the murderer of an 18-year-old woman identified 43 years after the events

An Ohio murder case that went unsolved for more than 40 years has just been solved. We are in 2021 when the investigation into the murder of Debra Lee Miller, murdered on April 29, 1981, is reopened in order to integrate advances in forensic techniques, and in particular research on DNA. This young girl, a waitress in the Mansfield, Ohio area, was found beaten to death with an oven rack when she was only 18 years old, according to the Associated Press. At the time, no suspect could be identified but DNA traces were taken and kept in police archives for four decades.

“We examined the items with which the victim was linked. We examined the bodily fluids, including the blood that was found there”Richland County Deputy Prosecutor Chris Brown told US media Fox 8. “We also talked about what we perceived to be the murder weapons, which in this case were pots, pans and oven racks.”

The DNA profile ends up pointing to a culprit. It belongs to James Vanest, Debra Lee Miller's former neighbor, who was 26 at the time and had managed to fly under the radar. James Vanest had however been questioned during the initial investigation but he had never been considered a suspect.

The assassin shot dead by the police

The police find him and question him again. He admits to having lied during his previous interview with investigators and tries to explain the presence of his DNA at the crime scene by claiming to have been invited by the victim to his home after having chased away a homeless man installed in front of his door.

When the Mansfield police requested a second interview, James Vanest refused, sold his house, bought a van and fled to West Virginia. On November 18, he was located in a motel in Jackson Township. Refusing to surrender, he was shot dead by American agents after engaging in a shootout. The local police chief then considered the Debra Lee Miller case closed, her killer having finally been found.