12x15 - Good as Gold

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: two young women were brutally m*rder*d on

Halloween, but the k*ller left behind his dna, and a

Groundbreaking new test identified his eye color, his

Hair, and even the color of his skin.

But knowing what he looked like was one thing.

Finding him was another.

[ Dog barks ] it was close to midnight on

Halloween in napa, california.

Trick or treat had been over for hours, and -year-old

Lauren meanza went to bed around : p.m.

Her dog, chloe, slept in her room.

At : in the morning, the dog started to growl.

[ Dog growls ] and lauren heard noises.

At first, she thought one of her roommates came home with a

Boyfriend.

But then she heard a fight and screams.

When she looked out, she saw a man run down the stairs and jump

Out of an open front window, but she didn't see his face.

When she went upstairs, lauren found her two roommates.

Both had been stabbed repeatedly.

[ Siren wails ] when police arrived, they found

-Year-old adriane insogna and -year-old leslie mazzara dead.

It was a very, very bloody crime scene.

It's the most bloody crime scene I've seen in my career.

Narrator: leslie mazzara was a former beauty queen who worked

In the sales department of a local winery.

And good evening.

A senior at the university of georgia, I am

Leslie ann mazzara, miss williamson.

Narrator: adriane insogna was a civil engineer.

It was horrible.

There aren't any words, really, to describe that.

It's almost as if you just go completely cold.

Narrator: bloodstains in the house provided investigators

With critical information.

He had gone into the house, up the stairs into leslie's

Bedroom first, where he att*cked her.

Apparently the commotion woke adriane up in her bedroom, and

She turned on the light, and he proceeded to her bedroom and

Then att*cked adriane.

She had reading glasses either in her hand or on her

Face that were cut with the Kn*fe.

She fought hard.

She fought for her life.

Narrator: the blood trail led to the front window and

Continued on to the aluminum siding on the outside of the

House.

Investigators found three cigarette butts -- two at the

Front of the house, the other in the backyard.

Anytime I see cigarette butts at a crime scene, I will collect

Them because they are an excellent source for obtaining

Dna.

Narrator: all of the blood evidence was collected for

Analysis.

We received pieces of evidence.

One or two is average -- up to four or five, possibly.

This particular case really surpassed most of what we see in

The laboratory.

Narrator: police searched for motive and found one when they

Discovered some plastic zip ties underneath the front window.

In police work, we use the same type of ties to hold

Prisoners, especially in riot situations or crowd control.

It appeared to us that this person had come in with a plan

When they came in, and part of that plan would have been to

Bind these girls.

Narrator: the next morning, napa valley residents awoke to

The news of this horrible crime and the terrible possibility

That a serial k*ller might be in their midst.

This was a violent crime.

I felt real uneasy.

We have never had a serial k*ller in the city of napa, and

This was my first taste of a possibility that we were dealing

With a serial k*ller.

Narrator: three young women lived together in this house in

Napa, california, until halloween night...

When an unknown assailant broke in and m*rder*d two of the three

Roommates.

Hearing those calls, my heart really went out to lauren for

What she had been through.

I could hear the panic, the fear, the grief in her voice...

As she tried to relate that something horrible had happened

To her friends.

Narrator: the surviving roommate, lauren meanza, told

Investigators she had no idea who would have done this.

Nothing was stolen, and lauren didn't think either victim had

Any enemies -- or, at least, none she knew about.

It appeared that leslie mazzara was att*cked first.

It wasn't clear whether this was because her room was closest to

The stairs or whether she was the intended target.

The evidence in her room indicated that she had been in

Bed when the att*ck happened.

And so it appears like she was probably asleep at the time the

att*ck occurred and didn't have a chance to even understand what

Was happening to her or defend herself.

Narrator: a background check revealed leslie was being

Pestered by the father of one of her ex-boyfriends.

It was leslie's last full-time boyfriend that she had

Before she moved out here to california.

Narrator: and her ex-boyfriend's father continued

To call her, even after she moved to california.

We looked at phone records for the house and cellphone

Records, and we learned that leslie had received several

Phone calls from the father of her ex-boyfriend that night, on

Halloween.

Narrator: leslie's ex-boyfriend and his father had

Alibis for the night of the m*rder.

They were both in south carolina, thousands of

Miles away, and witnesses confirmed it.

Another potential suspect was a handyman who had worked in the

House on the day of the murders, but he, too, had an alibi.

In all, police interviewed more than potential suspects and

Came up with nothing.

There was no information coming up after the murders.

No one was saying anything.

We all thought that it was someone who had hightailed it

Out of here immediately after the crime.

Narrator: two weeks after the murders, friends organized a

Candlelight vigil to keep attention focused on the case.

The majority of the people we looked at early were

Ex-boyfriends, current boyfriends, co-workers that were

Very close to the girls who would have had that type of

Ongoing relationship.

Narrator: then police got a break.

Dna testing found blood at the crime scene that wasn't from the

Victims.

There was an x- and y-peak detected for those particular

Samples, so we knew that we were dealing with male blood on the

Outside of the house.

Narrator: it appeared the k*ller cut himself while

Stabbing the girls when the Kn*fe slipped in his hand.

He probably had the Kn*fe in his right hand, and when he hit

The wall, the blood that was on his right hand and on the Kn*fe

Was cast off onto the wall.

Narrator: investigators now turned to the three cigarette

Butts found at the scene.

Two were in front of the house, the other in the backyard.

Dna from the saliva on two of the cigarette butts matched dna

From the blood on the stairs.

It also matched dna from skin cells found on the rubber band

Holding the plastic zip ties.

A rubber band is a good dna source because it's made of

Porous material.

The perspiration or whatever it was that left the dna behind was

Absorbed into the rubber band and preserved.

Narrator: the dna profile was entered into a national database

Of million known offenders.

There was no match.

Again, police had to consider the unthinkable -- that they

Were dealing with a serial k*ller who had successfully

Eluded them.

That's the worst kind of crime to try to investigate

Because there's no known link to the girls.

Then you have a larger pool of potential suspects, obviously.

Narrator: however, a second look at the cigarette butts

Provided a possible lead.

On the white part of the cigarette, there was a gold

Pattern that kind of looked like little, gold birds -- kind

Of drawings -- all the way around.

No name. No words.

So we had no idea what the brand was.

Narrator: investigators did some research and learned the

Cigarettes were a brand known as camel turkish gold.

They were relatively new and had only been on the market for a

Very short time.

Not every store even carried them.

And the stores that we talked to, they would let us know --

Maybe they sold one or two packs a week.

Narrator: investigators asked the surviving roommate,

Lauren meanza, for a list of everyone she knew who smoked

Cigarettes.

Perhaps one of them was the k*ller.

Narrator: solving the double homicide of adriane insogna and

Leslie mazzara proved to be far more difficult than police ever

Imagined.

It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

And we wanted to find out who did this, and we wanted to put

Them where they belonged, and that's why the community came

Together with a $, reward.

Narrator: but investigators knew somethingabout their

k*ller.

Bloodstains on the stairway wall were on the right side,

Indicating he was probably right-handed.

And he smoked camel turkish gold cigarettes.

To find out more, investigators asked dr. Tony frudakis if the

k*ller's dna could provide any information useful to their

Investigation.

And dr. Frudakis told them about a new forensic technique he

Developed that could determine the k*ller's physical

Characteristics.

It's really important that you be able to narrow down your

Focus, because otherwise you have no information with which

To work and you're sort of flailing around.

Narrator: since .% Of all human dna is alike, dr. Frudakis

Focuses his attention on the remaining .% And compares

These polymorphisms to the dna of citizens from other

Countries.

This can identify the k*ller's ethnic identity.

The donor was primarily of northwestern european ancestry,

Very small amount of southeastern european ancestry,

And no middle eastern or south asian admixtures.

You knew, for example, that he wasn't hispanic, he wasn't

African-american.

So that certainly narrowed down the focus of the investigation

In terms of who they should be looking at.

Narrator: and dr. Frudakis found a marker in one of the

k*ller's genes that indicated he'd have blue or green eyes

And, most likely, light-colored hair.

I was glad they had done it.

It made me more hopeful that eventually they would be able to

Determine who the perpetrator was.

Narrator: police released this new information to the

Public, hoping someone in the community would recognize him.

Tonight there's a new development in the murders of

Two napa women.

Narrator: and there was a man living just miles away

From the m*rder scene who was listening to every word.

They say he's white, has blondish hair, and most likely

Has green eyes.

Narrator: he now knew two things -- that he made too many

Mistakes and that dna technology had advanced far beyond anything

He could ever have imagined.

The same time, police asked the surviving roommate,

Lauren meanza, if she knew anyone who smoked this brand of

Cigarettes.

She had let us know, "well, the only smoker I can think of

At this point is eric copple."

Narrator: -year-old eric copple was a land surveyor

And a friend of one of the victims.

But before police could question him, copple walked into police

Headquarters and confessed.

I'm just getting done with dinner, and I get a phone call

At home -- "someone's here at the police department, and they

Want to confess."

Narrator: copple said he knew adriane insogna.

It was that cold feeling that came over me.

I didn't know what to feel at that moment.

I really didn't know.

We want to make sure that he knows details about the crime

And the things he's telling us match up with what we already

Know about the crime scene.

We want to make sure that it's information that hasn't been

Released to the media.

Narrator: although eric copple confessed, he

Wouldn't tell police why he did it.

He always claimed he didn't know what he did with the m*rder

w*apon -- which, again, always suggested to me that he wasn't

Telling the truth, because it would seem to me that would be

Something he'd be able to tell us.

Eric was very elusive as far as the question of why the crime

Happened.

We could never get him to say "I did this because of x, y, and

Z."

Narrator: -year-old eric copple walked into police

Headquarters and confessed to the murders of adriane insogna

And leslie mazzara.

He knew from the genetic testing that it was only a matter of

Time.

He knew he was just getting circled in.

He had to do it.

And he was gonna commit su1c1de, he was gonna do whatever.

And he saw that stuff and he says, "I can't take it," and he

Came in and he confessed.

Narrator: dna tests confirmed that eric copple's blood was at

The crime scene and that his saliva was on the cigarette

Butts found outside.

I don't know if I exactly remembered the moment when I got

The news.

I just knew I was elated.

I was very happy to find out that on a rare piece of evidence

That we had, we had the suspect's dna.

Narrator: copple was arrested and charged with two counts of

First-degree m*rder.

Investigators learned that copple blamed adriane insogna

For the breakup of his engagement to lily prudhomme.

It appeared that some people, and possibly adriane, were

Telling lily that she could do better and that she shouldn't be

Any longer involved in this relationship with eric copple --

That he wasn't good enough for her or right for her.

She must have seen something, and she was just trying to warn

Lily, and, unfortunately, she was just absolutely...

A victim of something that never should have ever happened to

Such a wonderful person.

Narrator: on the night of the murders, copple went to a

Halloween party and ran into his ex-fiancée, lily prudhomme.

According to witnesses, the two argued.

Copple wanted to set a new date for their wedding, but lily

Wasn't interested.

Can you just leave me alone for the rest of the night?

Please.

Narrator: after the party, copple returned home.

He admitted to police that he was drunk.

The fight with his ex-fiancée only added to the anger and

Bitterness he felt towards adriane insogna.

So he took revenge.

Prosecutors believe copple stood outside the house where adriane

Lived with her two roommates, casing the place and smoking

Cigarettes.

He used a Kn*fe to pry open the window and accidentally dropped

The packet of zip ties on the floor with his dna.

Leslie's bedroom was the first room at the top of the stairs,

And he k*lled her first.

Aah!

Narrator: he then went across the hall, to adriane's room.

She fought back aggressively.

At some point, he cut his hand and bled profusely as he rushed

Out of the house.

At that point -- based on what he'stold us, at least --

He took his clothing and b*rned them in a fire pit that he had

In his backyard.

Went back to sleep and then the next day went to lily's house to

Console her after lily called him to tell him that adriane had

Been att*cked.

Narrator: no one knows why copple spared lauren meanza.

Some think he didn't know about the downstairs bedroom.

I don't know whether or not copple knew that there was a

Room there, and I don't know whether or not he knew that

There was a person in there.

I just had a reckoning with myself and really understood

That adriane was the target and somebody really wanted my child

Dead.

And then I thought, how stupid was i.

Of course adriane was the target.

Of course we all know it's someone in the inner circle.

If we had known those kind of circumstances earlier in the

Investigation, I'm sure he would have come into our radar

Sooner, but, again, we can always look back and wish we

Would have done things differently.

Narrator: a few months before he confessed, eric copple

Patched things up with lily prudhomme, and the two

Married.

In a bitter irony, the couple asked arlene allen,

Adriane insogna's mother, to be part of the wedding ceremony.

And so it was really a remarkable moment, and my guest

At the wedding was my daughter lexi, so we were both there at

Eric and lily's wedding.

Narrator: lily claims she never suspected eric was the

k*ller.

In december of , eric copple pleaded guilty to two counts of

First-degree m*rder.

He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Had he not pled guilty, copple would have been eligible for the

Death penalty.

And I think that was a very real possibility -- accepting a

"Life without possibility of parole" plea was probably the

Best deal he was gonna get.

I never in my life thought that the police would not solve

This crime.

I always believed they would.

Narrator: were it not for a few drops of blood, two

Cigarette butts, and some skin cells on a rubber band,

Eric copple might have gotten away with m*rder.

But ever-advancing dna technology provided a profile so

Accurate, it was only a matter of time before he was exposed as

The k*ller.

This case turned on those cigarette butts primarily,

Because it was the dna on the cigarette butts that told us a

Little bit about the k*ller.

Things that would have been not even considered years ago

As evidence are very crucial to cases nowadays.

And, again, the sensitivity of testing analysis of dna, it's

Just incredible what we can find in crime scenes now.

Every homicide that you see, there's always a twist to the

Case that's a little bit different from the next case,

And so that's sort of what makes this work so interesting and so

Challenging.

It was the dna.

It was the cigarette butts.

So, once again, at any crime scene, it's very crucial to do a

Good job and collect all the evidence.

And most crimes are solved by the physical evidence.