1 00:00:08,573 --> 00:00:11,359 Up next, a young woman vanishes 2 00:00:11,402 --> 00:00:14,536 and a town wonders, who's next? 3 00:00:14,579 --> 00:00:16,668 It was horrendous. Nobody saw it. 4 00:00:16,712 --> 00:00:18,888 Nobody knew what happened. 5 00:00:18,931 --> 00:00:21,543 Tips pour in, but leads dry up. 6 00:00:21,586 --> 00:00:24,633 I promised we would solve this crime 7 00:00:24,676 --> 00:00:26,548 and that was a hard promise to keep. 8 00:00:26,591 --> 00:00:29,246 Stymied detectives appeal to a higher power 9 00:00:29,290 --> 00:00:31,901 and forensic science. 10 00:00:31,944 --> 00:00:33,598 It's just my belief, 11 00:00:33,642 --> 00:00:37,994 and I've told this to victims' families in the past-- 12 00:00:38,038 --> 00:00:39,952 "God don't like ugly." 13 00:00:39,996 --> 00:00:42,781 Technology exposes a suspect 14 00:00:42,825 --> 00:00:44,783 but also raises questions 15 00:00:44,827 --> 00:00:46,872 about who else might be involved. 16 00:00:46,916 --> 00:00:49,005 We were really puzzled. 17 00:00:49,049 --> 00:00:51,790 You know, we didn't know where to go from there. 18 00:01:14,161 --> 00:01:17,816 What is now known as Louisiana was rich in resources 19 00:01:17,860 --> 00:01:21,124 when first settled by France in the 1600s. 20 00:01:21,168 --> 00:01:23,605 Since France was deeply Roman Catholic, 21 00:01:23,648 --> 00:01:25,389 what are called counties in other states 22 00:01:25,433 --> 00:01:28,131 are called parishes in Louisiana. 23 00:01:28,175 --> 00:01:30,829 One the most storied, Ascension Parish 24 00:01:30,873 --> 00:01:33,484 is deep in the heart of the old south. 25 00:01:33,528 --> 00:01:35,617 The Mississippi River 26 00:01:35,660 --> 00:01:39,186 divides Ascension Parish from east to west. 27 00:01:39,229 --> 00:01:41,884 It cuts right through us. 28 00:01:41,927 --> 00:01:45,279 The region is famous for great food, great music, 29 00:01:45,322 --> 00:01:46,845 and language variations 30 00:01:46,889 --> 00:01:50,501 created by a lot of cultural cross-pollination. 31 00:01:50,545 --> 00:01:53,156 And Ascension Parish is booming. 32 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:55,724 In 1990, we had 58,000 residents 33 00:01:55,767 --> 00:01:57,073 in the entire parish. 34 00:01:57,117 --> 00:01:59,510 Today, it's 120-something thousand. 35 00:01:59,554 --> 00:02:01,295 So we've, uh, you know-- 36 00:02:01,338 --> 00:02:03,166 Then it was more or less rural, 37 00:02:03,210 --> 00:02:07,170 just beginning to become a more suburban environment. 38 00:02:07,214 --> 00:02:10,304 So it's changed significantly since 1990. 39 00:02:13,785 --> 00:02:16,658 Bill, get the-- Bill, get the kid off the set. 40 00:02:16,701 --> 00:02:18,834 Bi-- Bill? Come on, man. 41 00:02:18,877 --> 00:02:21,532 We can't have the interview with a kid on set. 42 00:02:21,576 --> 00:02:25,145 In 1990, 18-year-old Tammy Bowers 43 00:02:25,188 --> 00:02:28,539 was striking out on her own for the first time in her life 44 00:02:28,583 --> 00:02:31,977 and found a place to live on the outskirts of Baton Rouge, 45 00:02:32,021 --> 00:02:34,110 the state capital. 46 00:02:34,154 --> 00:02:37,200 She was working at a little grocery store, 47 00:02:37,244 --> 00:02:39,071 met a couple of friends there. 48 00:02:39,115 --> 00:02:41,770 And so they decided they were gonna get together 49 00:02:41,813 --> 00:02:43,902 and all-- her and her little friends 50 00:02:43,946 --> 00:02:46,296 was gonna move in together. 51 00:02:46,340 --> 00:02:49,125 Nearly every night, Tammy used a pay phone 52 00:02:49,169 --> 00:02:50,953 at a nearby convenience store 53 00:02:50,996 --> 00:02:53,173 to check in with family and friends. 54 00:02:53,216 --> 00:02:55,436 You got to keep in mind, in 1990, 55 00:02:55,479 --> 00:02:57,002 people didn't have cellphones, 56 00:02:57,046 --> 00:03:00,397 and Tammy had just moved into a new home, 57 00:03:00,441 --> 00:03:02,138 so she didn't have a home phone. 58 00:03:03,487 --> 00:03:05,097 She always called and checked in, 59 00:03:05,141 --> 00:03:07,230 you know, when she was not around. 60 00:03:07,274 --> 00:03:10,712 Even at work, she'd take a break on her lunch hour 61 00:03:10,755 --> 00:03:13,280 to give me a call. 62 00:03:13,323 --> 00:03:15,325 So, the night of March 6th 63 00:03:15,369 --> 00:03:18,763 was a perfectly normal one for Tammy Bowers. 64 00:03:18,807 --> 00:03:21,505 After calling her mother at around 11:00, 65 00:03:21,549 --> 00:03:23,377 she also called a friend. 66 00:03:23,420 --> 00:03:25,944 What happened next was far from normal. 67 00:03:25,988 --> 00:03:28,556 This all began with a 911 call. 68 00:03:28,599 --> 00:03:30,775 A young man called up and said, 69 00:03:30,819 --> 00:03:34,170 "I was talking to Tammy Bowers on a pay phone," 70 00:03:34,214 --> 00:03:36,346 and they were having just a normal conversation, 71 00:03:36,390 --> 00:03:39,349 and then she said, "Oh! You surprised me." 72 00:03:39,393 --> 00:03:42,047 The next thing you know, he heard a scuffle going on, 73 00:03:42,091 --> 00:03:43,875 and he knew something was wrong. 74 00:03:43,919 --> 00:03:45,921 And then, of course, she was-- disappeared from the phone call. 75 00:03:45,964 --> 00:03:48,489 Tammy's friend rushed to the area. 76 00:03:48,532 --> 00:03:50,317 Tammy was nowhere in sight. 77 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:52,971 And he discovered her car still there, 78 00:03:53,015 --> 00:03:57,280 the phone hanging off the hook, and her eye glasses and all that 79 00:03:57,324 --> 00:04:00,414 was on the ground, right below the phone. 80 00:04:00,457 --> 00:04:03,286 The door of Tammy's car was open. 81 00:04:03,330 --> 00:04:05,070 Her keys were in the ignition. 82 00:04:05,114 --> 00:04:07,203 Her purse, still on the front seat. 83 00:04:07,247 --> 00:04:08,857 Police arrived moments later. 84 00:04:08,900 --> 00:04:11,512 Obvious that it wasn't a robbery. 85 00:04:11,555 --> 00:04:15,298 It was obvious that, you know, she didn't have an opportunity 86 00:04:15,342 --> 00:04:17,257 to even close the car door 87 00:04:17,300 --> 00:04:19,998 to make sure nobody got her purse, so it's pretty clear 88 00:04:20,042 --> 00:04:22,653 that someone had abducted Tammy Bowers. 89 00:04:22,697 --> 00:04:24,438 Police, hoping against hope 90 00:04:24,481 --> 00:04:26,570 for an innocent explanation, 91 00:04:26,614 --> 00:04:28,485 rushed to find Tammy's parents. 92 00:04:28,529 --> 00:04:33,751 Well, it was around, I'd say, after midnight, 93 00:04:33,795 --> 00:04:38,626 got a knock on the door from two police officers 94 00:04:38,669 --> 00:04:43,195 who asked me if Tammy was with me. 95 00:04:43,239 --> 00:04:45,981 And automatically panic set in. 96 00:04:46,024 --> 00:04:49,637 It was just like, "Why are you asking me that?" 97 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:52,379 Hours passed with no sign of Tammy. 98 00:04:52,422 --> 00:04:53,902 You're kind of helpless. 99 00:04:53,945 --> 00:04:56,905 It's middle of the night. 100 00:04:56,948 --> 00:04:59,168 They-- You know, just trying to sleep. 101 00:04:59,211 --> 00:05:01,083 The next morning, you get another phone call, 102 00:05:01,126 --> 00:05:03,128 say they haven't found her yet. 103 00:05:03,172 --> 00:05:05,305 I lost all trains of thought. 104 00:05:05,348 --> 00:05:07,437 It's... 105 00:05:09,047 --> 00:05:11,311 I don't know. It's a miserable feeling. 106 00:05:11,354 --> 00:05:14,226 About 36 hours later, 107 00:05:14,270 --> 00:05:17,229 on what would have been Tammy's 19th birthday, 108 00:05:17,273 --> 00:05:19,710 police were told the body of a young female, 109 00:05:19,754 --> 00:05:22,278 later identified as Tammy Bowers, 110 00:05:22,322 --> 00:05:24,976 was found on the border of Ascension Parish. 111 00:05:25,020 --> 00:05:27,152 She was partially clothed. 112 00:05:27,196 --> 00:05:33,376 She was in her sweatpants, but they were pulled down. 113 00:05:33,420 --> 00:05:35,770 She was beaten severely. 114 00:05:35,813 --> 00:05:38,381 The cause of death was blunt force trauma. 115 00:05:38,425 --> 00:05:41,166 There was clear evidence of sexual assault 116 00:05:41,210 --> 00:05:43,125 It just may have been a crime of opportunity. 117 00:05:43,168 --> 00:05:45,083 They hadn't prepared to do this, 118 00:05:45,127 --> 00:05:49,131 but had probably spotted Tammy on the pay phone, 119 00:05:49,174 --> 00:05:51,220 made a snap decision to pull in, 120 00:05:51,263 --> 00:05:54,266 grab her, abduct her, and bring her to this site 121 00:05:54,310 --> 00:05:57,182 where she was sexually assaulted and murdered. 122 00:05:57,226 --> 00:05:59,968 If this was a crime of opportunity, 123 00:06:00,011 --> 00:06:03,537 it meant whoever killed Tammy might have killed before 124 00:06:03,580 --> 00:06:07,236 and was almost certainly capable of killing again. 125 00:06:07,279 --> 00:06:09,760 The community was struck by fear. 126 00:06:09,804 --> 00:06:11,806 Everybody, you know, moms and daughters, 127 00:06:11,849 --> 00:06:14,417 were all afraid to go out. 128 00:06:24,732 --> 00:06:25,994 My plan for the future 129 00:06:26,037 --> 00:06:28,562 is to attend college within the state 130 00:06:28,605 --> 00:06:31,260 and peruse a career in acting, 131 00:06:31,303 --> 00:06:33,958 later marry and have a lovely family. 132 00:06:34,002 --> 00:06:36,874 Thank you, and I hope you enjoy your evening. 133 00:06:39,268 --> 00:06:41,270 The utterly inexplicable murder 134 00:06:41,313 --> 00:06:44,578 of Tammy Bowers was devastating for her family 135 00:06:44,621 --> 00:06:49,452 who mourned an outgoing child, the oldest of four children. 136 00:06:49,496 --> 00:06:53,238 Yay! Hi! Yay! 137 00:06:53,282 --> 00:06:55,327 Am I too tall for ya? 138 00:06:55,371 --> 00:06:56,546 No. 139 00:06:56,590 --> 00:06:59,070 Ah. How's that? 140 00:06:59,114 --> 00:07:00,724 As she grew up, 141 00:07:00,768 --> 00:07:03,771 she wanted to be the attention, you know, out front. 142 00:07:03,814 --> 00:07:06,338 You know... 143 00:07:06,382 --> 00:07:09,472 "Look at me. I'm talking to you" kind of person. 144 00:07:09,516 --> 00:07:11,343 You're watching TV, she's gonna get in front of the TV, 145 00:07:11,387 --> 00:07:12,954 and you're gonna watch her. 146 00:07:12,997 --> 00:07:16,000 "I'm singing." She was awesome. 147 00:07:17,524 --> 00:07:19,700 Tammy's murder, which looked to be 148 00:07:19,743 --> 00:07:22,224 a spur-of-the-moment, random attack, 149 00:07:22,267 --> 00:07:25,009 deeply shocked Ascension Parish. 150 00:07:25,053 --> 00:07:27,838 Everybody was trying to solve this crime. 151 00:07:27,882 --> 00:07:30,493 We had 58,000 people in Ascension Parish, 152 00:07:30,537 --> 00:07:34,105 and I bet 10,000 of them were actively engaged 153 00:07:34,149 --> 00:07:36,412 and had their ear to the door 154 00:07:36,456 --> 00:07:39,807 and listening and paying attention. 155 00:07:39,850 --> 00:07:41,678 In 1990, you have a community 156 00:07:41,722 --> 00:07:43,419 that didn't have the high crime, 157 00:07:43,463 --> 00:07:45,508 and then you have something like this happen, 158 00:07:45,552 --> 00:07:48,642 and then the community gets alarmed. 159 00:07:48,685 --> 00:07:50,644 You know, it's news. 160 00:07:50,687 --> 00:07:53,211 Detectives attempted to backtrack 161 00:07:53,255 --> 00:07:54,996 Tammy's final hours, 162 00:07:55,039 --> 00:07:56,824 and found she'd just called her mother 163 00:07:56,867 --> 00:07:59,522 from the same pay phone where she was attacked. 164 00:07:59,566 --> 00:08:02,525 The main reason she called was 'cause we were discussing 165 00:08:02,569 --> 00:08:04,353 what we were gonna do for her birthday, 166 00:08:04,396 --> 00:08:07,617 which was the very next-- you know, the next day. 167 00:08:07,661 --> 00:08:09,576 During this conversation, 168 00:08:09,619 --> 00:08:11,403 Tammy mentioned she'd had a fight 169 00:08:11,447 --> 00:08:14,537 with her ex-boyfriend, Kevin Fontenot. 170 00:08:14,581 --> 00:08:16,017 She was breaking up with him, 171 00:08:16,060 --> 00:08:19,368 and he didn't want to take the breakup. 172 00:08:19,411 --> 00:08:23,590 He didn't-- wouldn't take no for an answer. 173 00:08:23,633 --> 00:08:27,158 And it was at the point where she was very close 174 00:08:27,202 --> 00:08:29,465 to calling the police. 175 00:08:29,509 --> 00:08:30,901 She said it scared her. 176 00:08:30,945 --> 00:08:32,860 In fact, a lot of Tammy's friends 177 00:08:32,903 --> 00:08:34,688 knew she wanted to put the relationship 178 00:08:34,731 --> 00:08:36,820 with Kevin behind her. 179 00:08:36,864 --> 00:08:38,779 You have Tammy just now moving out on her own, 180 00:08:38,822 --> 00:08:40,824 and I'm thinking that 181 00:08:40,868 --> 00:08:43,697 he's wanting more than what she's wanting to give. 182 00:08:43,740 --> 00:08:45,394 There's the breakup and all, 183 00:08:45,437 --> 00:08:47,570 so she's wanting a fresh life, in my opinion, 184 00:08:47,614 --> 00:08:49,964 and he does not want to let it go. 185 00:08:50,007 --> 00:08:52,967 Letters Kevin wrote to Tammy made it clear 186 00:08:53,010 --> 00:08:56,100 he was having a lot of trouble with the breakup. 187 00:08:56,144 --> 00:08:57,580 He had feelings for Tammy. 188 00:08:57,624 --> 00:09:00,627 I think he was trying super hard to keep her 189 00:09:00,670 --> 00:09:02,846 and the more he tried, I think it was more 190 00:09:02,890 --> 00:09:05,675 pushing her in the wrong direction. 191 00:09:06,807 --> 00:09:08,939 So, maybe this murder wasn't 192 00:09:08,983 --> 00:09:11,638 a spur-of-the-moment, random attack. 193 00:09:11,681 --> 00:09:14,597 All eyes turned to Kevin Fontenot. 194 00:09:14,641 --> 00:09:16,643 But that was my very first thought. 195 00:09:16,686 --> 00:09:18,470 Did he do something to her? 196 00:09:18,514 --> 00:09:21,299 Detectives tracked down Kevin Fontenot 197 00:09:21,343 --> 00:09:23,127 and got a surprise. 198 00:09:23,171 --> 00:09:26,043 It was clear Kevin had recently been in a fight. 199 00:09:26,087 --> 00:09:28,655 He had fresh scratches on his face. 200 00:09:28,698 --> 00:09:31,048 You would hope that if someone tried to take her, 201 00:09:31,092 --> 00:09:32,659 she would fight back. 202 00:09:32,702 --> 00:09:34,791 And here you got scratches on him, 203 00:09:34,835 --> 00:09:37,577 you're thinking, "Whoa," you know? 204 00:09:37,620 --> 00:09:39,970 "This guy could be involved in her disappearance." 205 00:09:40,014 --> 00:09:42,364 Tammy's family had no problem 206 00:09:42,407 --> 00:09:45,323 believing her ex-boyfriend might have attacked her. 207 00:09:45,367 --> 00:09:46,847 Her mother told police 208 00:09:46,890 --> 00:09:49,110 she'd had a violent altercation with him 209 00:09:49,153 --> 00:09:51,939 just three days before her murder. 210 00:09:51,982 --> 00:09:55,507 She was really afraid, her and her little roommate. 211 00:09:55,551 --> 00:09:57,640 They were really afraid because he was-- 212 00:09:57,684 --> 00:10:01,731 he was very violent about it, you know? 213 00:10:01,775 --> 00:10:04,952 She just didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore. 214 00:10:04,995 --> 00:10:07,650 There's a theory that most murder cases 215 00:10:07,694 --> 00:10:12,350 that are solved get solved within 48 hours. 216 00:10:12,394 --> 00:10:15,484 And for detectives and Tammy Bowers' family, 217 00:10:15,527 --> 00:10:18,313 this case looked like it would be one of them, 218 00:10:18,356 --> 00:10:19,662 as long as the evidence 219 00:10:19,706 --> 00:10:22,317 confirmed their theory of what happened. 220 00:10:33,589 --> 00:10:36,026 Okay, anyway, uh, hi. 221 00:10:36,070 --> 00:10:37,941 This is Jane Callen coming to you 222 00:10:37,985 --> 00:10:40,291 with another nightly... 223 00:10:40,335 --> 00:10:41,858 talk show. 224 00:10:43,860 --> 00:10:46,036 Shortly after the abduction and murder 225 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:47,429 of Tammy Bowers, 226 00:10:47,472 --> 00:10:49,518 a prime suspect emerged in the person 227 00:10:49,561 --> 00:10:51,999 of her ex-boyfriend, Kevin Fontenot. 228 00:10:52,042 --> 00:10:55,611 Kevin was absolutely the first person we thought of 229 00:10:55,655 --> 00:10:58,962 that could have done anything to hurt Tammy. 230 00:10:59,006 --> 00:11:01,486 Upset after Tammy broke up with him, 231 00:11:01,530 --> 00:11:04,794 detectives learned that Kevin had driven to her house. 232 00:11:04,838 --> 00:11:08,276 Once inside, he pleaded with her to end the breakup. 233 00:11:08,319 --> 00:11:09,625 She refused. 234 00:11:09,669 --> 00:11:12,019 And then things got out of hand. 235 00:11:12,062 --> 00:11:14,325 That altercation had gotten physical, 236 00:11:14,369 --> 00:11:16,414 so he had scratches and things on him. 237 00:11:16,458 --> 00:11:18,025 She threatened to pull a knife on him, 238 00:11:18,068 --> 00:11:21,115 and, eventually, even sprayed him with mace. 239 00:11:21,158 --> 00:11:24,553 So he was obviously somebody we needed to talk to. 240 00:11:24,596 --> 00:11:26,468 Kevin admitted to the altercation, 241 00:11:26,511 --> 00:11:28,862 confessed that it did get violent, 242 00:11:28,905 --> 00:11:31,429 but insisted he was no killer. 243 00:11:31,473 --> 00:11:34,215 A friend alibied him for the time of the murder. 244 00:11:36,043 --> 00:11:38,132 But detectives wanted to be sure 245 00:11:38,175 --> 00:11:42,266 and turned to genetic material recovered from the crime scene. 246 00:11:42,310 --> 00:11:44,051 At the time of Tammy's murder, 247 00:11:44,094 --> 00:11:46,836 DNA testing was still getting started. 248 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:50,579 In 1990, we were not doing DNA testing at all. 249 00:11:50,622 --> 00:11:54,061 The testing that I did on the bloodstains 250 00:11:54,104 --> 00:11:59,327 and on the semen stains were just ABO blood testing. 251 00:11:59,370 --> 00:12:02,983 Though not nearly as accurate as DNA testing, 252 00:12:03,026 --> 00:12:05,855 ABO blood typing was very effective 253 00:12:05,899 --> 00:12:08,640 at eliminating potential suspects. 254 00:12:08,684 --> 00:12:10,773 Everybody has a blood type, 255 00:12:10,817 --> 00:12:13,471 type A, type B, type AB, or type O. 256 00:12:13,515 --> 00:12:16,561 You could eliminate someone if you found out 257 00:12:16,605 --> 00:12:21,741 that a bloodstain was type B and your suspect was type A. 258 00:12:21,784 --> 00:12:24,352 Well, then you knew they didn't leave that bloodstain. 259 00:12:24,395 --> 00:12:27,442 And that's what happened with Kevin Fontenot. 260 00:12:27,485 --> 00:12:31,098 His blood type made it clear he was not Tammy's killer. 261 00:12:31,141 --> 00:12:35,624 He went from suspect number one to distraught ex-boyfriend. 262 00:12:35,667 --> 00:12:38,409 After that, then we were lost, you know? 263 00:12:38,453 --> 00:12:40,455 We didn't know where to go from there. 264 00:12:41,630 --> 00:12:44,154 Detectives were in the same quandary. 265 00:12:44,198 --> 00:12:48,506 The local community was still on the case and tips kept coming. 266 00:12:48,550 --> 00:12:52,119 A trucker had what looked like solid information. 267 00:12:52,162 --> 00:12:54,164 He's going to work at this particular time, 268 00:12:54,208 --> 00:12:58,821 around 11:00 p.m., and he sees a white female 269 00:12:58,865 --> 00:13:00,518 that he describes on a pay phone 270 00:13:00,562 --> 00:13:05,001 and a Ford Gran Torino-type of vehicle pull up, 271 00:13:05,045 --> 00:13:07,874 and a black male, what he describes, 272 00:13:07,917 --> 00:13:10,485 gets out of the vehicle and approaches the female 273 00:13:10,528 --> 00:13:12,400 that he sees on the phone. 274 00:13:12,443 --> 00:13:14,663 But this trucker said he didn't see 275 00:13:14,706 --> 00:13:16,447 any sort of altercation. 276 00:13:16,491 --> 00:13:21,017 Still, hairs, apparently from someone of African descent, 277 00:13:21,061 --> 00:13:23,803 were found among the debris at the crime scene, 278 00:13:23,846 --> 00:13:26,501 and one was on Tammy's body. 279 00:13:26,544 --> 00:13:28,633 A green shirt, not Tammy's, 280 00:13:28,677 --> 00:13:32,072 with some small bloodstains was also near the body. 281 00:13:32,115 --> 00:13:34,291 There was no telling, at this time, 282 00:13:34,335 --> 00:13:36,728 if these items were connected to her murder. 283 00:13:36,772 --> 00:13:40,123 In 1990, DNA was in its infancy, 284 00:13:40,167 --> 00:13:42,517 so it was much different then, but we tried to make sure 285 00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:47,957 that we kept the evidence up to date with technology. 286 00:13:48,001 --> 00:13:50,351 The case started to go cold. 287 00:13:52,570 --> 00:13:54,485 But, years later, 288 00:13:54,529 --> 00:13:57,401 news emerged about a serial rapist killer 289 00:13:57,445 --> 00:13:59,882 preying upon women in Ascension Parish 290 00:13:59,926 --> 00:14:01,666 and the area beyond. 291 00:14:01,710 --> 00:14:05,148 We heard about this guy in Baton Rouge 292 00:14:05,192 --> 00:14:07,194 that was a serial killer. 293 00:14:07,237 --> 00:14:11,938 We did, and we was like, "Was that a possibility?" 294 00:14:11,981 --> 00:14:15,593 Yeah, we really thought it could have been. 295 00:14:15,637 --> 00:14:17,726 Investigators agreed. 296 00:14:17,769 --> 00:14:19,859 The question was whether the evidence 297 00:14:19,902 --> 00:14:22,252 could help them make the connection. 298 00:14:22,296 --> 00:14:24,211 We always had an eye to the future 299 00:14:24,254 --> 00:14:27,562 so we always kept everything frozen. 300 00:14:27,605 --> 00:14:31,218 We just made sure that we had the samples stored properly 301 00:14:31,261 --> 00:14:35,744 for when there was more advanced testing that could be done. 302 00:14:48,452 --> 00:14:51,238 In 2002, a serial rapist murderer 303 00:14:51,281 --> 00:14:54,415 was preying on women in the Baton Rouge area. 304 00:14:54,458 --> 00:14:56,504 Some speculated that Tammy Bowers 305 00:14:56,547 --> 00:14:59,376 may have fallen victim to this man. 306 00:14:59,420 --> 00:15:02,075 It wasn't just crimes that were happening in 2002 307 00:15:02,118 --> 00:15:05,817 because serial killers just don't start right then, 308 00:15:05,861 --> 00:15:08,995 you know, in that time period, so you start going backwards. 309 00:15:09,038 --> 00:15:12,433 By this time, a single male DNA profile 310 00:15:12,476 --> 00:15:14,565 had been generated from fluids 311 00:15:14,609 --> 00:15:17,003 left at Tammy Bowers' crime scene. 312 00:15:17,046 --> 00:15:19,962 Investigators hoped this might match DNA 313 00:15:20,006 --> 00:15:22,791 from their string of serial rape murders. 314 00:15:22,834 --> 00:15:24,967 But this evidence went nowhere. 315 00:15:25,011 --> 00:15:28,492 Still, Tammy's family kept pushing. 316 00:15:28,536 --> 00:15:32,757 As the years passed, we started losing little hope 317 00:15:32,801 --> 00:15:34,455 they might find somebody, 318 00:15:34,498 --> 00:15:38,459 but, uh, I stayed in touch with the detectives. 319 00:15:38,502 --> 00:15:40,635 I called them constantly. 320 00:15:41,853 --> 00:15:43,464 The CODIS DNA database 321 00:15:43,507 --> 00:15:45,857 was just being created at this time, 322 00:15:45,901 --> 00:15:47,947 and no hits were generated. 323 00:15:47,990 --> 00:15:52,603 But CODIS never sleeps, and it gets bigger every day. 324 00:15:52,647 --> 00:15:55,824 In 2006, detectives on the Bowers case 325 00:15:55,867 --> 00:15:59,784 got the call they'd been waiting for for years. 326 00:15:59,828 --> 00:16:01,438 I'm sitting in my office, 327 00:16:01,482 --> 00:16:03,788 and Mike Toney, one of our detectives, 328 00:16:03,832 --> 00:16:06,530 walked in and said, "We got a hit. 329 00:16:06,574 --> 00:16:09,446 We know who killed Tammy Bowers." 330 00:16:09,490 --> 00:16:11,579 And it was, you know-- it was like, 331 00:16:11,622 --> 00:16:13,233 "Wow, all this time." 332 00:16:13,276 --> 00:16:15,800 Well, the next thing, we've got to tell Mom and Dad, 333 00:16:15,844 --> 00:16:19,326 let them know that we know who killed your daughter. 334 00:16:23,417 --> 00:16:27,029 DNA from the scene matched Herman Frazier, 335 00:16:27,073 --> 00:16:29,292 a 39-year-old from Ascension Parish, 336 00:16:29,336 --> 00:16:32,600 with nearly 20 arrests on his record. 337 00:16:32,643 --> 00:16:34,950 At first, Frazier refused to say 338 00:16:34,994 --> 00:16:37,822 if he had any involvement in the Bowers murder. 339 00:16:37,866 --> 00:16:41,348 But at his trial, he had an abrupt change of heart. 340 00:16:41,391 --> 00:16:43,306 He chose to plead guilty. 341 00:16:43,350 --> 00:16:45,700 Maybe he wanted to tell his story for a long time, 342 00:16:45,743 --> 00:16:48,920 but just never had a day to do it, 343 00:16:48,964 --> 00:16:51,358 and now this day had come. 344 00:16:51,401 --> 00:16:54,535 Frazier had a surprise for prosecutors. 345 00:16:54,578 --> 00:16:57,190 He now claimed he had a partner in crime. 346 00:16:57,233 --> 00:16:59,888 His story was that, on the night of Tammy's murder, 347 00:16:59,931 --> 00:17:02,369 he'd been hanging out with a local career criminal 348 00:17:02,412 --> 00:17:04,675 named Tolbert Morris, 349 00:17:04,719 --> 00:17:08,070 and that Morris instigated Tammy's rape and murder. 350 00:17:08,114 --> 00:17:10,594 Prosecutors were skeptical. 351 00:17:10,638 --> 00:17:15,599 In any confession, there might be 90% truth or 75% truth, 352 00:17:15,643 --> 00:17:18,298 and most people will try to minimize 353 00:17:18,341 --> 00:17:19,647 their involvement a little bit. 354 00:17:19,690 --> 00:17:22,215 Tolbert Morris, 355 00:17:22,258 --> 00:17:24,521 54 years old with a long rap sheet, 356 00:17:24,565 --> 00:17:26,784 denied any involvement, 357 00:17:26,828 --> 00:17:30,179 and his DNA was not on Tammy's body. 358 00:17:31,702 --> 00:17:34,357 Analysts turned back to the green shirt 359 00:17:34,401 --> 00:17:36,577 found at the crime scene. 360 00:17:36,620 --> 00:17:39,275 Bloodstains on that shirt had her DNA, 361 00:17:39,319 --> 00:17:42,626 so it was definitely connected to the crime, 362 00:17:42,670 --> 00:17:46,761 and also to a so-far unidentified man. 363 00:17:46,804 --> 00:17:51,113 One of the stains showed a little bit of male DNA in it. 364 00:17:51,157 --> 00:17:53,115 There was a mixture of males 365 00:17:53,159 --> 00:17:56,945 and Herman Frazier was eliminated. 366 00:17:56,988 --> 00:18:00,427 He was excluded from that mixture. 367 00:18:00,470 --> 00:18:04,126 Analysts compared this profile, 368 00:18:04,170 --> 00:18:06,563 a Y-STR profile, 369 00:18:06,607 --> 00:18:10,219 which refers to the Y chromosome in male DNA 370 00:18:10,263 --> 00:18:12,743 to Tolbert Morris' DNA. 371 00:18:12,787 --> 00:18:16,399 It was a match, but not a perfect one. 372 00:18:16,443 --> 00:18:21,535 The statistical result was that 99.96% 373 00:18:21,578 --> 00:18:25,147 of male population would be excluded 374 00:18:25,191 --> 00:18:28,977 as a possible source of this Y-STR profile. 375 00:18:29,020 --> 00:18:31,545 Years earlier, hairs found at the crime scene 376 00:18:31,588 --> 00:18:33,242 were put in storage. 377 00:18:33,286 --> 00:18:36,071 A profile of mitochondrial DNA, 378 00:18:36,115 --> 00:18:39,379 DNA that's passed directly from mother to child, 379 00:18:39,422 --> 00:18:41,294 was all that could be generated. 380 00:18:41,337 --> 00:18:46,037 This profile was also consistent with Tolbert Morris' DNA. 381 00:18:46,081 --> 00:18:49,171 The presence of two sources of his DNA 382 00:18:49,215 --> 00:18:51,347 was irrefutable evidence. 383 00:18:51,391 --> 00:18:53,871 It put Tolbert Morris at the scene 384 00:18:53,915 --> 00:18:57,832 and corroborated Herman Frazier's story. 385 00:18:57,875 --> 00:19:01,792 We got a DNA hit. It's an absolute lock of a case. 386 00:19:01,836 --> 00:19:06,449 I can't really put into words but relieving, 387 00:19:06,493 --> 00:19:08,669 that we finally get some closure. 388 00:19:10,279 --> 00:19:14,501 It was really, really relieving. 389 00:19:16,198 --> 00:19:17,852 Frazier said he and Morris 390 00:19:17,895 --> 00:19:20,463 had been driving around drinking. 391 00:19:20,507 --> 00:19:22,509 Morris saw Tammy on the phone, 392 00:19:22,552 --> 00:19:24,380 realized there was no one nearby, 393 00:19:24,424 --> 00:19:26,295 and acted on impulse. 394 00:19:26,339 --> 00:19:28,515 Tammy was bundled into the car, 395 00:19:28,558 --> 00:19:32,258 driven to the edge of town, assaulted, and murdered. 396 00:19:32,301 --> 00:19:34,390 It was a horrifying story. 397 00:19:34,434 --> 00:19:38,873 Tammy Bowers was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. 398 00:19:38,916 --> 00:19:44,487 Every night since it happened, 399 00:19:44,531 --> 00:19:46,881 I go to bed and I think, 400 00:19:46,924 --> 00:19:51,146 "Oh, my God, that poor, poor baby," 401 00:19:51,190 --> 00:19:55,237 and I will, for the rest of my life, 402 00:19:55,281 --> 00:19:56,934 think about that. 403 00:19:56,978 --> 00:20:01,896 Every night I think about what she went through 404 00:20:01,939 --> 00:20:04,594 and what they did to her. 405 00:20:04,638 --> 00:20:06,727 In October of 2012, 406 00:20:06,770 --> 00:20:09,512 Tolbert Morris was given two life sentences, 407 00:20:09,556 --> 00:20:11,210 one for aggravated rape 408 00:20:11,253 --> 00:20:13,429 and one for second-degree murder, 409 00:20:13,473 --> 00:20:16,911 and had an additional 30 years tacked on to his sentence 410 00:20:16,954 --> 00:20:18,391 for kidnapping. 411 00:20:18,434 --> 00:20:21,611 Herman Frazier got 50 years without parole. 412 00:20:21,655 --> 00:20:25,572 A senseless murder solved by the good sense of detectives 413 00:20:25,615 --> 00:20:29,706 who saved nearly everything connected to the crime. 414 00:20:29,750 --> 00:20:32,013 With good, hard work and technology 415 00:20:32,056 --> 00:20:34,407 and the advancement of forensics and all, 416 00:20:34,450 --> 00:20:37,105 you would always be hopeful that, 417 00:20:37,148 --> 00:20:40,543 with the help from a greater power, 418 00:20:40,587 --> 00:20:42,328 that it can get solved. 419 00:20:42,371 --> 00:20:46,288 The detectives, they stayed on this case. 420 00:20:46,332 --> 00:20:50,640 They were determined, and any time anything come up, 421 00:20:50,684 --> 00:20:53,817 they were pursuing it, so... 422 00:20:53,861 --> 00:20:57,952 thank God for them, and thank God for DNA.