10x28 - Elemental Clue

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Narrator: two women from the
same town k*lled in the same way

Suggested a serial k*ller was on
the loose.

There were unusual metal
fragments on both victims.

And investigators needed to find
out what they were in order to

Stop a k*ller.

The spirit of washington was
traveling from seattle, along

The shores of lake washington,
when it stopped unexpectedly

Because of some work being done
on the tracks ahead.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are
slowing down.

Narrator: when the passengers
looked outside, they saw more

Than just pretty scenery.

Witnesses who were on the
dinner train saw what appeared

To them to be a human body
laying in the bottom of this

Creek.

Narrator: local authorities
secured the site and found the

Remains of a middle-aged woman
wearing a nightgown and

Slippers.

A blue jacket was thrown nearby
along with an empty pack of

Cigarettes.

Unfortunately, there were no
fingerprints, dna, or any other

Forensic evidence on the
cigarette pack.

The pathologist who performed
this autopsy was not able to

Determine a cause of death.

The medical examiner's
ultimate autopsy didn't show any

Obvious signs of homicidal
v*olence, yet it was clear from

The circumstances that she was
the victim of a homicide.

Narrator: after a review of
missing-persons reports, police

Identified the victim as


Lived alone and worked as a
seamstress.

Her son reported her missing
five weeks earlier, when she

Failed to show up for work.

He found the door ajar.

Her purse and her keys were on
the end table, and her car was

In its stall.

Narrator: there was no sign
of forced entry or any

Disturbance.

But there were signs that
someone other than arlene had

Been there.

She was a very neat
housekeeper, and there were

Ashes spilled all around the
ashtray on the coffee table.

That's something she just never
did.

There was various blankets,
on top of the bed.

I looked at those and pulled
them back.

I noticed that, in the upper
left-hand side of it, on the

Pillow and on the sheet
underneath that, there were some

Bloodstains, which I tested, and
they were positive for blood.

Narrator: the comforter
didn't have any blood, but the

Sheets underneath did.

This meant someone pulled the
comforter over the sheet after

The blood was dry, which would
have been about 30 minutes

Later.

On the bathroom floor were some
used towels, and two cigarette

Butts were in the toilet with
the seat and lid left up.

All these clues told a story.

Some man had been in her
home.

Some man had used the toilet
and flipped his cigarette butts

Into the toilet and failed to
flush before he left.

Someone has been there long
enough to smoke at least one

Cigarette, possibly even two.

They've had time to have blood
dry.

They've been there for at least


And then they've attempted to
wash their hands and cleaned

Something up.

Narrator: and the cigarette
butts were the same brand as the

Empty package found near the
victim's body.

If arlene had been abducted from
her apartment, the motive

Certainly wasn't robbery.

Her purse, which she always
kept on a chair where she sat

And watched television, was
there.

Her wallet was there.

The keys to her car were there.

Narrator: forensic scientists
found another important clue in

Arlene's bed -- tiny bits of
metal, most no bigger than a

Fraction of an inch.

These are metal fragments
which weren't just one type --

Even visually.

Some were silver-colored.

Some were brass-colored.

Some were copper-colored.

So it was quite a large mixture
of materials -- something you

Normally don't see.

Narrator: investigators found
those same metal shavings on

Arlene's body.

That gives you a significant
tie between the body-recovery

Scene and what you would believe
to be the actual location of

Occurrence.

Narrator: on arlene's jacket
were several beige nylon fibers.

They were triangular in shape --
the kind used in cars.

This suggested that arlene's
body had been inside a car with

Beige upholstery.

Apparently, the k*ller had left
plenty of clues.

Narrator: the metal fragments
found on arlene jensen's body

And in her apartment were sent
to the forensic's lab for

Testing.

Under a microscope, scientists
could see that the fragments

Were different shapes and sizes.

The surfaces were corrugated,
and the composition of the metal

Varied from piece to piece.

They were made of various
types of steel, grades of steel,

Grades of brass.

Narrator: the unique shapes,
and the fact some were hollow,

Were a clear indication of their
origin.

What that means is, that's a
piece of metal which is

Projected through the air.

When it's projected through the
air, molten metal projected

Through the air is cooling very,
very rapidly.

With the air currents, as it
goes through the air, it dries

Into a soccer ball, round shape.

Narrator: so investigators
knew the k*ller was probably a

Machinist, someone who worked
with metal at high heat on a

Lathe.

Arlene jensen was a seamstress,
and there were no metal

Fragments like these in her
workplace.

The next clue came from an
unlikely source almost 40 miles

Away.

Campers in a national park
outside of seattle found a

Decomposed body of a young
woman partially buried in a

Shallow grave.

A leopard-skin jacket was on the
ground nearby.

Through dental records, the
victim was identified as


An administrative assistant who

Was reported missing several
weeks earlier.

She was last seen at a


Stephanie was at her
residence on july 4th, and there

Were people firing fireworks
around the area.

It sounds like she was having a
good time with the neighbors.

Narrator: stephanie told
friends she planned to go

Camping.

But no one knew if she went
alone or with others.

We were still thinking she
was gonna come back.

Even when I was printing the
fliers, I remember still

Thinking she was gonna come back
from some camping trip -- that

She was having so much fun that
she just didn't want to come

Home.

Narrator: investigators were
stunned to discover tiny metal

Fragments on stephanie's body
like the ones found in the

Arlene jensen case.

The first thing you have come
up in your brain is, "these two

People are connected."

Narrator: at 100-times
magnification, the fragments

Looked identical.

But were they?

To find out, analysts turned to
a process known as

"Energy-dispersive x-ray
spectrometry."

The samples were bombarded with
electrons.

This created x-ray frequencies,
which were then charted and

Compared.

Each element has a set of
characteristic x-rays.

Iron is different from chromium,
chromium is different from

Aluminum.

Narrator: the fragment
samples contained steel and

Brass.

The steel had the exact same
combinations of iron, manganese,

And chromium.

In the brass, copper and zinc
were found in identical amounts.

And all the samples had equal
amounts of cerium -- part of a

Compound used to ignite an
oxyacetylene torch, a common

Item in machine shops.

We examined all of them and
could see the pattern that,

Regardless of where they came
from, they were basically the

Same kind of metal fragments,
machining fragments.

Narrator: this proved that
both arlene jensen and

Stephanie dittrick were k*lled
by the same man.

The science is starting to
really catch up to the bad guys

Now.

Narrator: a serial k*ller was
on the loose in the seattle

Area.

He had to be stopped before he
could k*ll again.

Narrator: while investigating
stephanie dittrick's m*rder,

Police interviewed the guests at
her 4th of july party -- the

Last time she was seen alive.

They said stephanie spent most
of her time talking to a man

They did not know.

While they didn't know his
last name, they knew his name

Was gary.

They knew that he bragged about
being a drummer in a rock band.

Narrator: stephanie's family
identified the man as her oldest

And dearest friend, gary ackley.

When interviewed by police,
ackley recalled he was at the

Party but wasn't there
specifically to be with

Stephanie.

One of the things he told us
was he had gone there to locate

Somebody else, had seen
stephanie, so he stopped to

Talk.

The witnesses said that it
seemed a little bit more than

That.

Narrator: then police did a
background check on 29-year-old

Gary ackley and discovered some
alarming information.

Gary ackley was related to the
first m*rder victim,

Arlene jensen.

Ackley lived with arlene's
daughter, and they had two

Children together.

When questioned by police,
ackley said he loved his

Common-law mother-in-law and
was devastated by her m*rder.

But family members said that was
a lie.

Well, he didn't like her, and
it was no secret she didn't

Like him.

But no one in the family did
like him.

Their relationship can best
be described as being

Acrimonious.

Arlene jensen was concerned
about the welfare of her

Daughter, whom she believed was,
at least verbally and

Psychologically, being abused
by gary ackley.

Narrator: arlene also didn't
like the way ackley treated her

Grandchildren.

When she would express those
concerns, particularly in the

Presence of gary ackley, it
became quite apparent that he

Didn't want her anywhere around.

Narrator: and ackley's
fights with arlene were

Well-known to neighbors and
family members.

They got into a disagreement,
during which gary ackley called

Her, at a minimum, a bitch and,
depending on whose version you

Believe, a [bleep]
he said if she interfered any

Longer, he would k*ll her.

She left the house that they
rented, making statements

Something like, "I'm not going
to put up with this, and I don't

Know why you're putting up with
this either," to her daughter.

Narrator: ackley's brand of
cigarettes was another

Interesting coincidence.

When he bought cigarettes, he
bought the cheapest cigarettes

He could get his hands on.

Those were basic --
b-a-s-i-c brand cigarettes.

That was the kind of cigarette
butts that were located in the

Toilet in arlene jensen's house.

There was also a box from
basic-brand cigarettes located

Near the dump site where
arlene jensen's body was

Ultimately recovered some six
weeks later.

Narrator: but what was most
telling to investigators was

Gary ackley's profession.

Gary ackley worked as a
fabricator.

He worked in a metal shop, and
much of his time, he spent on a

Lathe.

Narrator: this was
suspicious, since metal

Fragments were found on both
stephanie dittrick's body as

Well as arlene jensen's.

With a search warrant,
investigators found metal

Shavings on ackley's jeans, in
his car, and in his workplace.

When tested with
energy-dispersive x-ray

Spectronomy, scientists
discovered that the shavings

From gary ackley were the same
as those found on both m*rder

Victims.

These metal shavings that
came from arlene jensen and

Stephanie dittrick,
gary ackley's car, and the jeans

He was wearing all came from the
same place.

Narrator: but ackley's
lawyers said this proved

Nothing.

They claimed it shouldn't be
surprising the metal

Shavings were the same because
ackley knew both victims and

Could have transferred those
particles weeks earlier.

So investigators turned to the
beige fibers found on the jacket

Near his mother-in-law's body.

There's an infrared
spectrophotometer which

Identifies this polymer, fiber,
as a nylon fiber.

We also used a
microspectrophotometer, which is

An instrument for basically
identifying and comparing color

Of a specific fiber.

Narrator: and what he found
was that those beige fibers on

Arlene's jacket came from the
back seat of ackley's car.

Interestingly, there were
several blue nylon fibers found

Inside ackley's car that were
microscopically similar to the

Fibers from arlene's jacket.

This is called a cross-transfer.

That jacket had been in
contact with some area of a car

That had carpet fibers that were
shedding onto her jacket.

So her jacket was in some
location with a brown carpet,

And his car was in some contact
with a blue jacket.

Narrator: in fact, the blue
jacket fibers were found on

Only one area of the car's
back seat.

This was a clear indication that
arlene was either unconscious or

Immobile while she was in her
son-in-law's car.

She didn't move a lot.

There wasn't a whole lot of
movement with the jacket.

If you're sitting in the rear
seat of a car and you never

Move, then that's where the
transfer would be.

Narrator: finally, in the
national park near where

Stephanie dittrick's body was
found, investigators discovered

Remnants of a campfire.

Some of stephanie's personal
items were strewn in the grass

Along with a plastic shopping
bag.

There was a shopping bag from
a local grocery store, and once

It was submitted to the
washington state patrol crime

Laboratory, what we found was a
very clear latent fingerprint

Left by none other than
gary ackley.

Narrator: the fingerprint,
along with the metal fragments

And fibers, clearly tied
gary ackley to both crime

Scenes.

Prosecutors knew why ackley
k*lled his mother-in-law,

Arlene.

What they couldn't figure out is
why he k*lled his childhood

Friend, stephanie.

He knows he k*lled
arlene jensen.

Narrator: prosecutors believe
that gary ackley k*lled

Arlene jensen out of anger.

He wanted revenge for what he
believed was her meddling in

The way he raised her
grandchildren and the way he

Treated her daughter.

The offensive thing about
stereotypes is that they're

Oftentimes true.

But I will say that one
stereotype that I think

Gary ackley is a perfect example
of is a domestically violent,

Woman-abusing k*ller.

Narrator: prosecutors believe
ackley had access to arlene's

Apartment key and used it to
enter her home late one night,

After she was in bed.

The autopsy results aren't clear
about how he k*lled arlene, but

The evidence suggests she was
k*lled while in bed.

Metal fragments dropped from
ackley's clothes onto the

Sheets -- fragments he couldn't
see.

He stayed in arlene's apartment
long enough to smoke two

Cigarettes and wash his hands.

Then he hid the bloodstained
sheets with the comforter.

The trace evidence shows he put
arlene's body into the back seat

Of his car, creating the fiber
cross-transfer.

Her jacket fibers were left on
the seat, and the upholstery

Fibers clung to her jacket.

Ackley dumped her body a mile
away in a field near the

Railroad tracks, unaware he left
more metal shavings there.

He also left another calling
card -- an empty pack of his

Favorite brand of cigarettes --
the same brand he left in his

Mother-in-law's bathroom.

But what was the motive for
stephanie dittrick's m*rder?

By all accounts, gary ackley
had a big mouth.

Narrator: prosecutors think,
in a moment of weakness, ackley

Told stephanie that he k*lled
arlene.

Prosecutors found a witness who
saw ackley and stephanie camping

Together on the 4th of july
weekend.

Prosecutors believe ackley
k*lled his childhood friend in

Order to silence her, burying
her body in a shallow grave,

Again leaving the telltale metal
fragments behind.

When he disposed of stephanie's
personal items, he left his

Fingerprint on the shopping bag.

I don't think there's
anything I could say that would

Bother him because someone that
can k*ll their girlfriend's mom

And their kids' grandma is
untouchable emotionally.

So I wouldn't even try.

Narrator: a year after the
crimes, gary ackley was

Convicted of two counts of

First-degree m*rder and
sentenced to life in prison

Without parole.

Despite the mountains of
forensic evidence against him,

Arlene jensen's daughter julie
refused to believe that ackley

k*lled her mother.

So after his conviction, she
cemented their common-law

Relationship by formally

Marrying him in a prison
ceremony.

I don't know why julie jensen
would marry the man who was

Convicted of k*lling her mother.

You'd have to ask her.

First of all, it's
nauseating, and I can't

Understand her train of thought
at all.

I don't know.

I've tried to understand that
before, and all I can make of it

Is domestic v*olence in its
severest form -- the

Brainwashing, the abuse -- that
just makes that person just not

Even think for themself, because
it's so plain to see, you know?

Narrator: two murders --
seemingly unrelated,

But unmistakably connected by a
series of microscopic clues.

Detectives all over this
country are solving m*rder cases

That are 20 or 30 or 40 years
old based on science that didn't

Exist 7 or 8 years ago.

So, my expectation is that
gary ackley, one, was not a very

Intelligent fellow and, two,
there was just not this blitz of

Information from the media about
m*rder investigations that would

Have ever given him any pause to
consider the fact that he was

Bringing to each of these two

Crime scenes the most compelling

Evidence that would be used to

Convict him.