Engine , structure fire.
Narrator: a suspicious fire swept through an apartment,
k*lling two young women.
The cause of the fire and the identity of the victims were
Unclear.
But a closer look at the fire scene revealed something hidden
In the ashes.
Could gas chromatography, a burned pair of eyeglasses, and a
Half-smoked cigarette solve the case?
Narrator: on a spring night in march of , firefighters
In iowa city rushed to an apartment building engulfed in
Flames near the university of iowa campus.
District , engine , you're responding...structure fire.
Do you need a second ambulance down there?
Got it, -.
We have another victim.
We will be removing one victim.
When they arrived, they had fire blowing out windows and
Doors of the apartment building.
Immediately had the opportunity, and the necessity, to initiate
An aggressive fire attack.
Narrator: just inside the entrance, firefighters found
What appeared to be a body.
Then, in the back bedroom, another gruesome discovery.
They were unable to see, and so had to use -- just feeling
Their way around the apartment, and checking on the bed, they
Found the second victim.
Narrator: a driver's license found next to one of the bodies
Belonged to -year-old laura watson-dalton, a paramedic
Who had come to iowa city to visit her cousin.
She had really loved the town.
And it was st. Patrick's day, and that was one of her favorite
Holidays.
And I think because it's a college town, sort of a great
Party atmosphere for st. Patrick's day, she decided
To go there and visit friends.
Narrator: the second victim matched the description of a
Woman who had been reported missing.
She was -year-old maria lehner, an environmental
Scientist who was in town on a business trip and was staying at
A nearby hotel.
We were hoping and praying it wasn't her, but back of our
Minds, we kind of knew it was.
They had found her blazer in a parking ramp, and it hadn't
Been...
It hadn't been driven for a while, so...
Narrator: the apartment was rented to three college students
Who claimed they were out of town on the night of the fire.
The men said they gave no one permission to stay there, and
They also denied knowing either laura watson or maria lehner.
At the morgue, the medical examiner found evidence that the
Women were dead before the fire started.
There was no soot in the lungs of either victim.
Therefore, we're able to conclude, scientifically, that
They expired prior to the fire.
It was evident they had both been, um...
k*lled by blunt force trauma to the head.
Narrator: inside the apartment, investigators found a
Barbell that contained blood and human hair, leading to
Speculation that this was the m*rder w*apon.
They also found a gasoline container.
You might find gasoline cans stored, of course, in a garage
Or utility closets, but to find a gasoline can in a hallway of
An apartment, I think that would be rather odd.
Narrator: investigators believed that the fire may have
Been intentionally set, and that clues to the k*ller's identity
Could be waiting at the crime scene, hidden in the smoldering
Ashes.
And they also wondered why these two women were in an apartment
Rented by men they'd never even met.
Narrator: the lack of soot and smoke in the victims' lungs
Revealed that the two women were k*lled before the fire started,
And when the medical examiner compared the amount of tissue
Damage between the two victims, he discovered something
Astonishing -- the two victims were k*lled on different days.
It is clear that laura died in the late hours on wednesday
Or the early morning hours on thursday, and remained in that
Apartment where she died, and that maria died late thursday
Night or early friday morning in the same apartment.
Narrator: laura watson's friends told police that they
Last saw her in a local bar on wednesday night, two nights
Before the fire.
Laura was talking to a man sitting beside her.
When someone that you've had a conversation with that's been
Kind of interesting asks you if you'd like to, you know, go to
Another party, or go to another bar -- lots of people have done
That, and it's a situation where most of us don't think that
We're gonna place ourselves in peril.
Narrator: witnesses said laura left with the man around
Midnight.
He was described as tall, in his s, with unkempt brown hair and
Glasses.
Investigators discovered the same thing happened to
Maria lehner on the following night.
The owner of a different bar said he saw maria leaving his
Establishment with a man matching the same description.
She didn't have as good a judgment as she would have if
She wasn't drinking.
Maybe he said "hey, there's a party over at this place.
You want to come with me?" I don't think she ever did it
Before.
I think this was one time, and it wasn't -- and it was the
Wrong time.
Narrator: since the victims had been m*rder*d on two
Different nights, the k*ller apparently had free access to
The apartment, and could come and go as he pleased.
But the college students who rented it said they had no idea
Who the k*ller was.
After the last embers were out, the iowa department of criminal
Investigations examined the scene for clues.
Investigators noticed a hole in the outside wall of the
Apartment, and there was a gas container found just inside the
Front door.
To see if an accelerant had been used, investigators placed some
Of the debris in an airtight container and sent it to the lab
For analysis.
Criminalists placed an activated charcoal strip into the can
Overnight, then washed it with a carbon disulfide.
The vials were placed in a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer
For analysis.
It'll separate it out based on the physical properties and
Chemical properties of the components of what ignitable
Liquid may be in that sample.
And everything flows to the instrument at a different rate,
And it'll actually separate out those, and you'll see the
Individual components of each component of the ignitable
Liquid.
Narrator: the results were clear -- gasoline had been used
To start the fire.
[ expl*si*n ] apparently the gasoline vapors
Ignited, causing the expl*si*n that blew through the outside
Wall.
Investigators also discovered a matchbook in the debris.
The gasoline had to be ignited by something, and so
When the fire marshal collected a matchbook in or around that
Fire scene, that was really a fresh matchbook with only one
Match missing.
Narrator: the fire had destroyed any prints that might
Have been on the matchbook.
Steve duffy looked through all of the photos taken at the fire
Scene, searching for items that may have been overlooked.
In one of the photographs, he noticed something that looked
Like a pair of eyeglasses.
When he returned to the apartment, they were still
There.
They were very obviously prescription eyeglasses, and I
Hoped that I could go back through those prescriptions to
Find the owners.
Narrator: none of the tenants or victims owned the glasses.
Duffy also found a cigarette butt, still very much intact.
This cigarette had been smoked, had not been put out,
Had not been stomped out on the floor.
Narrator: in other words, it was still burning when it hit
The carpet.
Investigators suspected that the perpetrator lit a cigarette,
Then started to pour the gasoline throughout the
Apartment.
At some point, his cigarette probably ignited the gases.
[ expl*si*n ] he received a burn on his
Nose.
He either swatted at his face and knocked his glasses off, or
The glasses fell off his face and the cigarette flew out of
His mouth.
Narrator: now, investigators were looking for a tall, unkempt
Man who smoked cigarettes and possibly had a burned face.
He may also have been missing his eyeglasses.
Narrator: one week after a fire gutted their apartment, the
Three college students who rented it were allowed to
Return.
There were items stolen from the apartment that included a
Vcr or two and some other electronic equipment.
Narrator: investigators checked local pawn shops to see
If someone had sold the stolen goods, and they got their first
Break.
A pawn shop owner recalled buying these items from a young
Man just a few days earlier.
In iowa, anyone selling to a pawn shop must show some form of
Identification with an address.
The man who sold the items was jon memmer, a -year-old
Drifter, known around town as a partyer.
Jon memmer was very adept at inviting himself to those
After-hours parties.
Because of that, he was a person who could con his way into
Staying over at any number of apartments, and sleeping on
Their couch or what have you.
Narrator: one of the apartment tenants said he knew
Memmer, and had let him sleep overnight a few weeks earlier.
He didn't have a lot of friends.
He didn't have a job.
He wasn't enrolled as a student.
He was sleeping where he could, and he was very transient.
And yes, that made it more difficult to find him.
Mr. Memmer basically made his living by being a thief.
Narrator: police finally caught up with memmer, who was
On probation at the time for a forgery conviction.
When he was questioned, investigators noticed he had a
Burn injury on his nose.
Memmer admitted he had been in the apartment while the tenants
Were away, and also confessed to stealing their stereo and
Television set, but he denied k*lling the women or setting the
Fire.
He said there was another drifter sleeping in the
Apartment that week, too.
Police wanted to see if they could tie memmer to the
Evidence.
Immediately after the fire and expl*si*n, he did not have
Eyeglasses, and during the following week he acquired
Another pair of glasses.
Narrator: using a machine called a lensometer, an
Optometrist determined the degree of curvature, or
Diopters, of the lenses.
The strength of the lenses matched the prescription memmer
Had been given by his eye doctor.
In jon memmer's situation, he needed his eyeglasses to see.
He would not leave his eyeglasses laying around, so to
Find his eyeglasses at the scene of a double homicide and arson
Was significant.
Narrator: police needed more proof.
They looked, once again, at the cigarette butt, the one
Investigators suspected had inadvertently ignited the fire.
Was it possible this cigarette butt contained the k*ller's dna?
Scientists removed the wrapper from the lip end of the
Cigarette, then separated any cells present in the paper.
The biological sample was then reproduced to create a larger
Sample for analysis, then compared to a dna sample taken
From memmer while in custody.
It was a match.
Statistically, the chances of the dna on the cigarette butt
Coming from anyone but mr. Memmer are too small to
Consider.
Narrator: but memmer admitted being in the apartment, which
Could account for him leaving his glasses and the cigarette
Butt.
Police needed more proof.
Investigators then examined laura dalton's leather jacket
Found in the apartment.
Somebody came up and said "while we have this jacket, why
Don't you go ahead and look at the jacket?
Maybe there's a print on a button, a snap, or something.
Narrator: criminalist bessman checked the jacket under a
High-intensity light.
No prints were found.
Then he placed the jacket in a special cabinet with a small
Container of cyanoacrylate, a compound found in super glue.
The compound was heated, and the fumes circulated around the
Jacket for about minutes.
The cyanoacrylate has made a little fibrous network over
Those fumes, and we can look at it.
It makes the ridges stand out white, instead of the black
Like you'd see on an ink fingerprint card.
Narrator: to his surprise, bessman found a partial image of
A foot impression.
The print was dyed to fluoresce under forensic lighting.
Bessman compared that print to the soles on the shoes
Confiscated from jon memmer when he was taken into custody.
Both prints were the same size and make.
There had to have been a contaminant on the shoe, or
Something on the coat that the shoe removed when it made
Contact with it, so it was rather unusual to develop a
Footwear impression this way.
Narrator: and there was something else on the shoe -- a
Tiny piece of evidence that would tell investigators exactly
What happened to laura dalton and maria lehner.
Narrator: investigators found one last piece of evidence
Linking jon memmer to the murders of laura watson-dalton
And maria lehner.
It was a tiny piece of material on memmer's shoes.
On the side of the sole, about the size of a penny, had
Kind of a reddish-brown stain that I believed might have been
Blood.
Narrator: the stain was lifted using sterile water, then
Tested using dna analysis.
The dna from the blood on the shoe matched the dna sample from
Maria lehner.
It just made it -- just more sad, because you kind of knew
What he had to do to get blood on his shoes.
That was critical.
It showed that jon memmer had been in contact with
Maria lehner, even though he denied it, and that at some
Point he was with maria lehner when she was bleeding.
Narrator: jon memmer was charged with first degree
m*rder.
We had other forensic evidence -- the jacket, the
Footwear analysis, the eyeglasses -- but it was the dna
Analysis that found maria's blood on memmer's shoe that was
The final straw that let us go forward.
Narrator: prosecutors believed jon memmer broke into
The apartment when he knew the tenants were out of town.
How he lured laura dalton to the apartment on wednesday evening
Isn't clear, but prosecutors believe memmer may have made a
Sexual advance, which was rejected.
In a rage, memmer k*lled laura with a blow to the head.
On thursday night, memmer probably lured maria lehner to
The apartment the same way, and when she, too, rejected him, he
k*lled her as well.
On friday, after stealing the television and stereo, memmer
Decided to destroy all possible evidence that he had been there.
He lit a single match for a cigarette, then set about the
Process of pouring gasoline throughout the apartment, but he
Made a mistake.
The gasoline caused fumes to build in the small apartment,
And his cigarette caused the expl*si*n.
[ expl*si*n ] it knocked his glasses off,
Burned his nose, and the cigarette butt and matches went
Flying.
That was probably jon memmer's downfall, was his
Smoking the cigarette, because he left behind valuable
Evidence and nearly k*lled himself.
A waste.
He's a waste of a human being -- soulless.
I don't think probably ever contributed anything, and
Probably has spent all of his life using people and taking.
Narrator: at the trial, it wasn't just the forensic
Evidence that made an impression on the jury.
Memmer was sporting a new tattoo as he sat at the defense table.
In the g*ng world, a tattoo of a teardrop signifies you've
m*rder*d someone.
In this case, that was significant because jon memmer
Did not want one teardrop at the corner of his eye, but he
Wanted two.
Talk about not very smart, going to the trial with those on
His eyes, and the jury can see it easily.
When I questioned him about that at trial, he claimed they
Were for two friends of his that had died in an automobile
Accident, but I think that was pretty powerful damning
Evidence.
In truth, in the aggregate, it was a small piece of
Circumstantial evidence, but it was an interesting addition to
The totality of the case.
Narrator: jon memmer was convicted of two counts of first
Degree m*rder, and was sentenced to life in prison.
Maria lehner's family says it's ironic that science helped find
Her k*ller.
She was a biology major.
She loved science, so knowing that the blood on the shoe and
All the other forensic evidence was what put him away, I'm sure
She would have thought that was pretty cool.
There is no such thing as a perfect crime.
There's always evidence left.
It's there for the people who look.
This was where the evidence led, and it pointed to mr. Memmer.
He received two life sentences.
Jon memmer will obviously serve one of his life sentences here,
On this earth.
If I was jon memmer, I would be worrying about where I'm gonna
Spend that second life sentence.
It may be a lot hotter there than the fire that he started.
08x29 - Smoke in your Eyes
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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.