Cold Murder Case Dating Back to 1978 Solved by DNA
The killer of 16-year-old Krisann Baxter has been unmasked after nearly 45 years.
Authorities in Washington’s Spokane County have announced they have identified the killer of a 16-year-old girl in a brutal murder and sexual assault that took place nearly 45 years ago.
Krisann Baxter was a student at the then-Joseph Jantsch High School in September 1978, but she had run away from home for unspecified reasons and had been reported missing by her mother on the 30th of that month.
However, her story was to have a tragic end. On October 4th 1978, two utility workers discovered a partially-clad female body lying in the shade of a clump of pine trees half a mile north of Hawthorn Road near Whitworth University.
The remains were identified as being those of Krisann, and she had suffered a brutal death. According to the county coroner at the time, she had trauma to her lungs and liver and extensive bruising. The teenager had also been sexually assaulted during the attack.
Crime scene technicians collected all they could from the site where the body was found, but there was little that could be done with the evidence at the time. And although detectives assigned to the case followed all the clues they could, leads…
