Trace Evidence

Over the course of one week in New York City in 1985, a violent and brutal killer wielding an axe took the lives of two women: 85 year old Janet Scott and 58 year old Ruth Potdevin. Both women were killed in hotels within days of each other, less than a half mile apart.

While the crimes themselves were grisly enough, the killer went further by leaving a gruesome puzzle behind at each scene. While the NYPD believed they would capture the assailant, his wrath disappeared just as mysteriously as it had originally materialized.

Did he finish what he aimed to do or did he simply move on to kill again, evading police once more?

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/nyc

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Eighty-six year old Patrick Carnes was making the two thousand mile drive from Toledo, Ohio to Reno, Nevada. Joined by his beloved dog, Lucky, he was set to return home by Thursday, April 14th, 2011. Unfortunately, while he was making good time, Patrick would never get home.

After being stopped by a trooper at 9pm on the 13th, Patrick mysteriously vanished. He had planned to stop off in Elko that night, a town just fifty miles away. Whether or not he ever made it to Elko is unknown, but just nine hours later his car was found abandoned more than one hundred and fifty miles away.

Initially it was believed Patrick may have gotten lost and wandered into the darkness of the desert but when investigators realized his car had been found in the same location as that of a woman who went missing five years earlier foul play quickly came into view.

Was Patrick Carnes the victim of a random crime or could his disappearance be linked to another unsolved case?

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/patrick-carnes

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In late January, 2002, twenty-three year old Bobby Zajac, twenty-six year old Erin Golla and twenty-nine year old James Springer Jr were preparing to leave the AMF Broadway Bowling Lanes in Littleton, Colorado, when they were seized upon by an armed individual.

After robbing the safe, the thief turned into a cold blooded killer, executing all three with a handgun. Moments later he casually walked out of the building, smirking to a witness waiting to pick up Erin before driving off into obscurity.

For nearly twenty years police and the families have sought justice, though it has remained elusive. Was this a random robbery gone wrong? A planned attack? Was one of the victims an intended target or could this horrible crime be linked to another series of murders that happened just two months later?

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/littleton

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Eighteen year old Anita Knutson had just completed her freshman semester at Minot State University in North Dakota. Living in an apartment with a roommate, Anita was working two jobs and excited about summer break.

However, over the first weekend in June of 2007, Anita's family couldn't get in touch with her which was extremely out of character. After several attempts, Anita's father Gordon made the one hour drive to check on her. There he would make a horrifying discovery.

Anita had been murdered, that much was clear, but who could have been responsible was a far more complex question involving a sordid cast of characters from a guy with an unrequited crush, a contentious roommate, the maintenance man, a group of construction workers and others.
Despite being in possession of both DNA and fingerprints, police have yet to name an official suspect and while the case grows cold, a grieving family and frustrated community have begun to wonder if justice will ever be served.

UPDATED: July, 2025 - Nichole Rice, Anita's former roommate, arrested and charged with her murder.  After a six day trial and less than six hours of deliberation, Rice is found not guilty.

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Music Courtesy of:

"Wounded"  Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
"Echoes of Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
"Galactic Rap" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/anita-knutson

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Twenty-seven year old Susan Taraskiewicz had been working for Northwest Airlines out of Logan Airport, in Boston, for five years. After suffering through a harsh assortment of sexual harassment and threats of physical violence she managed to do something no woman had before her; she was promoted to the position of Equipment Service Crew Chief. Unfortunately while she was excited by her new position she also began to receive more aggressive harassment and threats.

On the weekend of September 12th and 13th, 1992, Su was working overnight. At approximately 1am on the 13th, she volunteered to go out and pick up lunch for her crew however she would never return. Rather than report her absence, her co-workers clocked her back in and later claimed to be covering for her. Su failed to show up for work for her next shift and on the very morning her parents went to file a missing person's report her body was discovered.

Su had been brutally beaten and stabbed before being stuffed in the trunk of her own car. While police initially considered the crime to be random, a massive investigation targeting a credit card theft ring at the airport soon aroused suspicions that Su could have been killed by someone she worked with who believed she had blown the whistle.

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/susan-teraskiewicz

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In October of 1984, nine year old Christine Jessop vanished from the streets of Queensville, Ontario, Canada. Months later, her remains were recovered more than fifty kilometers from her home. Police searched for her killer and eventually narrowed their suspects down to one man.

However, that man, was later cleared of any involvement through the use of DNA despite having been taken to court twice, and convicted once. In the years since, no suspect has ever been named but now, thanks to DNA and genealogy research, Christine's killer has finally been identified.

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/christine-jessop

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Forty-one year old Leah Rowlands was starting a new life. She moved to the small town of Cozad, Nebraska where her boyfriend lived. She had been married previously, from which she had two sons, but had fled from what she described as a very abusive relationship.

Now in Cozad, she was putting the pieces back together. She had just been promoted to manager at the Amoco station where she worked. However, while her first day under her new position should have been a good one, Leah would be brutally murdered in a bizarre robbery.

While police theorized that the crime may have been random, Leah's brother argued that it may have been an organized hit, funded by Leah's own ex-husband.

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/leah-rowlands

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Fifty-five year old Donald Smith was set to embark on a cross-country road trip. Along the way he planned to visit several family members, but just a day into the trip he was joined by a mysterious companion.

Don showed up in Springfield, Idaho, tracking down his daughter, Brenda. When Don arrived, he was drunk and behaving erratically. Frustrated, Brenda told her father to sober up and contact her the next day. Just twenty-four hours later, Don was murdered.

Three days later, his vehicle was involved in an accident in Denver. The driver fled from the scene, never to be seen again. When police arrived they found a blood soaked car jack handle and the hunt for a killer began.

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/donald-smith

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Seventy-six year old Al Sicherer was finally living his life out in the open. After the passing of his beloved wife of forty years, Al confessed his secret: he was gay. Having his own health problems, Al decided it was now or never and he wanted to live his life honestly and by following his heart.

Al maintained a quiet life, most of the neighbors at his condo knew him only as the quiet gentleman on the sixteenth floor. However, at night, Al began going to bars and clubs, seeking out potential partners. Sadly, one of those partners may have been the man who eventually killed him.

In July of 2001, Al's daughter Beverly made the horrifying discovery. Al had been brutally beaten and stabbed. There were a lot of clues, fingerprints, DNA, a shoe print and surveillance footage. Despite all of this, though, the name of the man last seen with Al has remained a mystery. If only that mystery could be solved, Al's killer could be brought to justice.

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/irving-sicherer

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Twenty-eight year old Kristine Kupka was following her dreams. A firm supporter of women's rights, Kristine was just months from graduating with a degree in philosophy from which she planned to move into law school. Then she got a life changing surprise -- she was pregnant.

Excited by the opportunity to be a mother, Kristine immediately began planning for the future. While she wasn't sure how the father would receive the news she couldn't be prepared for how he reacted. He begged Kristine to get an abortion and explained that he had lied to her; he was married and this pregnancy would destroy his life. Kristine empathized but she had no plans of aborting her child.

Months later, Kristine vanished after being picked up by the child's father. While he argues he dropped Kristine off after several hours, others believe he played a direct role in the young mother to be's disappearance.

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/kristine-kupka

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