02x12 - Micro-Clues

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- After a day of fishing in a small quiet village in Switzerland, a teenage boy did

not return home as planned. The investigation revealed some important

microscopic evidence in the water near where he was last seen.

It was the only forensic evidence detectives had.

Late in the afternoon of August th, in the small Swiss village of Noi Paradis,

-year old Dario Chikoleckia left his home to go fishing in a nearby creek.

As night fell on the town, Dario had not returned home and his mother called the

police to report her son missing.

- When we found the bike and his clothing, we concluded that he had last been fishing

there. Where and with whom he could have left the place, we had no idea.

- Two days passed and the search intensified with more than policemen

patroling the area with search dogs. A missing person poster aired on local

television and newspapers asked "Where is Dario?" As time passed, people feared the

worst.

- To us, there were clear indications that a crime had taken place because of the

objects found: his bike and his trunks.

- Search teams meticulously combed the field next to the creek where Dario's swim

trunks and fishing pole had been found. Farther downstream, police found Dario's

t-shirt on the bank.

A dam was placed in the creek in order to search the muddy bottom for evidence.

Many items were discovered but nothing that could be

linked to the missing boy. Two nights after Dario was reported missing, two

women were walking a dog along a field path near Switzerland's border with

Germany.

They saw what appeared to be blood.

Just a few feet away, in a nearby cornfield, laid the naked body

of a young man.

- When I got the message from these two women, we immediately sent a police

officer to check the site. When he reported that the body was that of a young

man, we realized that it might be Dario.

- The body was positively identified as Dario Chicoleckia.

He had been sexually mutilated.

- I certainly will never forget this all of my life, that terrible sight.

It was quite obvious from the beginning that it was a sex crime.

This could be seen from the injuries. There were cuts and bruises

also in the genital area.

- When the medical examiner arrived at the scene, he concluded that the cuts on the

body were consistent with a pocket knife but were made some time after the boy was

dead.

- I found on the body a lot of long cuts, side-by-side and this helped me to think

that the boy did not move during the cuts were made.

And on the other hand, there were no defensive wounds.

- Although blood had been found near the body, Dr. Wyler believed it wasn't enough

blood to indicate that the boy's heart was still pumping

when the mutilation took place.

- When there is no heart action and no circulation in the body,

there is no possibility to, to bleed very much.

- With no evidence of a struggle, police suspected that Dario had been m*rder*d

somewhere else and the body transported to the cornfield.

Police found Dario's sneakers in the cornfield but they did not find

the knife used in the mutilation.

- We were greatly alarmed. Such crimes are frequently repeated

if the k*ller is still at large.

We therefore started immediately with a very thorough search of the environment.

- Police could find no foreign hair, fibers, or semen but Dr. Wyler swabbed the

inside of Dario's mouth for possible forensic evidence. When he analyzed that

sample, he discovered some microscopic evidence.

It was a discovery that would change the course of the investigation

and launch a new era in crime science.

After Dario Chicoleckia's mutilated body was found lying in a cornfield,

Dr. Daniel Wyler analyzed the forensic evidence from Dario's mouth.

Something under the microscope caught his attention.

He found what they are called diatoms.

Diatoms are a type of algae, microscopic organisms that live mostly in the sea,

in ponds, lakes and streams. They can also be found on moist rocks,

even in mud and soil. These tiny organisms are the most diverse of all algae.

Globally, they account for approximately % of all photosynthesis.

There are about , different species of diatoms worldwide,

about , species in Switzerland alone.

Diatoms can tell scientists about past environmental conditions in fresh water

and marine environments as long ago as tens of thousands of years.

And in the case of Dario Chicoleckia, Dr. Wyler hoped that the diatoms found

in his body would reveal something about his m*rder.

- I was absolutely sure that this boy was drowned. In the lungs, I found a lot of

mud and this helped me to see that he has been in water with a lot of mud,

so it can't be a very deep lake or something like that.

It must be a creek or a small river or something like that.

- Diatoms were also found on Dario's sneakers, which were in the cornfield near

his body. The next step was to see if the diatoms in Dario's lungs and on his

sneakers could help determine the exact body of water where Dario had been

m*rder*d. To find out, Dr. Wyler called on the expertise of Dr. Joachim Hurlimann,

a biologist who specializes in the study of diatoms.

- You can look to the diatoms in the lungs and you can see the species and the

species give you information about the, the type of river or lake,

the water quality.

- Dr. Hurlimann was asked to analyze the diatom populations in Dario's lungs and

sneakers, as well as those found in water samples from the region. If he could find

significant similarities, investigators would know

the exact location of his m*rder.

- If you have uh, a high similarity you know that the two samples must come from

the same place.

- But with as many as , different species of diatoms in Switzerland alone,

Dr. Hurlimann would have to test water samples from the nearby bodies of water to

make an accurate comparison.

- To be very sure that there is no other pond or river or creek which has the

similar or the same diatom community, so if you look to other, uhm, water bodies

and you won't find the communities, then you're quite sure that uh, this special

place was the place of the, of the drowning.

- Water samples were collected from the surrounding bodies of water including the

Rhine River which flows between the creek and the cornfield where Dario's body had

been found. The water samples were treated with acids to k*ll any organic matter in

the diatoms, leaving their glass-like skeletal remains, a necessary step in

identification according to species. Under the microscope, Dr. Hurlimann compared the

diatom populations found in Dario's lungs and on his sneakers to the thousands of

known species in his reference journals. He found one dominant species.

The diatoms were identified as Fragilaria Pinnata,

a fresh water species usually found attached

to sand grains in slowly moving water. The next step was for Dr. Hurlimann to

count and identify the diatom populations from the various water samples

using an elaborate chart. It was a tedious process but eventually he found one body

of water which had, as it's dominant species, Fragilaria Pinnata, the same

dominant species found in Dario's lungs and on his sneakers. It was from a water

sample taken from the creek just a few feet away from where Dario's bicycle was

found. This discovery led Dr. Hurlimann to one conclusion.

- We can say that the diatoms found in the lungs of Dario must be from the same place

and we have taken samples from the creek.

- Was it possible that the diatom evidence could tell investigators more than simply

where Dario was m*rder*d?

Could the diatoms lead investigators to the k*ller?

Armed with the diatom evidence found inside Dario Chicoleckia's lungs and on

his sneakers, police concluded that he had been forcefully drowned in the creek where

he had been fishing, before being mutilated and dumped in the cornfield.

The question now, who m*rder*d Dario and how was the body transported

to the cornfield a few kilometers away?

Police questioned friends and acquaintances of the victim.

- We questioned about persons, both in Switzerland and Germany.

Of course, the family were also investigated

as it is always done in such cases.

Also, in case no responsible person is found to clear the family

that no suspicions remained with them.

- With no strong leads or suspects, Swiss Police informed Interpol of the case.

Interpol is an international agency headquartered in France that shares

information about criminal investigations with the nations

who are members of the network.

- As the body was found so close to the border, it was possible that the m*rder*r

might have come from or gone to a foreign country. It was a difficult case.

Interpol was also informed of the case.

- Three months after the m*rder of Dario Chicoleckia, Interpol notified

Swiss Police of a possible lead. A man had been arrested in France

for sexually assaulting a hitchhiker and trying to k*ll him.

He was identified as -year old Roland Keebler,

a psychiatric nurse who was divorced and the father of a five-year old girl.

What caught Interpol's attention was the fact that Keebler lived in Switzerland,

not far from the village where Dario Chicoleckia was m*rder*d.

When Dr. Wyler heard of Roland Keebler's arrest, he suggested something unusual.

He told the Swiss Police to examine Keebler's car.

- Car is still in Switzerland so I asked the police whether its possible to get

the pedals of the car and the carpet in the trunk,

to bring all that stuff to Dr. Hurlimann.

- It was clear that the people who has done this drowning that, uhm, he must have

diatoms on his shoes, on his clothes or, or in his car.

- Forensic scientists collected microscopic debris from inside Keebler's

car, including material from both the gas and brake pedals

the carpet in the passenger compartment and the carpet from the trunk.

When Dr. Hurlimann analyzed those samples under a microscope, he made a surprising

discovery. He found diatoms.

They were found on both the gas and brake pedals, in the carpet under the pedals

and in the carpet in the trunk. When he analyzed the diatoms

found in the car, he discovered they were Fragilaria Pinnata,

the same dominant species found in Dario's lungs, on his sneakers and in the creek.

With , different species of diatoms in Switzerland, the similarities in the

diatom evidence was significant.

- We know now that the material found in the car must come or is similar to the one

of the lung of Dario and to the material found in the creek.

- Armed with this microscopic evidence, Swiss Police confronted Roland Keebler.

He denied he had anything to do with Dario's m*rder and said he only knew about

the crime from what he read in the newspapers.

But during questioning, Keebler revealed details of Dario's wounds,

details which had never been reported in the newspapers.

Roland Keebler knew too much.

When confronted with the discrepancy,

Roland Keebler confessed to the m*rder of Dario Chicoleckia.

A picture now emerged of what took place at the creek the day Dario disappeared

and how his k*ller left behind a microscopic trail of evidence.

During police interrogation, Roland Keebler confessed to both

the m*rder and the mutilation of Dario Chicoleckia

and his long standing sexual fantasies about young boys.

- He is, in simple terms, a pedophile

and he has suppressed his h*m* tendencies for years.

And when he lived his fantasies, he had to k*ll the victim in order to keep a secret.

- On August th, , Dario rode his bicycle to the creek near his home

for an afternoon of fishing.

He left his bike near the main road and headed down to the water.

Roland Keebler was on vacation and had been drinking heavily

when he drove in the area where Dario was fishing.

Keebler spotted Dario's bike and told police just knowing a young boy

was in the area excited him greatly.

Keebler parked his car and walked to where Dario was fishing.

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After a brief conversation, Keebler approached Dario again.

He att*cked the young boy, pushing him into the water, forced him to undress

and sexually molested him.

Then Keebler forced Dario's head under the water into the mud

of the stream bed.

With his knee between Dario's shoulderblades, he kept the boy

submerged until the struggling stopped.

Keebler decided not to leave the body at the scene of the crime.

Instead, he placed the boy's body into the trunk of his car

and left for a social engagement with his ex-wife.

Little did Keebler realize he had left behind a trail of evidence,

microscopic single cell evidence which would link him to the scene of the crime.

From the moment Keebler pushed his victim into the creek,

microscopic diatoms in the water attached themselves to the soles of his shoes

and diatoms in the water flooded Dario's mouth and lungs

when he was forcefully drowned.

Keebler transferred those diatoms from his shoes to the pedals of his car

when he drove away.

And diatoms from Dario's mouth would later seep onto the carpet in the trunk

in which he was transported to the cornfield.

Dr. Wyler's discovery of the diatoms

and Dr. Hurlimann's species identification in the laboratory

were essential elements in tracking down a vicious k*ller.

Roland Keebler had silenced his victim but the diatom evidence spoke volumes.

- I am proud that I found these diatoms. It was a very, very good feeling for me

to have found a scientific way to prove something which was very important,

to find a m*rder*r.

- We know that we didn't make big mistakes or errors in, in the determination or in

the preparation of the older samples, so it was,

at this moment, it was a good feeling, of course.

- This case therefore became sort of a model case.

Also worldwide and particularly in Switzerland.

it had never been done in this way before.

We were pioneers and we certainly hope that it will be possible to solve

other cases in the same way for the future.

- Roland Keebler confessed not only to the m*rder of Dario Chicoleckia

but also admitted k*lling another boy in the same area of Switzerland

ten years earlier.

Keebler was convicted of both crimes and was sentenced to life in prison.

Candles burn near the creek where Dario died,

a shrine built by villagers to keep Dario's memory alive.

And in the nearby churchyard where Dario is buried,

his sculpture reminds visitors of the gentle, innocent child who died too soon.

- Whenever children are the victims of violent crimes, it's much, much worse.

And this must be the same all over the world.