Cape investigators hope DNA may help solve 1982 murders

Cape Girardeau investigators reviewing two unsolved 1982 murders are relying on today's science to examine the DNA of several suspects and decades-old evidence.

Margie Call and Mildred Wallace, who lived blocks apart in Cape Girardeau's southside neighborhood, were found dead in their homes during a time when investigators could use only blood types to eliminate suspects. Call, 57, was strangled in January 1982, and Wallace, 65, was found shot months later in June. No arrests were ever made, but more than a dozen persons have remained suspects, including a man appearing in court Thursday in Jackson to fight a subpoena requiring him to submit DNA samples.

Earlier this month, Det. Jim Smith and Det. Joe Tado requested two suspects to submit DNA samples. One man complied, but the other refused. Cape Girardeau County Prosecutor Morley Swingle filed a motion March 14 for a criminal investigative subpoena to require the man to submit the samples and associate Circuit Judge Gary Kamp issued the subpoena.

The man's attorney, public defender Bryan Keller, filed a motion to quash the subpoena on March 20, saying requiring him to comply would be a violation of his rights to privacy and against self-incrimination. On Thursday, Kamp held a hearing on that motion. At the end of testimony and arguments, he decided to take the matter under advisement before ruling. He advised the man to stay in contact with his attorney.

Today, forensic specialists can compare DNA extracted from blood, hair or semen found at the 1982 crime scene to new DNA samples taken from the suspects today and pinpoint a match within a mathematical accuracy of one in millions. Samples are collected by rubbing cotton swabs inside the mouth and pulling at least a dozen hairs from both the head and pubic area.

"We feel with DNA evidence, we'll find who is responsible," said Tado, head of the department's science investigations division.

There are several similarities in the cases. The victims were of similar age and lived alone. They came home to a burglar in the house, were sexually assaulted and left partially nude. Investigators have long believed the cases are connected. "Logic tells both are related because of the similarities of the physical evidence that was found in both houses," said then-chief detective John Brown in a 1992 Southeast Missourian article. "However, we treat them as separate cases."

An FBI psychological profile determined their killer was a white male in his teens or early 20s, lived in the neighborhood, would tend to make obscene phone calls and probably knew the victims.

The man fighting the subpoena Thursday in court fit that profile, testified Smith.

"Somebody's got some information, they've just got to share it," Smith said. "We feel strongly at this point that with cooperation from the public these cases can be cleared."

mwells@semissourian.com

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