01x10 - Deadly Generosity

[bunniefuu]

- ♪

- Female narrator: Here in
this california cemetery,

A woman has been at rest.

The victim of a brutal m*rder.

But today, she's
going to rise up...

To catch her own k*ller.

A young mother vanishes.

- She had not been seen.
She had not used credit cards.

- We tried
to think positively,

Even though it might
not be a good outcome.

- Narrator: Did she run off?

Or is there foul play at work?

- Narrator: Police follow a
strange path of twisting clues.

- He talked about
k*lling this woman...

Rolling her up in a blanket.

- I was afraid he
was gonna k*ll me.

- Narrator: The truth
can only be discovered

By disturbing the dead.

- ♪

- We were 1000%
ready and willing to do

Whatever it took
for justice to be served.

- ♪

♪♪

- ♪

- Narrator: Cordelia,
california, is a quiet suburb

Where nothing much
out of the ordinary happens.

But today, the community's
tranquility is interrupted by

A concerning 911 call.

- ♪

- Fairfield police department
received a phone call from

A person who reported

That his girlfriend
of many years was missing.

He had expressed some concerns
that she had left the residence

And hadn't returned.

- Narrator: Fairfield police

Ride out to the home
of lonnie kerley.

He is worried that
his longtime girlfriend,

Danna dever, has gone missing.

- Bill: Danna and lonnie
had been living together for


similarly to husband and wife,

But never actually got married.

Danna was a stay-at-home
mother to their young daughter.

Lonnie worked at
a local school district

In the maintenance department.

He said danna left June 14.

And he remembers it very
specifically 'cause it was

The last day of school
for their daughter.

- Lonnie said she did not
take her car when she left.

And she left with the clothes on
her back, her purse, and $3,000.

- ♪

- He hasn't heard from her
since June 14,

And it's now August 5.

Lonnie says they
had gotten in an argument.

She had left him in the past

From other fights
that they had had,

But she'd always come back.

- At this point,
he was concerned because

She hadn't returned
in two months.

- ♪

- Narrator: Police begin
checking hospital

And morgue reports
across the area.

They find dozens
of possibilities.

But none match danna,
which leaves them wondering.

- We needed to find out
if there was any evidence

There was other things going on,

Or if she was simply
missing on her own accord.

- ♪

- Narrator: Hoping to generate
some leads, the team presses on,

Reaching out to danna's family
to see what they might know.

- But her family had
not heard from her.

- Steven: They had said it
wasn't unusual that they didn't

Hear from danna for
extended periods of time

Because she was
isolated with lonnie

And not keeping
good contact with the family.

- Narrator: That gets
the attention of police.

They want to know
more about danna

And her relationship
with lonnie.

- I was about nine years old
when my aunt went missing.

I remember being little
and thinking,

"ah, my aunt danna is so cool."

My aunt danna
seemed like a movie star.

She was just as
beautiful on the inside

As she was on the outside.

Really soft spoken and sweet.

- Narrator: Danna
first met lonnie kerley

When she was 21 years old.

- Lonnie was a
little rebellious.

And he had nice hair.

And he exuded
a lot of confidence.

And I think that was fun to her.

Everyone was attracted to her,

So it wasn't
a surprise that he was.

When my aunt and lonnie
first met,

He definitely spoiled her.

They seemed to connect well.
They seemed like best friends.

I guess, from there,
they fell in love.

- Narrator: Four years
into their relationship,

Danna and lonnie
have a daughter.

- Brittany: She had this
natural maternal instinct.

And having a daughter of her own
felt like it was her calling.

- Narrator: But according to
danna's family, as time went on,

They saw danna less and less.

- There was very little
contact outside of their

Tight family of lonnie,
danna, and their daughter.

- Narrator: When they do
occasionally see danna,

She hints that her relationship
with lonnie has become strained.

- He was extremely controlling,

Called her continuously
from work,

Always wanted to know
where her whereabouts were.

- Lonnie got really
upset if she ever left,

And he'd check her mileage.

He started becoming
just this mean guy.

- Narrator: Eventually, danna's
family witnesses first hand

How bad things
have gotten for her.

- One time, she came
knocking at our door

And asked if she could stay,
because she was, um--

She was being physically abused.

She did have marks on her body.

It wasn't just her arms.

She had marks on her
face and on her stomach.

- She tried to leave him
on numerous occasions.

- Narrator: In fact, police
learn that eight months earlier,

Danna actually reported
lonnie to the police,

But ultimately
declined to press charges.

- But he'd always
gotten her back.

- Narrator: Could lonnie's
alleged abuse have escalated,

Possibly to m*rder?

- ♪

- Narrator: Police pay
lonnie another visit.

- Krishna: Lonnie, his story
was still she left that morning.

She walked away with just
the clothes on her back.

- Narrator: This time,
investigators also talk to

Danna and lonnie's
younger daughter.

- She states that her mom
left and--and said goodbye,

And said she loved her,
and that she would return.

- Narrator:
And lonnie tells police

If they still don't believe him,

There's another witness
who can verify his account.

- Bill: On June 14,
danna left.

Lonnie needs to go to work.

And so he called
his parents to come over

To help with his daughter
to get her to school.

- Narrator: Police immediately
speak to lonnie's mother.

And she confirms she
was there that morning.

- Bill: She said that
she spoke to danna.

She verified
that danna was upset

And that she left the residence
on her own accord on foot.

Helped to substantiate
lonnie's story.

- Narrator: Then lonnie's
mother drops a bombshell.

- Lonnie's mother said
that danna, she suspected,

Was having an affair.

- Narrator: Was danna unhappy
enough to leave behind

Her husband and child
for another man?

- ♪

- There's no way that she
wouldn't have told someone

Where she was.

There were absolutely no
scenarios that would keep her

Away from her daughter.

- Steven: We spoke to
friends and family.

We asked them specifically
about an affair.

They denied any affair.

- Narrator: It's
another dead end.

As weeks and months go by,
there's still no sign of danna.

For danna's family,
each day without answers

Is an emotional roller coaster.

- Brittany: We tried
to think positively,

Even though in the
back of everyone's mind,

We knew that it might
not be a good outcome.

- Narrator: The family
can't shake their suspicions

About lonnie.

- Brittany: My mother and my
aunt were very adamant about

Saying that he had
done something to her.

- Narrator: Without concrete
evidence against lonnie,

Investigators' hands are tied.

- Steven: Because there was no
new evidence, the case stalled.

- Narrator: Danna's family
never gives up hope.

- My family was very
adamant about getting updates.

And there just--
there weren't any.

There's so many
questions unanswered.

- ♪

- Narrator: As the years
pass, life moves on.

Lonnie kerley continues
raising his daughter

And begins dating again.

- I met lonnie in 1997.

I gave him my number,
and he started calling me.

He would leave messages.

You know,
"hey, I'm thinking of you."

I loved the attention.
Who wouldn't?

There were many times
that I'd asked lonnie

About his daughter's mother.

And, um, he always just
said that she had left.

- Steve:
Lonnie also told his daughter

That she wasn't coming back.

- Narrator: Laura, lonnie,
and his daughter settle

In to domestic life together.

- ♪

- Narrator: Eleven years
go by with no new leads

In danna's case...Until 2007.

- What ends up happening
is fairfield pd decides to take

A new, fresh look at
old missing person cases.

- Narrator: It's just what the
case needs for the twisted truth

About what really happened to
danna to come into the light.

Coming up--

- I noticed a
depression in the lawn.

It made me suspicious.

- Narrator: The search for
danna dever intensifies.

- You have a completely
naked body that's decomposed.

- We believe there's foul play.

- Narrator: And the path
will lead police underground.

- We start asking questions
about a body being dumped.

- We were ready and
willing to do whatever it took

For justice to be served.

- [lid creaking]

- ♪

- Narrator: In 2007, fairfield
pd starts assigning manpower

To some of its cold cases,

Including the disappearance
of danna dever 11 years earlier.

- In 2007, I was a detective for

The fairfield, california,
police department.

I decided to take another look
to see if we can breathe

Some life into the
danna dever investigation.

I spoke to danna's family.

They expressed concern
that she remained missing.

- Narrator: Her family is
convinced more than ever

That her husband, lonnie,
had something to do

With danna's disappearance.

And detective
trojanowski has to agree.

- Lonnie and danna had
a very volatile relationship.

In my mind, at that point,
lonnie was a person of interest.

She had not been seen.
She had not used credit cards.

All the indicators were
that she was not alive.

- Narrator: With that in mind,
detective trojanowski picks up

Where the original
detectives left off.

- I recanvassed the
neighborhood around

The residence where
lonnie and danna had resided.

While speaking to
one of the neighbors,

I was advised that about the
time of danna's disappearance

That there was a infestation
of flies in the area

Directly in front of the house.

It made me think that
there was a possibility

That lonnie had k*lled danna

And that he had buried her
somewhere on the property.

I contacted the new owners
of the residence

And got their permission
to check the property.

I noticed a depression
in the lawn,

Which was somewhat out of place.

I wondered to myself,
"did someone, uh,

Bury something here?"

It...Made me suspicious.

- Narrator: Detective
trojanowski gets permission

To dig in the backyard
of the house

Where lonnie and danna
once lived.

- They dug approximately


They hit a hard object.

They began to dig
around that object

And discovered
that it was a large suitcase.

There was
a smell of decomposition

Emanating from the suitcase.

And...That was not good.

I was anxious thinking that we
may have discovered danna's body

In the ground.

- Narrator: Investigators
carefully pop open the suitcase.

- ♪

- Inside the suitcase
was the remains...

Of a very large dog.

It was somewhat disappointing
that we hadn't located danna.

- Narrator:
But detective trojanowski

Isn't about to give up.

- Lonnie is still in our
crosshairs at that point.

- Narrator: The cold case team
decides to take another look

At unidentified women
found dead around the time

Danna disappeared in 1996.

One case jumps out at them.

The victim is
known as jane doe #7.

- ♪

- Narrator: Just a month after
danna dever's disappeared,

A heat wave
was baking the landscape

Of nearby rio vista, california.

- Bill: It's very hot out there.

Anywhere from 90 to 100 degrees
is the normal temperature.

- Narrator: Two ranch hands on
a local farm were in a field

Chasing coyotes
away from the sheep.

- ♪

- Bill: They come
across a green blanket.

- ♪

- Bill: From
underneath the blanket,

Coming out the bottom of
it, is what appears to be

A skeletonized, uh, legs.

- ♪

- Narrator: The shocked
ranch hands raced to call

Solano county police.

- ♪

- Narrator: Investigators
quickly responded

And took in the grisly scene.

- ♪

- Narrator: They gingerly
pulled the blanket off the body.

- ♪

- The body was
completely skeletonized.

- ♪

- Krishna: The body
was devoid of clothing.

You have a completely naked body
that's decomposed to the point

Where there couldn't
be an identification.

- Bill: There's no way to
tell if it's male or female.

We can assume it's an adult,

But there's no way
to really know.

Everything's just a mystery.

- Narrator: The crime scene
doesn't offer up any clues

As to who the victim might be.

- Surprising is that there's
not a stitch of clothing found.

There is not one
item of jewelry.

- No id, no keys, no car nearby.

- ♪

- Narrator:
Investigators arrived

At an unsettling conclusion.

- Bill: The body had to be
placed there on the ground

By somebody, nude.

- It was clearly
very camouflaged

In this high vegetation
out there.

- Bill: Everything
points to this body

Being a victim of m*rder.

- ♪

- Narrator: Now, 11 years later,
the cold case team wonders

Could jane doe #7
be danna dever.

They uncover the
autopsy report from 1996.

- There were some
similarities in height

And statue from danna dever.

- The body was
approximately 5'7.

- It's a female between
the ages of about 25 to 45.

- Narrator:
And just like danna dever,

Jane doe #7 is a mother.

The position of her
pelvic bones tells them

That she had
at one time given birth.

Then they hit a roadblock.

- Steven: It was determined
that the body had been

In the elements for an
extended period of time,

For some six months.

Danna had only been missing,

Uh, from her residence
for six weeks.

- Narrator: It means
jane doe #7 was already dead

And her body dumped in a ditch
before danna disappeared.

It's yet another
disappointing dead end.

As their frustration mounts,
so does their determination.

Then, buried in the file,

They uncover what
could be a major new clue.

- There had been a
second autopsy done.

- What essentially happens
in 1998 is that the bones

Of jane doe #7 are sent
to an anthropologist

At chico state university.

- Narrator: Now, 11 years later,
detective trojanowski is stunned

By what he reads in
the second autopsy report.

- The anthropologist, uh,
discovered that the jane doe #7

Had not been in the
elements for six months.

The jane doe #7 was
probably in the elements

For less than six weeks.

- Bodies decompose much faster

During the summer
in central california.

And so that state of
decomposition can happen

In as little as
two or three weeks.

- Narrator: The revised
timeframe of jane doe's death

Now fits within the window
of when danna disappeared.

- And that ends up becoming
the break in this case.

- Narrator: If jane doe
is danna dever,

Her disappearance
is now a homicide.

But who would have wanted to
k*ll this beloved young mother?

And why?

- ♪

- Narrator: Eleven years
after young mother danna dever

Vanished into thin air,

Police believe they may
have a lead in her cold case.

Could the body of an
unidentified m*rder victim,

Jane doe #7, be danna dever?

- Bill: The investigators
now have something to go on.

There was, uh, some skin
left on the right hand,

Specifically on the right thumb.

We have this fingerprint
that we were able to get

From the rehydrated skin.

- Steven: The right thumbprint

From danna dever
driver's license

Was compared to the print which
was recovered from jane doe #7.

- And it's a match
to danna dever.

Everybody's excited.

Nobody can believe it's
actually solved as far as

Jane doe is now danna dever.

- Steven: It's bittersweet
because it was the finality,

Uh, that danna dever
was no longer alive.

- Narrator: One
mystery is solved.

But there's another one
still waiting to be answered.

- We don't know how she died.

We're hoping that the bones
will tell us something.

- ♪

- There were
fractures on several ribs that

Showed evidence of
a healing fracture

That would have occurred
prior to death.

In cases where you see multiple
fractures that are in different

Stages of healing, this often
indicates a pattern of abuse.

- Also what he found were
injuries or bone cracks

That happened during
the time of death,

Specifically a slight crack
in her hyoid bone, uh,

In the bone of her neck,
which is huge in the sense

That it's often
related to strangulation.

She died as a
result of a beating.

- Steven: The sad reality
was that danna dever

Was not only deceased,
she had been m*rder*d.

- Narrator: Investigators
are now faced with

The heart-wrenching task of
notifying danna dever's family.

- Bill: That part is painful.

This family has been missing
their daughter and sister

For--for 11 years.

And how do you
start that conversation?

It's hard.

- When we found out
that it was her...

It was...

It was...

- ♪

- We almost wished
that we didn't know.

It just hurt just as bad
to actually have the proof.

- Narrator: The family
is finally able to lay

Danna dever's body to rest.

- Brittany: Once they found
out that it was my aunt,

There was a tiny ceremony.

- ♪

- Narrator: Now detectives are
on the hunt for her k*ller.

- We want to solve this
case for danna dever's family.

- Narrator: Police believe
lonnie kerley is likely

Their best suspect.

But as they look at
the file on jane doe #7,

They discover there was another
person of interest on the radar



- Bill: Eleven years ago, about
eight days after jane doe's body

Was found, a letter came in to
the district attorney's office,

Uh, victim witness unit.

The letter itself is typed,
but the envelope is handwritten.

- The letter talks
about a guy named danny.

- Bill: Danny was
basically running his mouth,

Talking at a bar in dixon.

- Krishna: He talked about
k*lling this woman

That burned him...

Rolling her up in a blanket,

Dumping her out on
the way to rio vista.

- Bill: The letter was
descriptive enough that it was

Directly referencing
jane doe #7.

There's not a lot to go on
as far as who danny is.

- Narrator: Since the letter
mentioned overhearing danny

Brag at a bar, the investigators
canvassed all the bars in dixon.

- ♪

- They couldn't find
anybody that was named danny.

The letter just gets filed away.

- Narrator: Now, 11 years later,
knowing that jane doe #7

Is actually danna dever,

They take a second look
at the letter.

- Bill: We look for everything.

The letter and the envelope
are examined for fingerprints.

- Unfortunately,
there's no fingerprints

That could be lifted.

- And danny seemed
to be a ghost.

We couldn't track
the letter writer.

And everything is
just ruled out.

- Narrator: What remains
is a nagging hunch.

- Bill: And so I believe
that this letter was sent in

As a way to throw
detectives off the trail.

- Krishna: This is completely
a ruse to distract from

Who it really is
that is responsible for

The m*rder of danna.

- Narrator: Coming up,
an unlikely witness

Spurs the case forward.

- I wanted to tell
them everything.

And this was my time to do it.

- Narrator: Police will need to
exhume a body to catch a k*ller.

- I don't wanna
impose on the family.

But at the same time,

I wanna get justice
for her family.

- He had to pay for
what he did to my aunt.

- ♪

- ♪

- Narrator: Eleven years
after she vanished,

Danna dever is positively
identified as jane doe #7,

A m*rder victim
dumped in a ditch

More than a decade earlier.

Police and her family think her
husband, lonnie, is the k*ller.

- We all knew in our heart that,
um, lonnie was responsible.

- Narrator: His reaction to news
of danna's m*rder does nothing

To change their minds.

- Bill: He just takes
it in stride, uh,

With controlled emotion.

And--and that's the
mother of his child.

I expected more.

- Narrator: With nothing
linking him to danna's m*rder,

Investigators need to
think out of the box.

- Bill: I have to
figure out a way

To either get him to admit to it

Or find a way through
other acquaintances.

- Narrator: Knowing
he abused danna,

They think he may have
done the same thing

To his second wife, laura.

She might be willing
to talk to them.

They question her one on one.

- She doesn't want to talk
a lot about what's going on.

- Honestly, I was scared to
answer to answer anything.

- Narrator: Little by little
she starts to open up.

- She talked to the
police officers about

A couple of things he said.

One was if a loved one
were to k*ll somebody, um,

Would you tell?

- Bill: We express our
own fear for her because

Danna was determined
to have been m*rder*d.

And that shocks laura.

- I wanted to tell them
everything possible.

And this was my time to do it.

I spilled my guts.

Lonnie mentally and
emotionally abused me.

- ♪

- There was some
physical abuse in there,

But not near as what
he had done to danna.

You don't think
emotional abuse is bad.

But it's--it's bad.

- ♪

- I--I was afraid he
was gonna k*ll me.

- The relationship
fits this mold of an ab*ser,

Of a controlling husband.

- Narrator: Laura's statements
give investigators what

They need to get a warrant
to search lonnie's house.

- Bill: One of the things I'm
looking for is a typewriter,

'cause I wanna
compare it to the, uh,

Letter that was sent in
in '96

To the district attorney's
office.

- [camera shutter click]

- Bill: Laura kerley told me
there's an old typewriter

At the house.

The typewriter is missing...

Which I was told,
just days before

I served the search warrant,
was there.

- [camera shutter clicks]

- That just led me further
to believe that lonnie was able

To get rid of the evidence
that I was looking for.

- ♪

- Narrator: Detective hornbrook
is convinced

Lonnie m*rder*d danna,

But just doesn't have the
physical evidence for an arrest.

- We don't get anything
hard back from the--

From the search warrant.
We're really left with nothing.

Because you just can't find
that hard piece of evidence,

It's so disappointing.

Um, and you look and
you go, "what did I miss?"

- Narrator: He refuses to
give up and works the case

For the next three years.

- You work on it so hard
every day, uh, weekends,

Late to the evenings.

- It was a breath of fresh air
to know that people cared.

People with skills and the
power to do something about it.

- Narrator: Then,




The investigation
gets a powerful new ally.

- Krishna: I came
in the case in 2010,

When our cold case investigators
at the da's office

Were really trying
to solve this case.

- When you meet the right
district attorney that really

Wants to press the case and sees
this whole story for what it is,

That was amazing.

- Narrator: They
come up with an idea.

If they can find the car
lonnie may have used

To transport danna's body,

They might find dna evidence
she was in the trunk,

Which could
prove lonnie k*lled her.

- They were able to track down
the old chevy nova

That he drove back in '96.

- Narrator: Csi combs
the trunk of the nova...

Hoping to find
even one fiber or hair.

They make a shocking discovery.

- Krishna: They
found pubic hair...

That we were able
to send for dna.

It came back as a
match for danna dever.

- Bill: It's not a
question of whodunit,

It's really: Is there
anybody else that could have?

And the answer is no.

Lonnie kerley is our k*ller.

- Narrator: And the team
will stop at nothing

To find justice for danna,

Even if it means
raising her up

So she can speak for herself.

- ♪

- ♪

- Narrator: After finding
danna's dna

In the trunk of
lonnie's old car,

Investigators are certain
he's their k*ller.

- That tells me
that lonnie k*lled danna,

Moved her into the trunk,
and disposed of her body.

- Narrator: But they'll need
even more evidence if they want

To convince a jury
beyond a reasonable doubt.

- Krishna: I dive into the case
and start reviewing everything

And see the history
of domestic violence.

Connecting all the
dots was so important.

- Narrator: In her interview,
lonnie's current wife, laura,

Was very open about
lonnie's abuse.

- I knew that I had to speak up.

- Narrator: Danna's circle
of friends and family

Also come forward with
more heartbreaking stories

Of how lonnie abused her.

- Brittany: My mom would tell
me that danna was being abused.

He beat her up.

He had--he had kicked her in her
stomach

While she was
nine months pregnant.

- One of the things that danna
always told her friends was,

"he said he'd dump
me in a ditch so deep,

Nobody would find me."

It was extremely disturbing.

- Narrator: Prosecutor abrams
also takes a hard look

At the circumstances behind
the January 1996 incident

When danna reported lonnie
to the police for abuse.

That's when the case
really gets a jolt.

- On January 7, 1996, he
gets arrested for this abuse.

- He would be facing
three, five, ten years,

Depending on the type
and level of abuse.

- Krishna: That can affect
his job, his home,

His family life, his child.

- I can imagine what
lonnie put her through,

Telling her she better cancel it
or he would do something to her.

I can imagine that
danna was scared to death.

- ♪

- Narrator: Less than a week
after lonnie's arrest in 1996,

Danna showed up at
the police department.

- Krishna: She says, "I
want to dismiss charges.

He didn't do anything."

She didn't want
him to go to jail.

- Narrator:
Despite danna's attempt

To take back the charges,

The da proceeded with
the domestic violence case

Against lonnie.

- Danna dever is supposed
to testify in that case.

I think lonnie has a problem
with danna not doing exactly

What he wants her to do.

- Narrator: Prosecutor abrams
now learns from danna's friends

All these years later
that the looming court case

Rocked the marriage to its core.

- That could have some great
ramifications on his life.

She keeps telling her friends,
"he's so angry about court."

He continues to
escalate the violence.

He did not want her
to testify in this case.

- Narrator: Then, on June 19,

Lonnie appeared
in court as scheduled.

But danna was a no show.

She had disappeared
five days earlier.

- Bill: Because there was
no one there to testify,

It was a felony domestic
violence case that got reduced

To a misdemeanor.

He accepted the plea bargain
to be at one year probation.

- Narrator: Prosecutor abrams
is convinced

The timing of danna's m*rder
is no accident.

- I think the court date
was what really took it

To a different level for him.

Lonnie had a motive to k*ll her.

- Narrator: This is the
last piece of the puzzle.

- Krishna: We've got
the hair in the car.

Now we've got all
the history of abuse.

- Narrator: Now, 14 years later,
krishna abrams has enough to

Issue a warrant
for lonnie's arrest

For the m*rder of danna dever.

- Bill: We gather up a
team, go to the house,

And arrest lonnie kerley.

- ♪

- Bill: It was fantastic for me
to then tell danna's family

That he was in custody.

- It was just
like finally, finally.

He had to pay for
what he did to my aunt.

- ♪

- Narrator: Investigators
immediately put lonnie

In the interview room
and grill him for hours.

- Narrator: But he
remains tight lipped.

- ♪

- Krishna: We went to a grand
jury and asked for an indictment

On second-degree m*rder.

There were a lot of hurdles
and a lot of challenges.

No eyewitness.
No real physical evidence.

- Narrator: One of
the biggest challenges

Is the first autopsy report,

Which ruled the cause
of death as "undetermined."

Abrams knows that she needs
physical proof that danna

Was m*rder*d, or lonnie kerley
will never see a day in prison.

So she makes a
difficult decision.

- We wanted to exhume
the remains of danna.

- Narrator: Authorities approach
danna's family to let them know

They'd like to
bring up her remains.

- Krishna: I didn't wanna
impose on the family.

But at the same time,

I wanna get justice
for her family.

- It feels disrespectful to her
to have to dig her bones up.

I mean, can't she
just be at peace?

It's like a punch in the gut.

But they had to do that.

And we were 1000%
ready and willing to do

Whatever it took for
justice to be served.

- Narrator: It's a solemn
day when police arrive at

The cemetery to exhume
danna dever's body.

Detectives know that
they must find evidence

That danna was
beaten and m*rder*d

In order to make sure
lonnie kerley

Goes to prison for life.

- Danna finally had a
headstone, because remember,

She was a jane doe 7
for so long.

- Brittany: The exhumation
of my aunt's remains,

It was a difficult time.

But for a long time,
we felt very powerless.

So we were ready to
do, um, whatever.

- Narrator: The small crowd
watches as the casket

Is lifted from the grave...

Not knowing if danna's
remains will be intact.

- After they've been
buried for a while,

You can get postmortem
degradation of the remains.

- ♪

- Narrator: Police know that
their case against lonnie hinges

On whether danna's remains
can clearly show

She had been m*rder*d.

- Krishna: The remains of danna
were sent to a anthropologist

Up at chico state university.

- Narrator: As the coffin's
lid is pried open...

Investigators hold their breath.

And it's the moment of truth.

- The remains were definitely
in a much worse condition

When they're exhumed
than they were 11 years before.

- Narrator: It looks
like a setback.

But then, as the lead
anthropologist looks closer,

It seems that danna's body
may actually have the answers

They've been looking for.

- Krishna: The anthropologist
has danna laid out--

All of her remains.

He says, "what I saw in 1998,
you'll be able to see it now."

The preexisting injuries
that had healed.

The injuries that were
in the process of healing.

It was so compelling,

I just felt like danna
was telling her story.

- Narrator: The difficult
decision to exhume danna's body

Has paid off.

- Krishna: I needed the
jury to see what we saw.

Do I show her
remains to the jury?

So I kind of talked it
over with the family.

- Even though it was
uncomfortable

For all of our family,
it's what needed to be done.

- ♪

- Krishna: I asked the judge
that the jury be allowed

To observe danna's remains.

The defense attorney
was arguing with me

That this was
prosecutorial misconduct.

I'm trying to inflame
the jury, win them over.

And I'm thinking, "oh my gosh.

I mean, what's the
judge going to rule?"

- ♪

- Narrator: In October of 2012,


Remains were discovered
in a ditch in rio vista,

Her boyfriend, lonnie kerley,
goes on trial for her m*rder.

- Nobody else had a motive.
Nobody else disliked her.

She was loved by all.

She was loved by her daughter.
She wouldn't leave her daughter.

- Narrator: Prosecutors lobby

To show her exhumed remains
in court.

The judge rules in their favor.

Danna's remains can
be shown to the jury.

Prosecutor abrams is
aware it might backfire.

- I'll never forget.
We laid out her remains.

Jury comes down, and they
all look at, um, her remains.

- Narrator: The jury
and everyone else

In the courtroom

Can see danna's injuries
with their own eyes.

- We sat right there in court.
It was uncomfortable.

- I felt like danna was telling
her story of how she died

That summer in 1996.

- ♪

- Bill: What I
believed happened,

Lonnie's scheduled
to go to court.

And he's gonna be
charged with domestic violence

For when he attacked
and abused and struck

And kicked danna dever
in January.

And I think all this
emotion's building up.

There's yet another argument
that's gotten physical between

Lonnie and danna.

I believe, out of his anger,
he reaches forward, uh,

Strangles her.

Cracks her hyoid
bone in her throat.

I believe that he then decides
he has to get rid of the body.

- ♪

- Bill: He takes the
body out to rio vista,

To this isolated area...

And placed her there
with a blanket.

- ♪

- He did exactly what he
told her he was gonna do.

He would dump her in a ditch
so deep, no one would find her.

And sure enough, he did.

- Narrator: But will
the jury be convinced?

- We were terrified
that he may be found not guilty,

That he wouldn't get convicted.

- Narrator: On January 2, 2013,

The jury returns their verdict.

- The jury convicted him as
charged of second-degree m*rder.

He was sentenced to


- ♪

- It was very
validating that the jury

Saw everything
that I saw in the case.

- Bill: Through the
body being exhumed,

The ability to tell the story
because of the injuries

That were found on her bones,

The jury had
nothing else to believe.

- Brittany: When
he was convicted,

I felt a lot of relief.

There's not enough thank yous
we can ever say to--

To everyone responsible.

- Bill: It's so great that
I get to tell the story

That it ends in a conviction.

That is why you get into
becoming a sheriff's detective

And actually working
homicide cases.

This is--this is why you do it.

- Narrator: After 17 years,

Danna dever is finally
laid to rest for good.

- Krishna: I believe she's at
peace because everyone knows now

How she died and
at the hands of who.

And so I think that
there's a sense of justice.

- Bill: Now, hopefully,
she'll rest.

And there can be this closure.

- Brittany: I think
that my aunt danna,

She would wanna be
remembered as someone who...

Was strong and loved her family.

She just enjoyed life.

- ♪