10x22 - A Clean Getaway

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: for years,
criminals used women's hosiery

As a mask to hide their
identities.

But today, to a forensic
scientist, hosiery can be as

Valuable as a fingerprint
because of its signature

Characteristics, and textile
science identified a k*ller when

An eyewitness couldn't.

In the small midwestern town of
herrin, illinois, m*rder was

Like a virtual stranger.

It's so rare that police thought
this 911 call was a prank.

It's so rare that police thought
this 911 call was a prank.

Narrator: police traced the
call to a pay phone near the

Center of town.

Just up the street was a
dry-cleaning store.

The front door was open, and no
one was there.

Behind the counter was a purse
with its contents scattered all

Over the floor.

Right at that moment's when
we thought, "there's something

Serious here."

Narrator: in the back room,
behind a water heater, police

Found a woman's body.

She had been beaten, apparently
with the bloody mop wringer

Nearby.

I checked her for a pulse.

She did not have one that I
could locate.

Narrator: the victim was
identified as a store employee,



She was a married mother of
three children.

She was my mom, and she
disciplined me and all those

Things, but she was also my
friend.

Sorry.

[ Voice breaking ] I'm sorry.

Narrator: outside the store,
police found a piece of

Pantyhose, which the k*ller may
have used as a disguise.

Investigators wondered whether
the man who made the 911 call

Was somehow involved.

We listened to this 911 call.

Could he be a witness, or was he
the actual assailant of

Kathy woodhouse?

At a certain point in the
investigation, we were

Relatively certain that it was
probably the k*ller.

Narrator: a gas-station
attendant saw the man who made

The call and described him as a
caucasian, about 6 feet tall.

Police took the phone receiver
to the forensics lab for

Testing.

At the dry-cleaning store, on
the counter, investigators found

A check made out to the store in
the amount of $14.30, signed by

One of the store's customers.

When police contacted the woman,
she said she was in the store

That morning, but no one was
there.

She found her clothes, wrote a
check for the amount she owed,

And was about to leave when a
man came out of the back room

And asked if she needed help.

She told him at that point
that she was there to get her

Cleaning.

She assumed that he was an
employee there.

She had no reason to believe
otherwise.

Narrator: the witness
described the man as 30 to 35

Years old, 6'2" tall, and
weighing over 200 pounds.

The police realized that she
had come face-to-face with the

k*ller.

Narrator: a customer of the
dry-cleaning store said she got

A good look at the man who was,
most likely, kathy woodhouse's

k*ller.

We were very excited in that
we thought we did have a

Potential witness as to who the
perpetrator may have been.

I also thought she very well may
have been extremely lucky that

Things happened the way they did
and she was not k*lled at that

Point in time.

Narrator: police used her
description to create a sketch,

Which was distributed to the
local media.

An autopsy revealed that
kathy woodhouse died from

Blunt-force trauma to the head.

She received three blows to
the left side of her head

Because there was three separate
lacerations to the left side of

The head.

The mop wringer fit the bill as
far as its weight, its mass, the

Variety of surfaces, and when
you look at the mop wringer

Itself, there was at least one
part of the mop wringer metals

Which was bent.

Narrator: she had also been
sexually assaulted.

Unfortunately, biological
material collected from the r*pe

Test kit could not identify the
k*ller's blood type because he

Was what's known as a
nonsecretor.

A nonsecretor does not
secrete their abo blood type

Into their secretions, and
approximately 20% of the

Population would fall into that
class of being a nonsecretor.

Narrator: with little else to
go on, police turned their

Attention to the phone receiver
used to make the 911 call.

The brushes that apply
fingerprint powder can sometimes

Remove some of the fingerprint,
so technicians wanted to

Stabilize any possible prints by
using superglue fuming.

It's a little like putting
chocolate over ice cream.

It creates a protective shell
over any print.

The heated superglue adheres to
any amino acids present, then

Fingerprint powder is applied.

To better visualize the print,
technicians used a dye called

Ardrox.

The prints that have soaked
up the ardrox will appear a

Yellowish color, and then we can
photograph those using

Specialized film, and the end
result is we have a print,

Potentially that we would not
have without using that dye

Stain.

Narrator: and under an
ultraviolet light, investigators

Found what they were looking
for -- a clear print.

Once I told them the news, I
could hear other officers in the

Background, and there was
definitely a level of excitement

That I hadn't heard for awhile
with this case.

Narrator: but was this the
print of the k*ller?

After all, in any given week,
hundreds of people use a pay

Phone.

Unfortunately, the print did not
match any known criminal

Offenders who had prints on
file.

There were times that we
became frustrated, yes, but we

Still weren't going to give up
in the event that this

Individual was still here
because we had to get him off

The streets so he wouldn't
strike again.

Narrator: then police got a
valuable tip.

A friend of the m*rder victim
came forward with a startling

Piece of information.

The day before kathy was
k*lled, she received a telephone

Call from someone wanting to
know what color of toenail

Polish that she wore.

And when the police got the
lead, they went and got all the

Telephone records from the calls
coming into the cleaners on that

Day.

Narrator: according to the
phone records, there were only a

Few calls made to the store that
night.

One came from a man who lived in
the town of zeigler, several

Miles away.

Officers thought, at that
time, with it being a sex crime,

The type of call that they made,
that "this is probably our guy."

Narrator: the man, a


At first denied making the call.

We confronted him with the
statement concerning the color

Of the toenails, and he
immediately --

You could tell on his expression
that he was the one that made

The calls.

Narrator: the man eventually
admitted that he called

Kathy woodhouse but said he
meant no harm.

He stated that he did those
type of calls a couple times a

Month.

He was very nervous about that,
which is understandable.

Narrator: he said he knew
kathy because he was a customer

Of the dry-cleaning store but
insisted he had nothing to do

With her m*rder.

But investigators weren't so
sure.

Narrator: police
investigating the m*rder of

Kathy woodhouse were worried.

It looked like the attack was
random.

Something that just scares
people to death.

They're not accustomed to this
type of a crime.

We truly feared that he would
possibly strike again and k*ll

Another woman, and it was
basically a race against time.

Narrator: police thought they
had their k*ller when they found

A construction worker who made
an obscene telephone call to

Kathy woodhouse on the night
before the m*rder, but he said

He had an alibi -- that he was
teaching a class at a local

Community college on the morning
of the m*rder.

We were able to confirm his
alibi, where he was at that

Morning of the homicide and was
able to rule him out.

Narrator: then, police got
another tip.

The police received an
anonymous telephone call that

They should check out a
paul taylor, who lived on 16th

Street in herrin, as a possible
suspect in the kathy woodhouse

m*rder and r*pe.

He had recently, in december,
just been released from

Louisiana prison for aggravated
sexual as*ault.

That's all the caller said, and
they hung up.

Narrator: taylor, only 20
years old, lived with his mother

Just two blocks from where the
m*rder took place.

And police learned that taylor
worked at a fast-food restaurant

That used the dry cleaner to
launder the employees' uniforms.

Investigators called the manager
and asked if taylor was the one

Who took the clothes to the dry
cleaners.

They said, "no, paul taylor
would not have brought the

Clothing over there.

However, he just quit his job 15
minutes ago and is planning on

Going to louisiana."

Narrator: police rushed to
paul taylor's house.

And when they arrived,
paul taylor told them that he

Had just gotten home from work.

One of the officers confronted
him with the fact that "you

Didn't just get home from work.

The manager just told us you
went over there and quit your

Job, that you were going back to
louisiana."

Narrator: when questioned,
taylor denied any involvement in

The m*rder.

Taylor's grandmother provided an
alibi.

She said paul was at home that
morning...

And taylor bore no resemblance
to the description given by the

Eyewitness.

He came across very
believable.

When asked questions like "what
should happen to someone that

k*lled kathy woodhouse?" His
response was, "fry him."

"Do you think that individual
should get a second chance?"

His response to that was, "no,
there should be no second

Chance."

Narrator: on a hunch, police
asked taylor if they could

Search his home.

He agreed.

While doing the search, I
lifted up the mattress on his

Bed and immediately saw a pair
of women's pantyhose with one

Leg missing laying on top of two
pornographic magazines.

Narrator: then police
remembered the piece of

Pantyhose they found on the
ground outside the dry-cleaning

Store.

Was it possible it was cut from
the pair found in taylor's home?

It really raised my
curiosity, because now I've

Seen some physical evidence that
may connect him with the crime

Scene.

Narrator: police sent both
pieces to forensic microscopist

Glenn schubert.

The first exam I did
physically, then, was to try and

Match up the edges in what we
call a physical match.

Narrator: but the ends were
too frayed for any sort of

Comparison.

But under a microscope, schubert
was able to find similarities.

I was able to determine that
they were both a similar knit --

A jersey stitch knit pattern.

Narrator: next, using high
magnification, schubert found

Another striking similarity.

Both pieces contained some
unique chemical properties.

The titanium dioxide is the
small little dots that appeared

In the microscope.

Those are just particles they
put in synthetic fibers to keep

Them from being too shiny, and
in this particular case, there

Was a moderate amount of the
titanium dioxide delusterant

Particles in both samples.

Narrator: to see if the
colors were the same, schubert

Turned to microspectral
photometry.

The spectra that I observed
from these fibers was very

Unique.

It had several peaks, which is a
little unusual in colored

Fibers, so the fact that it had
several peaks that was very

Consistent between two samples
made this color comparison very

Unique.

Narrator: since they were
both dyed the same color, had

The same amount of titanium
dioxide, and were the same knit

Pattern, schubert made a
definitive assessment.

We knew that night that we
had enough evidence that would

Lead to his arrest warrant.

With our cutting-edge technology
here, we were able to come up

With the results that proved
that he was likely the

Perpetrator of this crime.

Narrator: finally,
investigators compared taylor's

Fingerprints to the print found
on the pay phone.

It was a match, and the
fingerprint evidence revealed

Something else.

Investigators found
paul taylor's left palm print on

A plastic garbage bag found near
kathy woodhouse's body, proof he

Was in the back room of the
dry-cleaning store on the day of

The m*rder.

Forensic science proved what the
eyewitnesses couldn't --

That paul taylor had k*lled
kathy woodhouse.

As it turns out, the witness
was wrong in all instances but

One, and that was the height.

She had said the person was 30
to 35 years old.

Ends up that he was 20.

She indicated that he weighed


He only weighed 170.

But the truth of the matter is
that positive identification is

Oftentimes wrong.

Narrator: paul taylor was
arrested as he was leaving a

Rock concert with some friends.

Narrator: police found his
nonchalance alarming.

He knew we were following
him, and he just sort of made

Light of it.

He was not concerned, did not
seem very concerned about it.

It was sort of a big joke to
him, was the way it came across

To us.

Narrator: prosecutors are
unsure whether paul taylor

Walked into the dry-cleaning
store to commit robbery, sexual

as*ault, m*rder, or all of the
above.

It would be speculation on
our part as to whether he'd

Actually planned on k*lling her
or not.

He didn't bring a w*apon with
him.

However, he did, apparently,
have the stocking with him.

Narrator: the evidence
suggests taylor wore the

Pantyhose over his head as a
disguise.

He forced kathy woodhouse to the
back room of the store and

Sexually assaulted her.

Then he heard someone enter the
store.

It was a customer who found her
dry cleaning and wrote a check

For the amount she owed.

Taylor needed to make sure she
didn't look in the back room, so

He removed the disguise, walked
out, and asked her if she needed

Help.

Afterwards, he may have realized
kathy woodhouse could identify

Him, so he k*lled her with the
mop wringer.

He left his left palm print on a
plastic garbage bag in the back

Room.

Then he took $3 from kathy's
purse and left the store but

Dropped the pantyhose outside.

A few blocks away, he called 911
and left his fingerprint on the

Receiver.

I can't tell you why
paul taylor made the 911 call.

Sometimes they'll do it to taunt
the police, to try to show them

They can get by with something,
for the reaction that they may

Get.

Narrator: when faced with the
forensic evidence against him,

Paul taylor confessed.

He did not hesitate much
about telling us that he did

k*ll her.

He told her that he was going to
rob her.

He stated that he did take $3
from her purse, but he denied

Having sexually assaulted her.

Narrator: investigators
discovered taylor was a

Nonsecretor, consistent with
the biological samples from the

r*pe test kit, and they told
taylor they didn't believe him.

At which point, he looked
down at the floor for several

Seconds, and then he looked
directly at me again, and he

Said, "I r*ped her."

Maybe he thought that m*rder
was okay, but sexual as*ault was

Not.

I think he just tried to lessen
the severity of it when he first

Told us that he m*rder*d her.

Narrator: paul taylor was
convicted of first-degree m*rder

And sentenced to life in prison
with no possibility of parole.

I'm glad to know he's going
to be in prison, never going to

Get out and walk the streets and
do something like this to

Someone else.

However, I felt like he should
have been put to death for what

He did.

Narrator: after the trial,
taylor spoke to the media about

The crime.

As far as murdering her,
herself...

I don't have any remorse, but
going along with her children, I

Feel sorry about that.

But that's all I can say.

I can't do anything more.

At the time, like I said, I
wasn't thinking about m*rder, so

I didn't think if she had
children.

I didn't know if she was
married.

I didn't know anything about
that.

To be honest, I don't think
about paul taylor very much.

'Cause I don't focus on my mom's
death.

I focus on her life more, and,

So, I guess, the hardest part is
just being without her, not

Being able to go to the phone,
tell her what's going on, not

Being able to come home to
illinois and see her, and just

All the fun things that we did
and enjoyed before.

Narrator: this was a case
where an eyewitness's

Description wasn't nearly as
accurate as the forensic

Evidence.

The forensic evidence in this
case was extremely important.

Without that, I don't believe we
would have been able to make an

Arrest on taylor.

I doubt we would have got a

Confession from him.

This case is a classic
example of all the

Law-enforcement community
working together, from the local

Police departments to the
sheriff's department to the

State attorney's office to the

Crime lab.

I think, in my 20 years, this
is the most obvious case of a

Situation where, without the

Forensic evidence, we would not

Have had the probable cause to

Arrest paul taylor.

He, very probably, would still

Be walking the streets, and

There's absolutely no doubt in

My mind that he would have

k*lled again.