Narrator: just weeks before testifying at a criminal trial,
One of the key witnesses, a brilliant research scientist,
Was m*rder*d.
For years, there were many suspicions but little proof.
Ironically, advances in the very research the victim had been
Working on helped nail her k*ller.
When you ask friends and colleagues about
Helena greenwood, you hear words like "brilliant," "quiet,"
"Honest," and "a hard worker."
Helena earned a phd in microbiology and was an
Executive in the biotech industry.
≫> she not only was an excellent scientist, but she had marketing
Skills, and those two things often are not concurrent.
≫> helena was very forward-thinking, especially
Looking at technology.
But she also knew the power that technology, by itself, doesn't
Market a product.
Basically, it's the human need.
If there's a human need, there's a product.
That's required.
≫> narrator: helena and her husband, roger, a landscape
Designer, lived in atherton...
A quiet suburb outside san francisco.
Our story begins on a saturday night in april of when
Roger was out of town on a business trip.
In the middle of the night, a man suddenly appeared in
Helena's bedroom and threatened to k*ll her.
Helena was sexually assaulted, then robbed before the assailant
Made his getaway.
≫> dr. Greenwood described her assailant as being fairly tall,
Slender, athletic, with a complexion perhaps of a
Half-black or hispanic person, an olive complexion.
She couldn't see his face because he had a hooded sweat
Shirt pulled up so that only his eyes showed.
≫> narrator: the assailant entered the home through a
Kitchen window.
But it was helena's friend who found a key piece of evidence
That police had overlooked.
Outside on the deck near the kitchen window was a teapot from
Helena's kitchen.
Fortunately, the friend had the good sense not to touch it.
≫> that teapot was taken into evidence, taken to the crime
Lab, and fingerprints were developed.
Imagine the teapot -- there were three fingerprints in this
Position, as though someone had picked up the teapot from the
Windowsill and placed it on the deck.
≫> narrator: helena told police she made tea before going to
Bed, then placed the teapot on the windowsill.
It appeared the assailant moved it before crawling through the
Window.
Unfortunately, the fingerprints didn't match any on file with
The police department.
With no other leads, the case went unsolved until one year
Later.
≫> a man was arrested while exposing himself to a
-Year-old girl outside an apartment in belmont,
California.
That suspect was david paul frediani.
≫> narrator: belmont was only seven miles from helena's home.
The suspect, david paul frediani, was a
-Year-old accountant with no prior arrests.
Since frediani resembled the man helena described, police
Compared his fingerprints to those found on helena's teapot.
They matched.
≫> one of the things I asked him was -- he had denied even being
Involved in the initial sexual as*ault against mrs. Greenwood.
I remember asking him, "you never assaulted this woman?"
He says, "no, I never did any of that."
≫> they then told him, "we have your fingerprints."
And that point, according to detective shapoo, frediani took
A deep breath, let it out, began trembling -- he could actually
See his chest moving in and out -- and made a statement to
The affect as, "I was really drunk when I did those things."
He then asked for a lawyer and refused to make any more
Statements.
≫> at the preliminary hearing, where both helena and frediani
Were present, she was asked if she could identify him, and she
Couldn't, not positively.
And out of that arises one of the great mysteries of this
Whole case.
≫> narrator: but the fingerprints on the teapot were
All the prosecution needed, so the case headed to trial.
Sadly, helena greenwood didn't live long enough to testify in
Court.
≫> narrator: while her sexual-as*ault case was pending,
Helena greenwood and her husband, roger, moved from
San francisco to san diego.
She took a new job with gen-probe, a biomedical-research
Firm that was looking for ways to diagnose disease through dna.
≫> it would be more specific or more accurate.
It would also allow the testing to be more rapid, cutting down
Tests that would take sometimes weeks just to days -- or things
That would take days, just down to minutes.
≫> narrator: one morning before work, helena was at home on the
Phone, making last-minute preparations for an important
Company meeting.
≫> helena was very prompt.
She would always come in at :.
≫> narrator: but on this day, she never arrived.
Co-worker sam morishima had a feeling that something was
Terribly wrong.
≫> because she would have at least called.
And again, she was very precise on her arrival, especially if
She had a meeting with someone.
≫> narrator: co-workers called helena's husband at work.
He immediately drove home and found the front gate locked.
When he peered over the fence, he saw his wife's body.
≫> roger was in total shock, and he first called gen-probe.
He didn't call the police.
He called gen-probe.
That shows how disoriented he was.
≫> we rushed down to the house.
The police tapes were up.
They wouldn't let us through the gate, but you knew that -- just
From the talk that was going on -- that helena was assaulted,
Uh...right behind that gate door, in the courtyard.
≫> narrator: the crime scene appeared to be staged.
It had the earmarks of a robbery, but no money was
Missing from helena's wallet.
≫> you had her purse that was strewn about.
They preserved all of that for fingerprints or other evidence,
Of which, unfortunately, there were none.
≫> there was no physical evidence left.
Obviously, he wore gloves.
I mean, one safely can assume that, I guess.
≫> narrator: and it was clear that helena valiantly fought her
Attacker.
≫> this woman put up a hellacious fight.
Obviously, it was evidenced by the fact that her fingernails
Were actually -- two of them were found at the scene.
She had broken them off while scratching this person.
≫> narrator: at the autopsy, the medical examiner discovered
Petechial hemorrhages in helena's eyes, an indication of
Strangulation.
There were no signs of sexual as*ault.
But under helena's fingernails were tiny traces of what
Appeared to be blood.
Unfortunately, the sample was too small for forensic analysis.
≫> I mean, what comes to mind when there's a bizarre m*rder --
You know, a strangulation in broad daylight?
You think marital trouble.
You think crime.
You think dr*gs.
I mean, helena never got within a thousand miles of any of those
Things, and that simply deepened the mystery.
≫> narrator: helena's husband, roger, was the first person
Police interviewed.
≫> he was just so mad at the police at the time, because he
Was just -- they were accusing -- I mean, he was a
Suspect.
And he was just saying, "why are they, you know, doing this to
Me?" ≫> whenever a woman is k*lled,
The prime suspect is generally the husband, and statistically,
That bears out.
Most women who are k*lled are k*lled by someone well-known to
Them, usually a romantic interest, and the husband is
Often the perpetrator.
≫> narrator: roger said he left home at : a.m. And was at
Work at the time of his wife's m*rder, around : a.m.
Records indicated helena had been on the telephone until :
A.m., About the time a neighbor heard a commotion.
≫> one man who lived next door said about :, when he was
Shaving, he thought he heard a human -- an abrupt human cry.
But who knows?
≫> narrator: when police confirmed roger was at work
Minutes away at that time, he was eliminated as a suspect.
Helena's m*rder also meant that she would never testify at the
Sexual-as*ault trial back in san francisco.
≫> got a call from roger franklin, who was
Dr. Greenwood's husband.
Roger told me that his wife had been m*rder*d in san diego --
The san diego area -- where they had moved after the sexual
as*ault.
That was a sickening moment, because, um, he also told me
That her purse was found near her body.
Her car keys were there.
Her credit cards were there.
It didn't appear that there'd been a robbery.
≫> narrator: david paul frediani, the man accused of
Helena's sexual as*ault, had been out on bail at the time of
Helena's m*rder, but insisted he was miles away in
San francisco.
Investigators were naturally suspicious.
≫> he was the only person who conceivably had a motive for
Doing this.
≫> narrator: the prosecutor refused to drop the
Sexual-as*ault charges against him, but everyone wondered
Whether the prosecutor would ever get a conviction now that
His witness was dead.
≫> narrator: just three weeks before she was scheduled to
Testify in her sexual-as*ault trial...
Helena greenwood was m*rder*d in her front yard.
David paul frediani went on trial as scheduled for helena's
Sexual as*ault.
Prosecutors had his fingerprints on helena's teapot, and they
Also found serological evidence.
≫> we also presented evidence that the semen on the pillowcase
In helena greenwood's bedroom -- first, that it was semen.
Second, that it was from a type "o" individual who was a
Secretor, and that a pgm type, phosphoglucomutase, of one-plus
All matched frediani's a.b.o.
Type.
≫> narrator: dna testing in was still in its infancy.
At the last minute, when faced with the fingerprint and
Serological evidence, frediani pleaded no contest to the
as*ault and was sentenced to five years in prison.
But frediani said he was innocent of her m*rder.
≫> they knew who k*lled helena greenwood, and they knew
It was david paul frediani, but they couldn't prove it.
≫> narrator: eventually, helena greenwood's m*rder was
Relegated to san diego county's cold-case files and forgotten.
Over the next several years, helena's parents died.
Her husband, roger, developed cancer, and he, too, passed
Away.
≫> and who is there to mourn for helena?
Very few and growing fewer.
≫> narrator: and gen-probe went about the work helena had been
Pursuing before her death, looking for ways to use new dna
Technology for quicker, faster medical diagnoses.
David frediani served only three years of his -year sentence and
Was released.
He returned to his accounting practice.
≫> this is a very egotistical, self-centered, obviously
Sociopathic, person.
"Hey, I just got away with m*rder."
You know?
And his life went on, and he prospered.
≫> narrator: and that's where the case stood for another
Years until investigators in san diego's cold-case unit
Decided to take a second look at helena greenwood's m*rder.
And deep in helena's file was a piece of information that
Immediately caught investigators' attention.
Seven days before helena's m*rder, david paul frediani was
Involved in a minor traffic accident in southern california,
Not far from helena's home.
≫> the defendant had no business being in southern california.
We knew he knew she lived down here, although we didn't know
How he had that information.
But it just seemed a little bit strange that he's awaiting
Trial, he lives in san francisco, and he takes a
Trip down to southern california.
≫> narrator: as detectives looked through the evidence,
They noted there was a tiny speck of blood under helena's
Fingernail -- at the time, far too small for dna testing.
Had forensic science advanced to the point that it could identify
A speck of blood almost too small to see?
≫> narrator: for years, the m*rder of biotech-research
Scientist helena greenwood went unsolved.
The medical examiner found what looked to be blood under one of
Her fingernails.
At the time, it was far too small for dna analysis.
By , however, work that gen-probe and scientists like
Helena greenwood had been working on led to new
Developments in dna testing.
One of the most important was polymerase chain reaction, or
Pcr, which enabled scientists to copy minute dna samples until
They were large enough to test.
≫> polymerase chain reaction allows you to make a
Geometrically increasing number of copies where you start with
One.
After one round of pcr, you end up with two and then four and
Then eight and so on.
The big advantage of pcr for forensic work is that it is so
Sensitive.
A very small amount of dna can yield a very large amount of
Information.
≫> it's a fortunate thing that they didn't try to test it at
The time, because as you test biological material, it's
Destroyed.
And had they, at the time of helena's autopsy, tested that
Material, they would have found nothing, and the material would
Have been destroyed.
≫> narrator: when the biological material from helena's
Fingernails was tested using pcr, scientists made an
Important finding.
≫> on some of the fingernail clippings, they found only dna
That was consistent with dr. Greenwood's.
And on one of the clippings, they found dna that was
Essentially pure -- was not from dr. Greenwood at all.
And that's when they got very interested, because, of course,
The possibility is that that's the perpetrator's dna.
≫> narrator: and investigators found even more evidence on
Helena's clothing.
On her nylon stockings were grab marks, so they decided to test
That area for microscopic traces of blood and found some.
The dna from helena's fingernail and stockings was compared to a
Blood sample from david frediani.
And here are the numbers.
The odds that the dna under helena's fingernail and
Stockings was someone other than david frediani's was one in
Billion.
He could hardly believe it when police arrested him.
≫> mr. Frediani came out of his house and began walking to his
Car, and that's when we approached him and placed him
Under arrest.
His reaction was -- all the color just rushed from his face.
He turned white.
I think he knew at that point that he wasn't gonna be looking
Over his shoulder anymore.
It was over.
And, uh, great satisfaction for us.
≫> narrator: david paul frediani was charged with first-degree
m*rder.
≫> one of the tragedies of many tragedies in this case is that
Roger never lived to hear that frediani, who he knew had done
The m*rder -- he never lived to hear that the san diego
Authorities were able to identify mr. Frediani as the
m*rder*r.
≫> narrator: prosecutors believe frediani m*rder*d helena in the
Mistaken belief that her death would end the sexual-as*ault
Case against him.
≫> he wasn't smart enough to understand that just because he
k*lled mrs. Greenwood, that her preliminary testimony was still
Gonna be used.
He didn't realize.
That was the error in his plan.
≫> narrator: he drove miles from his home in san francisco
To helena's home in san diego to stalk the couple and learn their
Schedules.
His first mistake was getting into a car accident a few days
Before the m*rder -- proof that he was in san diego before the
Crime.
Frediani learned that roger left for work every morning around
: A.m., About an hour before helena.
Prosecutors believe frediani waited for helena outside her
Front gate.
He was wearing gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints like he did
When he assaulted helena a year earlier.
When he heard helena close the front door, he made his move.
Frediani probably believed the gloves would protect him and
Didn't realize he left crucial forensic evidence behind.
Ironically, it was helena who grabbed it.
≫> I can only imagine what was going through helena's mind --
That this man who assaulted her is obviously coming to do harm
To her.
Maybe it's just a little too much to think, but she scratched
The heck out of this guy.
We know she did.
I almost wonder, like, "hey, I'm gonna leave some evidence behind
To show who my k*ller was.
I may not survive this, but by god, I'm gonna leave something
Behind to tell you who k*lled me."
And I think this is what happened in this case.
≫> narrator: at the trial, under cross-examination, frediani
Admitted to the sexual as*ault, but he did not confess to her
m*rder.
Regardless, he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
≫> we expect victims to testify, and that's what helena greenwood
Did.
She testified against the defendant at the preliminary
Examination, and then he tracked her down, and he k*lled her, and
No conviction is justice for what happened to her.
But ironically, the science that she was working on, in fact,
Helped put away her k*ller.
08x24 - Nailed
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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.