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The Murders of Deidre Malachowski and Danielle Bonfield
Two bodies found in Colorado were finally linked to a single killer using clever computer forensics.
It was June 1997, and hikers in the picturesque city of Colorado Springs in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains had made a grisly discovery. In a shallow grave in the dry, clay-rich soil was the body of a young woman.
When police from El Paso County arrived at the scene, they found little physical evidence and no indication as to who their Jane Doe might be. However, after examining missing persons records, they realised she fitted the description of a waitress from nearby Fountain who had vanished a week earlier.
Murder investigation is opened
Deidre Malachowski had been raped and killed by blunt force trauma to the head before being dumped in the mountains. Investigators knew from insect larvae that she had been murdered roughly on the day she went missing, and they collected all the physical evidence available from her body.
With a lack of further leads, Detective Michelle Hodges told The New Detectives she and her officers began canvassing the neighbourhood in the hope of turning up more clues. They were extremely suspicious of Deidre’s fiancé, who was uncooperative during questioning.
This was compounded when investigators spoke to Deidre’s best friend Donna Yerkey and her husband Alan. They said Deidre and her fiancé had frequently argued and that he had on occasion restrained her by placing his hands around her throat.
Despite this chilling testimony, there was no physical evidence to support the argument that Deidre’s fiancé had any involvement in her murder. Detective Hodges knew that without a solid case against him, they had no chance of prosecution. Reluctantly, she watched Deidre’s case go cold.
Another body is found
Nine months went by, and then the city of Colorado Springs hit the headlines again. Another body was discovered in the mountains, this time half-buried in the spring snow. It was found to be the remains of 12-year-old Danielle Bonfield, who had been missing for around 24 hours.
