found only one print

on the very last sleeve
of the second CD case.

The print had a distinctive
overlapping loop,

one Peterson
immediately recognized.

The analysis
confirmed that it was

Cally Jo's right
ring fingerprint.

-And at that point, I
called Bob Berg and said,

I think I got something for you.

-I said, you've got
to be [bleep] me.

I knew that it was
our guy at that point.

I knew it was him.

-We weren't finding the
suspect's fingerprint

on something to put
him at the scene.

We kind of did this in reverse.

We found him in
possession with something

that came from the scene.

NARRATOR: The blond hair
found in the CD case

was further confirmation.

DNA tests showed it
belonged to Cally Jo.

Despite the evidence,
Sanchez denied

he was involved in the m*rder.

All the evidence
proved was that Sanchez

was in possession of a
piece of stolen property.

REPORTER: Did you
k*ll Cally Jo Larson?

NARRATOR: But police had one
last piece of evidence, the two

foreign hairs recovered
from the Larson crime scene.

Those hairs, along with a hair
sample from Lorenzo Sanchez

were sent to the forensic
lab for the newest

DNA test available.

MITCHELL HOLLAND: Mitochondrial
DNA is a specialized DNA test.

If you cannot obtain results
using nuclear DNA analysis,

you'll fall back on
mitochondrial DNA testing.

NARRATOR: Mitochondria live
outside the cell nucleus.

For the test, each
hair sample is

placed into a vial where it
changes form into a liquid.

The impurities are extracted,
leaving only purified DNA.

Next, millions of
copies are made

of just the mitochondria
portion and then sequenced.

When completed, Dr. Holland
could read the genetic code

of the hairs from
the crime scene.

-And so this particular
piece of the puzzle

suggested that those hairs
were, in fact, from Mr. Sanchez.

NARRATOR: The question
was, which Mr. Sanchez?

Mitochondrial DNA is
passed from a mother

to her children, all of
whom will, therefore,

have the same
mitochondrial DNA profile.

In other words, the
suspect, Lorenzo Sanchez,

would have the same
mitochondrial DNA

as his six brothers and sisters.

To complicate matters, Lorenzo's
younger brother, Miguel, also

had a police record
and was in Waseca

at the time of the m*rder.

The investigation into Cally
Jo's m*rder wasn't over yet.

[speaking spanish]

TRANSLATOR: I am
innocent of that cause.

I did not k*ll her.

It is an injustice what
they are doing with me.

NARRATOR: Lorenzo
Sanchez continued

to maintain his innocence in
the m*rder of Cally Jo Larson,

even though CD case with
Cally Jo's fingerprint

was discovered in
Sanchez's home.

And two hairs found
at the crime scene

had the same mitochondrial DNA
profile as Lorenzo Sanchez.

-Mitochondrial DNA is not
positive identification,

as nuclear DNA is.

NARRATOR: Since mitochondrial
DNA is passed from a mother

to her children, all
of the Sanchez siblings

would have the same
mitochondrial DNA profile.

Two of Lorenzo
Sanchez's brothers

had spent time in Waseca.

A younger brother, Miguel, and
an older half brother, Pedro.

Pedro said he had an alibi.

That he was in Mexico
on the day of Cally

Jo's m*rder, which checked out.

Miguel Sanchez was
in Waseca that day,

but his time sheet showed
that he was at work

at the time of
Cally Jo's m*rder.

Lorenzo was the only Sanchez
brother with no alibi.

His work record
showed that he was not

at work when the
m*rder occurred.

With that, Lorenzo
Sanchez was charged

with first-degree m*rder.

He maintained his innocence
until his sister-in-law visited

him in prison and the
two had a conversation

that was taped by
prison officials.

[speaking spanish]

-He specifically says
in that conversation,

you know, the only
thing that they

have to link me is the hair.

You understand?

The hair is the only
thing they've got.

[speaking spanish]

NARRATOR: And Sanchez
asks his sister-in-law

to place the blame
for Cally Jo's m*rder

on his half brother, Pedro.

She refused.

-Well, there was some--
apparently some sibling rivalry

there.

And his brother,
Pedro, had a record,

which included some
violent offenses.

NARRATOR: When Lorenzo Sanchez
was confronted with the tape

of this conversation,
he had few choices.

He eventually plead guilty
to first-degree m*rder

and was convicted.

When Cally Jo
walked into her home

and saw Sanchez in the
middle of a burglary,

Sanchez silenced the person he
thought was the only witness.

But there was another witness
that day-- forensic evidence.

The microscopic hairs
Sanchez left behind

and Cally Jo's hair and
fingerprint on the CD case

told the story.

At his sentencing,
Connie Larson finally

had her chance to speak directly
to her daughter's k*ller.

-When his confession,
and then in his statement

after asked us to forgive him.

INTERVIEWER: Can you?

-Well, um.

You know, that's a-- when you
haven't been in this place,

it's hard to know
what you would do.

But being in this place, um,
it hasn't been hard for me.

Honestly, on that
day I put it down.

NARRATOR: Two years
after the crime,

Lorenzo Sanchez was
sentenced to life in prison.

-I don't know where to start.

NARRATOR: Today, Connie Larson
works as a social worker

with families who've lived
through traumatic events.

She's also become an
advocate for better databases

to track criminals
like Lorenzo Sanchez

who often slip
through the cracks.

Cally Jo is never far
from her thoughts.

CONNIE LARSON: We talk
about her constantly.

We tell stories about her.

We read her notes.
[laughing] Um,

she is just a part of what
we're doing now, today.

-Without the forensics,
we had nothing.

This case was to live or die
by the forensic evidence.

-Well, It was
absolutely critical.

We would have not had a case
without that forensic evidence.

Lorenzo Sanchez would
never been convicted

of the m*rder of Cally
Larson without it.