Nearly 30 years after a teenager was found dead near a fishing hotspot, police have identified her killer through DNA evidence, but he will not stand trial.
On September 21, 1996, 15-year-old Danielle “Danni” Houchins was found murdered after being reported missing by her family.
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That morning, the teenager from Belgrade, Montana, drove to Cameron Bridge Fishing Access, along the Gallatin River, just 20 minutes west of Bozeman.
When she didn’t return later that day, Danni’s mother went looking for her and found her daughter’s truck with Danni nowhere to be found.
Later that night, authorities began a search for the teenager and found her face down in shallow water.
An autopsy performed two days later revealed that Danni had no alcohol or drugs in her system, but had “cloudy material” in her stomach as well as her upper and lower airways, according to the Montana Free Press.
The autopsy also found a laceration on her vagina.
At the time, the state medical examiner determined the 15-year-old died from drowning.
However, his family would not rest until they got more answers.
In 2019, Danni’s sister, Stephanie, now 39, began asking local authorities and the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office to reopen the case.
“The community was really shaken. No one could understand what had happened,” she told the Montana Free Press.
“I always knew in my heart it couldn’t have been an accident.”
DNA EVIDENCE
In August 2023, the official manner of Danni’s death was reportedly changed from “undetermined” to “homicide” after investigators reexamined the evidence and discovered semen in the teens’ underwear.
It didn’t take long for investigators to identify a person of interest using DNA and genetic technology from the preserved evidence.
Specifically, they found four arm hairs on Danni’s body, the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office said. said in a Facebook post.
This breakthrough in evidence led police to identify Paul Hutchinson, 55, of Dillon, Montana.
On July 23, 2024, investigators brought Hutchinson in for questioning in a nearly two-hour interview.
Hutchinson lived in Bozeman at the time of the murder, attending Montana State University.
During the interview, police said Hutchinson “demonstrated extreme nervousness” after seeing him sweat profusely, scratch his face and chew on his hand.
“Upon viewing a photo of Houchins, Hutchinson slumped in his chair and exhibited signs of discomfort,” the sheriff’s office said. he said.
“After release, his behavior was observed to be erratic.”
Early the next day, Hutchinson called the Beaverhead County Sheriff’s Office saying he needed help.
However, he soon hung up the phone.
Not long after, Hutchinson was found dead on the side of the road after suffering a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Hutchinson had never been considered a suspect in the case until DNA evidence was investigated.
He had no other criminal or traffic history and was married with two children, police said.
CASE CLOSED
Investigators he said they do not believe Hutchinson knew Danni at the time of her murder.
Instead, they said they believe the two randomly met in the river where Hutchinson raped and then suffocated the teen in the shallow waters.
The Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office celebrated the closure of the case, saying it brought a sense of “closure” to Danni’s family and the community.
“This case exemplifies our tireless pursuit of justice. We never gave up on finding the truth for Danni and her family, exhausting any means necessary to close this heartbreaking chapter,” Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer said in a statement.
“Our commitment to justice for victims and their loved ones is unwavering, and we will continue to use every resource at our disposal to resolve these cases, no matter how much time has passed.”
Although Hutchinson is unable to attend trial in the case, Danni’s sister told reporters she had no doubt that he was the one who killed her sister.
“Even though this man will not face a jury of his peers, I have no doubt that he was the one who violently and forcefully sexually assaulted my sister and then held her head down in a swamp until she suffocated in the mud,” she said. . .
“When the time came to face and explain his violence, he chose to end his life. He knew his guilt and could not face my family or his family and the pain he caused.”
As the cold case is resolved, an investigation will continue to tie up any loose ends with federal and local authorities, the sheriff’s office he said.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
