-In , an -year-old girl was abducted in broad daylight
from this softball field in Marshallville, Ohio.
When her badly decomposed body was found one week later,
investigators hoped that the orange triangular-shaped fibers
found at the scene would lead them to the k*ller.
[theme music]
-Marshallville, Ohio, is a small agricultural community
with a population of just under .
It's the kind of place where everybody knows everybody else,
where people care about each other.
Krista Lea Harrison was a carefree -year-old girl
growing up in a place most residents
thought was exempt from big-city crime.
-Krista Harrison was always around the town.
When we were at the ballpark playing softball, her brother
and I on the local softball team,
Krista was always near the home plate area
there when we were coming in off the field.
Always joking around with us.
-On July , , Krista and a friend, a boy who lived nearby,
were collecting aluminum cans at the softball field, which
was directly across the street from Krista's home.
When the boy went to get a drink,
a van drove up and stopped next to Krista.
The boy told authorities the man forced Krista into his van
and took off.
-I'd been on the force for years
at the time this happened, and I had
never seen anything like this.
We never-- I can't even tell you the last time
we experienced anything-- an abduction
like this of a young child.
So it was very emotional for all of us.
Within hours, police set up road blocks
and issued an All Points Bulletin for the van, which
was described as dark red or brown
with bubble-shaped rear side windows.
Krista's friend described the abductor as a white male age
to with dark curly hair and a mustache.
Volunteers searched the entire area immediately
following the abduction on the ground, in the air,
and also in the local waterways.
All without success.
-We were anticipating maybe a ransom telephone call
to the parents, so we had made arrangements
to record phone calls.
We had set up separate phone lines for them
to use so they wouldn't have to tie up their telephone,
hopefully, waiting to get this ransom call, which never came.
-Six days later in a deserted field just outside of town,
hunters found the badly decomposed
remains of a young girl.
The body was partially wrapped in a clear plastic bag.
Near the body, investigators found a pair
of men's blue jeans, a plaid shirt,
and a pair of black leather gloves.
A few miles away, searchers found a clump of human hair,
a beach towel, and a cardboard box covered with blood.
Forensic tests confirmed that the body
was that of Krista Harrison.
-Mr. Harrison-- Gerald was there a little after I had arrived.
And we told Gerald, you know-- I could not identify her.
She was just so decomposed and I told Gerald,
I said just remember Krista the way she was.
-The autopsy revealed Krista had died of strangulation.
She had also been sexually assaulted.
In Krista's hair, clothing, and on the beach towel found
near the body, forensic scientists
noticed some unusual orange fibers.
-I saw fibers-- several fibers that really stood out.
They were an ugly orange fiber.
-Forensic scientist Jeffrey Lynn had
seen these same orange fibers before,
just eight months earlier.
Similar fibers were found on the body of -year-old Tina
Harmon, who had been r*ped and m*rder*d in a nearby town.
-It was amazing to me that I saw the same fibers on Krista
Harrison that I had seen on Tina Harmon.
Tina Harmon's were so unusual and there were so many of them,
we really thought they were important.
I really thought those were important at that time.
But when I saw them on Krista Harrison,
then I knew we had something very important.
-But there was a problem.
The man convicted of Harmon's m*rder, Herman Ray Rucker,
was in police custody at the time
of Krista Harrison's m*rder.
Rucker was serving a life sentence for that crime.
The evidence against Rucker had been largely circumstantial,
since investigators had not been able to link Rucker
to the distinctive orange fibers.
Investigators now wondered whether the wrong man had been
convicted of Tina Harmon's m*rder.
If so, a serial m*rder*r was on the loose
in the farmlands of Ohio.
When Krista Harrison's body was discovered in a field
miles from her home in Marshallville, Ohio,
investigators had only two clues to the perpetrator's identity.
First, a witness said the abductor was driving
a brown van with bubble-shaped side rear windows.
Second, there were a number of unusual orange fibers
in Krista Harrison's hair and on the beach
towel found near her body.
In the forensics lab, scientists discovered that the fibers were
man-made, specifically polyester.
Under the microscope, the fibers were triangular in shape,
or trilobal.
-The fact that it was polyester and trilobal
indicated to me, even back before we had a suspect,
that it was likely a carpet fiber.
-Forensic scientist Jeffrey Lynn was concerned since he found
the same orange fibers on another victim,
-year-old Tina Harmon, who was r*ped
and m*rder*d eight months earlier.
The migrant farm worker, Herman Ray Rucker,
had already been convicted of Tina Harmon's m*rder
and was serving a life sentence in prison.
-They were too unusual to be seen on the bodies of two
girls, both abducted, both sexually assaulted,
both m*rder*d in Wayne County.
-Investigators realized that the possibility of Krista Harrison
and Tina Harmon both coming into contact
with orange trilobal carpet fibers at the hands of two
different K*llers was extremely unlikely.
-Some quick tests between the two fibers
showed that they compared and that they were the same.
Now people were very nervous because we had,
in the minds of the community, two girls taken
from our village streets and it appeared to be the same person.
-Investigators turned their attention
to the clear plastic bag found wrapped
around Krista Harrison's ankles.
It was unusual because of its thickness and the unique way
the bag had been folded in the manufacturing process.
FBI Special Agent Bill Callis needed
to find the origin of that plastic bag.
He traced it to a manufacturer in Pioneer, Ohio.
The bag found with Krista Harrison was
the same thickness, size, and shape,
and had the same fold patterns as those manufactured
for a line of black leather custom seats for use in vans.
The seats were sold exclusively through a specialty mail order
catalog for Sears Roebuck and Company.
The cardboard box used to transport Krista Harrison's
body was unusual since it was L-shaped, and was positively
identified as the shipping container
for these same black leather van seats.
The next step was to search Sears' records
to identify all Ohio residents who had purchased
these black leather seats in the months
preceding Krista's abduction.
-The next order of business was, of course,
to go to those people and interview them to determine
whether or not they might be a potential suspect in our case.
-There were only people in northern Ohio
who ordered these leather van seats.
But none owned a red, maroon, or brown van
with teardrop-shaped bubble windows
on the back side panel that were clearly
described by the witness.
The k*ller with the orange carpet was still on the loose.
-This guy is obviously out there.
We haven't got him yet.
He's done this before and he's certainly
likely to do it again.
So there was a real urgency to finding this individual.
-The town of Marshallville, Ohio,
mourned the death of Krista Lea Harrison, and life went on.
Although no one felt the same sense of security
they once did.
Weeks passed, then months.
Then the one year anniversary of Krista's m*rder, still
wit no arrest.
To the disappointment of investigators working the case,
it appeared that the trail of the bright orange fibers
had turned cold.
-People became very aware of the safety of their children.
They locked the doors at night.
The kids weren't out of eyesight of a trusted neighbor,
the parents, et cetera.
People did watch their kids a lot closer.
The park became a ghost town.
Children didn't play out there for awhile.
And it was a tremendous apprehension
that this could happen again.
-Investigators wondered whether Krista
Harrison's k*ller would strike again.
And if so, where?
Krista Harrison's k*ller left behind a trail
of physical evidence.
Investigators knew he ordered black leather van seats
from a Sears mail order catalog because the plastic covering
and carton from that purchase were
found with Krista Harrison's body.
They also knew that the k*ller had
orange trilobal-shaped carpet in his van or home.
All they needed now was a suspect.
-The fibers were something that were left behind
by the criminal, but we didn't have
the second part of the equation.
We needed to match those fibers with fibers
in the possession of a suspect or a criminal.
-It took police an entire year before they finally
got the break they needed, and they
got it from a most unlikely source.
miles from where Krista Harrison was abducted,
the manager of a local gas station, a woman we'll
call Debbie, was doing some maintenance work
outside when she was abducted at gunpoint.
-Don't move.
You're coming with me.
-She was driven to an unknown location.
And over the next several hours, her head was shaved.
She was beaten, assaulted, and tortured with electricity.
-It was sadistic, inhuman.
And no one should be out on the street
after they have done what they did to me.
And I was at the time.
-The man tortured her by taking a lamp cord
and cutting the wire and plugging it in,
and then using the two electric leads.
-I was tortured repeatedly.
It was the blood that was everywhere.
It was on the ceiling.
But it was in a hallway, you know,
on a bench is how I was tortured with four limbs tied.
-The next morning, Debbie's attacker
left her handcuffed and chained to the bed.
-If you try to escape, I'll k*ll you.
I'm going out.
I won't be long.
-After hours of captivity, still bleeding from her wounds,
Debbie's enormous will to survive took over.
-You know, I even thought at one point
I'd have to eat my thumbs if I could.
I mean, I was so desperate to get out
because I knew he was going to k*ll me.
-Eventually, Debbie freed one of her hands from the ropes
and then was able to free her ankles.
This left the excruciatingly painful process
of attempting to pull her remaining
hand through the metal frame of the handcuff.
Miraculously, she succeeded.
She grabbed a bathrobe and fled.
Once outside, Debbie had no idea where she was.
So she turned to the only place she could think of for help.
-And I looked up to God, and I said, God, I need a sign.
I need help.
I don't know where I'm at.
And a poodle barked so I went to the house.
And she was a wonderful, wonderful lady, Mrs. Smith.
-Mrs. Smith immediately phoned the police.
-She was so badly bruised it looked
like deep purple underwear that she was wearing.
-It was God's will.
I'm a miracle as far as escaping.
It was a miracle.
-Debbie identified the man who had
kidnapped her as Robert Anthony Buell.
Buell worked for the city of Akron, Ohio,
in the planning department, was college educated,
dating a local attorney, and was a respected member
of the community.
Faced with the evidence against him,
Buell pleaded no contest to the charge of kidnapping and r*pe.
But police couldn't help but notice that Buell was driving
a brown van, similar to the one seen
at Krista Harrison's abduction.
Although it did not have the same bubble-shaped windows
in the back the witness clearly described,
Buell's van did have an orange carpet in the back.
Robert Buell denied he was involved
in Krista Harrison's abduction.
Buell's attorney pointed out that even if the carpet
in the back of Buell's van was similar to the carpet fibers
found on Krista Harrison, they were not unique
since many other Ohio residents had similar carpet
in their home, office, or automobiles.
-And even though this polyester trilobal ugly orange color was
pretty unique, certainly there are millions
of other fibers like it in the world.
This is not like a fingerprint comparison.
This is not like a DNA comparison.
This is not a definitive match.
-What else would prosecutors find out
about these unusual orange fibers?
Would there be another link to sew up the case?
A year after the m*rder of -year-old Krista Harrison,
police finally had a suspect in -year-old Robert Buell,
an employee of the city of Akron, Ohio.
He had been arrested for the kidnapping and r*pe of a gas
station manager, who escaped after
grueling hours of t*rture.
And in a surprise discovery in the back of Buell's van,
investigators found orange polyester trilobal carpet
similar to the fibers found on Krista Harrison's body.
-We now had the second part of the equation.
We had the fibers from Krista's hair,
we had the fibers from Krista's clothing,
we had the fibers from the Budweiser blanket.
And we now had something to compare it to.
The fibers from the van.
-To see how rare or common this carpet was,
investigators tracked the manufacturer of the carpet
to the JP Stevens Company in Canton, Ohio.
Factory records indicated that this particular carpet was not
a big seller because of it's color.
-They had only ever manufactured ,
square yards of this carpeting.
Their records also showed that of that , square yards,
only square yards was ever shipped to northern Ohio.
-Further investigation revealed that Robert Buell had purchased
two black leather van seats from Sears and Roebuck on June ,
just three weeks before Krista's m*rder.
The plastic bag which covered those seats,
along with the cardboard shipping box,
were both found with Krista Harrison's body.
Robert Buell also owned a van similar to the one
at Krista Harrison's abduction.
It was similar but not identical, since Buell's van
did not have to teardrop-shaped bubble windows
the witness described.
However, neighbors told police that Buell
had removed the bubble-shaped side windows
and installed sliding rectangular ones shortly
after Krista Harrison's m*rder.
Inside Robert Buell's home was even more evidence linking
him to Krista Harrison's m*rder.
Police discovered Robert Buell owned a pair of jeans
identical in size, make, and with the same wear patterns
as the discarded jeans found near Krista Harrison's body.
Tiny specks of beige and blue paint
also found on the discarded jeans matched
the beige and blue paint samples on the walls
of Robert Buell's home.
Black spray paint from Buell's garage
was found on the cardboard box found near Krista's body.
Prosecutors believe that Buell took Krista Harrison
to his home immediately following the abduction.
The orange carpet fibers from the van
were later found in Krista Harrison's hair.
After the m*rder, Buell placed Krista's body
in the plastic bag from one of his new van seats,
then placed the body inside the cardboard shipping box
that held those seats.
Buell dumped the body miles outside of town in a field.
A little further away, Buell discarded
the jeans and shirt he had been wearing.
Tests on the bones indicated the body had been in extremely high
temperatures for quite some time,
an indication the body was in the vehicle for days
before it was dumped in the field.
Robert Buell never realized that the unusual orange carpet
fibers from his van, along with the ability
to track the plastic bag and the cardboard box,
would be his undoing.
On April , , a jury found Robert Anthony Buell
guilty of the kidnapping, sexual as*ault, and m*rder
of -year-old Krista Lea Harrison
and sentenced him to death in the electric chair.
Herman Ray Rucker, the man convicted of Tina Harmon's
m*rder, won a new trial since the same orange tribal carpet
fibers were discovered at that crime scene.
Rucker was later acquitted.
Prosecutors believe that Robert Buell
may have been involved in Tina Harmon's m*rder.
Robert Buell denies this, and no charges have been filed.
Investigators agree that if it hadn't been for Debbie's
courage, perseverance, and will to survive,
Robert Buell might never have been apprehended.
-I have to believe that Krista is watching,
watching us-- all of us.
And maybe she was the angel that helped me, you know?
God could have gave her wings and she
could have helped me escape too.
You know?
And I'm sure she knows, you know, where Buell is.
So, you know, he can't hurt another person,
another child ever.
-I knew that when I first saw the fibers on the victim,
they had a potential to be very important.
And they turned out to be a very definitive link
between this individual and Krista Harrison.
-This case was built on scientific evidence,
and the fiber evidence was the scientific evidence that
allowed the jury to find Buell guilty of k*lling Krista
Harrison and impose the death penalty for that crime.
[theme music]
05x08 - Material Evidence
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Documentary that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness.
Documentary that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness.