A missing student and a door left unlocked | Forensic Files

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in 2003 seventeen-year-old Britney Phillips was thrilled when she received a full
scholarship to study chemistry at Eckerd College in st. Petersburg a coastal city
in florida's tampa bay region her mother dr. Maggie Sigmund had attended the same
College in the 1970s and excitedly helped her daughter prepare for the interstate move from their hometown of
Tulsa Oklahoma [Music] Britany was inspired to study chemistry after losing her grandmother to cancer
during her senior year of high school and had decided to dedicate her life to finding a cure for the disease she left
for college in August of 2003 and threw herself wholeheartedly into her studies Brittany was a friendly and trusting
young woman who had no problem settling into her new surroundings she succeeded academically made new friends and too
took a part-time job waitressing at a popular seafood restaurant however as she neared the end of her first year at
Eckerd College Brittany became increasingly homesick she was a year younger than her classmates having
started kindergarten a year ahead of schedule and she found it difficult to be away from her loved ones she decided
to withdraw from Eckerd College and returned to Tulsa to continue her studies closer to home Brittany's mother
Maggie and older brother Joshua supported this decision wholeheartedly they were a close-knit trio with the
mother and daughter speaking on the phone nearly every day Maggie was always Brittany's first point of contact
whenever she was struggling or needed advice and she was relieved that Brittany was returning to the comfort of
Tulsa as a concerned mother she had been worried about Brittany's safety while she was studying interstate not only was
Brittany younger than her classmates but she had a particularly youthful appearance and a trusting nature that
Maggie feared could make her especially vulnerable in May 2004 18 year old Brittany returned to Oklahoma and
enrolled in Tulsa Community College her plan was to obtain the relevant transfer
grades that would allow her to study chemistry at Oklahoma State University after perusing local apartment listings
she found a suitable one-bedroom apartment in a large housing complex called Gleneagles
which was located at 9407 East 65th Street in Tulsa Gleneagles housed the multiple blocks of one and two-story
apartment buildings interspersed with car parking facilities and was home to many other students at Tulsa Community
College as well as working couples and young families it was within walking distance of Union High School where
Brittany had graduated from just over a year prior which pleased her as she was already familiar with the area Brittany
and Maggie inspected apartment number three two one six in the thirty second building all up the building had sixteen
apartments across two levels with aid on the bottom storey and eight on the top depending on the location of each
apartment access could be gained via either a front or rear entry apartment three two one six was situated
on the top floor at the end of the building meaning there were only adjoining neighbors to one side the
interior was small and a little dated but it had everything Brittany would have need for life as a busy student
including a kitchen small dining area living room and bathroom the bedroom even featured a walk-in wardrobe and
floor-to-ceiling bay windows that opened onto a small balcony the front door which was accessible from the rear of
the building had a small dent in it but the landlord assured Brittany that would
have it repaired and the rest of the apartment appeared to be in good condition being a safety conscious
mother Maggie researched the area online and found that the crime rate there was
lower than the state average she also ran a check for sexual predators in the neighborhood concluding that it would be
a safe and convenient place to live Brittany hinted over her deposit and signed the lease
[Music] [Music] Britany quickly settled back into life in tulsa she attended classes at college
16 hours a week and secured a part-time job as a waitress at a nearby Applebee's
restaurant it didn't take long for her to make friends and she soon became close with a group of female students
who took turns hosting study groups at their respective homes Brittany warmly welcomed her friends and
their partners to her apartment and enjoyed playing the role of host every weekend she made the two-hour round trip
to visit her mother Maggie at her home in the small Oklahoma town of Chandler where Maggie worked as a psychologist
and counselor at a maximum-security women's prison in Tulsa Brittany soon began dating ever since
she was little Maggie had a nickname her pretty-pretty on account of her long curly blonde hair wide eyes and
Infectious dimpled smile she was 5 foot 2 inches tall with a petite frame and fresh-faced and her natural beauty had
landed her some occasional modelling work the combination of her good looks and kind nature ensured Brittany was
never short of admirers as she was the type of person who didn't like turning anyone down
Brittany attracted a fair share of undesirable boyfriends some of whom were physically and verbally abusive towards
her at one stage she went on a date with the security guard who she described to
her mother as creepy and strange despite saying she didn't want to see him again the security guard continued
pursuing Brittany until she eventually had to block his number Maggie was relieved when Brittany
started dating a nice young man whom she brought to Chandler for a visit on the afternoon of Monday September 27 2004
Brittany was suffering from seasonal allergies that caused her to feel unwell and irritable this was an ongoing health
issue and she went to the urgent care Medical Center where she sat in the waiting room for several hours before
leaving without seeing a doctor frustrated she called her mother for advice Maggie told her not to worry and
that she would book an appointment for Brittany to see a doctor in Chandler when she came to visit on the weekend
Brittany agreed telling her mother she had an evening class to attend and would then go straight home to bed the pair
ended the call as they always did telling each other I love you Brittany then drove to pick up a friend for their
class at Tulsa Community College's south campus on the way into the class she ran
into her brother Joshua who was also studying at the campus and the two had a brief conversation after class at
approximately 9:45 p.m. Brittany dropped her friend home and - then drove the short distance back to her apartment the
next day of Tuesday September 28th Brittany didn't show up to her scheduled classes her friends noted this as highly
unusual as she was a dedicated and punctual student but they assumed she must still
be feeling unwell that same day Maggie tried to call Brittany but her phone rang out and
eventually went to voicemail Maggie left a message asking her daughter to return
her call on Wednesday September 29 Brittany was once again absent from her classes and still hadn't returned
Maggie's call Maggie phoned again and - left another voicemail although it was unusual for the mother and daughter to
go a few days without speaking it did occasionally happen so Maggie tried to reassure herself that Brittany was
likely just busy and would return the call in due course when Brittany still hadn't
shown up to any of her classes by Thursday September 30 her friends began to worry
at 9:00 p.m. that evening Maggie called Britney but for the third time in as many days the call went unanswered she
left a third voicemail this time asking Britney to call her back immediately as she was starting to become very
concerned Britney's friend Emma not her real name decided to check on Britney herself
Anna's father was a district attorney with a background as a police officer so she called him as she made her way up
the stairs to Britney's apartment and explained the situation when Emma reached the front door she knocked but
there was no response she tried the door handle and was surprised to find that it
was unlocked she pushed it open a crack but her father who was still on the phone warned her against going inside
instead he offered to send a police officer around to perform a wellness check the dispatch officers arrived at
the apartment just before 10:00 p.m. inside the bedroom alongside the bed-leg van to Brittany's lifeless body lying on
the floor facing away from the bed head it was immediately obvious that her death was the result of a homicide with
marks on her neck indicating she had been strangled she was wearing a sleeveless top and underwear but it
appeared as though she may have been redressed into this outfit investigators were dispatched to the apartment while a
crime scene was quickly established and Brittany's body was transported to the medical examiner's office for further
investigation in the early morning hours of Friday October 1 an officer from the
Chandler County Sheriff's Department was sent to Maggie's home to deliver the news when she opened to the door the
officer told her bluntly you need to call the Tulsa Police your daughter has been murdered assuming
the authorities must have Britney confused with someone else Maggie got straight into her car and
drove the 65 miles southeast to Tulsa when she arrived at the Gleneagles complex she found Britney's apartment
filled with police officers an officer advised that Britney was deceased and had been identified using the photo on
her driver's license devastated and in shock Maggie left for the medical examiner's office in the hope of being
able to see her daughter one last time [Music] Tulsa homicide detective Jeff Felton and
a team of local officers were assigned to Brittany's case they scoured her apartment and quickly uncovered a wealth
of forensic evidence alongside the location where Brittany's body had been found there lay a small tower that
looked like it had been used by the killer in an attempt to clean up a pale purple pillowcase was also nearby and
quickly attracted the detectives attention as it didn't match any of the other bed linen in the apartment this
indicated it may have been brought there by the assailant what appeared to be a urine stain was found on the bed sheet
and a miniscule speck of blood was found on the wall leading out of the bedroom the towel pillowcase and sheet were
taken into evidence for further testing in the bedroom in the living room all of
the flyscreens had been removed from the windows amounting to four screens in total each of these were dusted for
fingerprints marks on the bedroom wall indicated that Brittany had put up a struggle in the
attack but aside from this everything in the apartment appeared to be in place and it didn't look like anything had
been stolen there were no signs of forced entry which led police to consider that Brittany may have known
her attacker and willingly let them inside they speculated that after the murder the killer may have then removed
the fly's brains to make it look like someone had broken in to conduct a random attack alternatively they may
have accessed to the apartment from another entry point perhaps even lying in wait for her to return home it was
presumed that after the attack the assailant had left via the front door which explained why it was unlocked when
Brittany's friend came upon the scene at the medical examiner's office a post-mortem revealed Brittany had been
killed sometime between arriving home at 9:45 p.m. on Monday September 27 and 8 o'clock the next morning of Tuesday
September 28th this meant she had laid deceased in her apartment for approximately three days before being
found the faint outline of thumb prints were detected around her neck indicating the
killer had likely strangled her using their bare hands a rape kit determined that Brittany had been sexually
assaulted but there were insufficient amounts of semen to extract a DNA profile it appeared as though the rape
had taken place after she had been rendered unconscious but small traces of blood found beneath her fingernails
indicated she had fought her attacker until the very end unfortunately investigators were unable to extract the
DNA profile from the blood under her nails Maggie wasn't allowed to see Brittany at the medical examiner's
office and had to wait until she was ready for burial her body and face had been covered by a thin towel and Maggie
was advised not to look underneath instead she gently stroked Brittany's hair and said a final goodbye the same
way she had always fair world her daughter by tracing a fingertip down her covered forehead to the end of her nose
on Monday October 4 Brittany's funeral was held at the Temple Israel in Tulsa on what would have been her 19th
birthday afterwards her loved ones proceeded to the Rose Hill Cemetery to lay her to rest
Brittany's obituary lovingly penned by Maggie read a gift has been taken back on October 4 1985 your bright eyes
opened to the world and on this day 19 years later your eyes closed for the last time my little girl with long
blonde curls you were taken too soon your youth and aged wisdom and now locked inside you were the smiling
spinning dancing pony princess you were the young woman who wanted to research ways to heal you love the deeper than
many and hurt twice as hard you touched all that ever met you we all will ache with your loss for
there was so much you had to give my little pretty pretty one last time I say remember my smile and kisses my arms
wrapped tightly around you keeping you safe inside in this way I hold you forever as Brittany's loved ones mourned
her sudden and tragic loss detective Felton and his team worked tirelessly on the case Brittany's death was the 38th
homicide in Tulsa that year but one of the few that involved sexual assault and the pressure was on for police to make a
quick arrest the amount of forensic evidence left at the scene gave them hope that the case
would be solved quickly but the fingerprints that had been detected on the window screens were incomplete and
couldn't be matched to a suspect however it was determined that the speck of blood found on the wall leading out of
Britney's bedroom had to come from an unknown person and forensic experts were able to use it to establish a DNA
profile relieved that this news Maggie thought that it wouldn't be long before her daughter's killer
was in prison she told a reporter from Tulsa World News that once he was caught she wanted the perpetrator to spend the
rest of his life behind a bars as death would be an easy way out she said quote I am hoping they find this person
although I know it will not bring pretty back working on the theory that Brittany
knew her killer police obtained mouth swabs from her friends family and neighbors as well as maintenance workers
from the Gleneagles complex who may have had access to her apartment the young man she had recently started dating was
also tested and questioned H DNA sample was compared against the suspects profile but no matches were found
the DNA search was extended to Brittany's classmates at both Tulsa Community College and Deckard College as
well as acquaintances who had contact with Brittany in the past not a single match was made leading investigators to
extend the testing to local persons of interest with a history of sexual assault and violent crimes Maggie told
police about that date Brittany had been on with the security guard that had left
her feeling uneasy in tents the security guard was tracked down but refused to give a DNA sample police obtained a
court order that required him to comply however his DNA wasn't a match to the suspects and with no other evidence to
link him to the case he was ruled out of the investigation the suspects DNA was entered into CODIS the national database
used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to store and analyze DNA at the time of Brittany's murder CODIS
contained more than 2 million offender profiles but none matched the killer's sample nevertheless investigators were
hopeful that a hit may be generated in the future the Tulsa Police Department developed a behavioral profile
introduced that the killer may have worked in the public service sector and regularly traveled the i-35 I 44 or
right Oddie highways for work as these provided cross-country access he was the type of person who likely stayed up late
and often went out during odd hours of the night he found it difficult to control his emotions and elect to
inflict pain on others or himself both in everyday life and sexually while he may have previously been out
going since Brittany's murder he had to likely become quiet and closed off from family and friends
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tenants within the Gleneagles complex one of the most pressing questions for detectives was how the killer managed to
gain access to Brittany's apartment undetected no witnesses had reported any suspicious activity nor seeing anyone
lurking around to the building or attempting to break in likewise no one had been seen leaving the apartment in
the early morning hours of Tuesday September 28th during a search of Brittany's residence one officer noticed
that the ceiling in the walk-in wardrobe contained an access point to the Attic sliding the manhole cover aside he
hoisted himself into the attic and realized that the upstairs space was shared by four apartments on the top
floor of the complex theoretically this meant that Brittany's killer could have accessed the Attic via any of the other
three top floor apartments and then lowered himself into her apartment via the manhole in her wardrobe lying in
wait for her to return this theory would explain why there were no signs of forced entry and why no one was seen
breaking into the apartment another possibility was that Brittany's attacker had managed to hoist themselves up to
the bedroom balcony and to then entered via the bay windows although it would have been an awkward maneuver it would
be possible if they were of tall stature however gaining entry in this fashion would have required the bay windows to
have been left unlocked which was unlikely given that brittany was a very safety-conscious additionally it
wouldn't have been an easy feat for the attacker to climb onto the balcony without drawing attention another lead
emerged when the police learned that the previous tenants in Brittany's apartment
were involved in drug dealing the dent that had been in her front door when she moved in had been caused to
during one of the frequent altercations that occurred whilst the dealers were living there in one instance gang
members had also broken into the apartment investigators considered the possibility that the gang members
returned to retaliate against the previous tenants only to find Britney there instead this line of inquiry was
explored but police soon concluded that the previous incidents at the apartment weren't related to Brittany's murder in
any way as the weeks passed by no suspects or major leads were identified in the early stages of the investigation
the DNA of over 1,000 individuals was tested against the perpetrators with no successful matches what police initially
thought would be a quick investigation with a swift arrest was turning out to be a complete mystery
locals were outraged by Brittany's murder and at the time that was taking to solve the case Tulsa crime reporter
Lori Fullbright recounted that in all her years on the job that was rare that an innocent 18 year old who wasn't
involved in any high-risk behavior such as drug dealing or sex work had been murdered so callously a couple of months
into the investigation forensic experts examined the bedsheet taken from Brittany's apartment and discovered that
what was initially thought to be a urine stain was in fact semen a DNA sample was
extracted revealing that the DNA from the semen sample was a match to the DNA from the blood sample on the wall this
gave investigators an even stronger profile for the suspect in order to keep the case in the spotlight Brittany's
mother Maggie conducted interviews with as many media outlets as possible she contacted various national crime shows
such as Amer his Most Wanted and the investigation Discovery Channel in an attempt to have
Brittany's story shared but her requests were continuously rejected one popular television program told Maggie that her
daughter's death was too boring a story to turn into an episode and that it simply didn't have enough of a hook to
cover the police continued to question those close to Brittany and obtain DNA swabs from individuals with even a loose
Association to her but no new leads emerged and no matches were identified with no information to
go on the case soon went cold as the months continued to pass with no new leads Maggie reached out to the Carroll son to
Carrington memorial reward foundation for assistance the foundation was established by the parents of Carole
sands who was murdered along with her teenage daughter Julie son and their traveling companion silvina Palazzo near
Yosemite National Park in California in 1999 it aimed to provide financial rewards to assist law enforcement in
locating missing people and bringing violent criminals to justice the foundation agreed to help Maggie and
offered a $5,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of Britney's killer within a
six month time frame the Crime Commission also added $1,000 to the reward pool on August 16 2005 a press
conference was held to announce the reward money during which Maggie said quote when we have children for the
first few minutes after they are born we think what if what if but it is too hard to think about
something happening to them she made an impassioned plea for anyone with information to put themselves in
her shoes and to not to hesitate to contact the police the announcement of the reward money generated a few new tip
offs but none provided any useful leads and the one-year anniversary of Brittany's murder came and went with no
developments in the case in February of 2006 Maggi reached out to an outdoor advertising company who agreed to
feature Brittany on one of their billboards to maximise public awareness the billboards would be relocated to
different high-traffic areas around Tulsa every three months for a 12-month period the Billboard featured a photo of
Britney along with the heading a murderer remains on the streets of Tulsa and a number decor with information it
was initially erected on the corner of the I 244 Expressway and a Utica Avenue a busy stretch of road in Tulsa hopeful
that the billboard would generate new leads the Carroll sunder Carrington memorial reward foundation agreed to
extend the time frame within which the $5,000 reward money could be claimed Maggie was cautiously optimistic but
once again the days turned into months without any promising leads in September 2007 as the third anniversary of
Brittany's death was approaching the pale purple pillowcase found at the crime scene was displayed to the public
at a local news conference although Brittany's was the only DNA detected on the pillowcase Detective Belton
explained that the killer may have taken the item to her apartment as a makeshift
bag and had accidentally left it behind he said he had been hesitant to release the description of the pillowcase
earlier in case it prompted the killer to throw out any matching linen therefore destroying evidence nearly
three years on he urged the public to think back to September 2004 and to recall if they had a boyfriend or
roommate who was missing an unbranded pale purple pillowcase that had some light bleach staining at one end this
announcement generated no new leads prompting police to consider whether the pillowcase may have belonged to Brittany
after all when the three year anniversary came and went with no breakthroughs maggie's stood on the
street near Brittany's apartment handing out flyers in an attempt to raise awareness about her daughter's case she
was frustrated by the constant disinterest of national media outlets and had decided to publicize Brittany's
case herself in October of 2007 Maggie had her toyota rap or SUV professionally painted in Brittany's favorite colors
pink and purple with images of butterflies dancing through swirls of color printed in bold capitalized font
along the driver's side of the car were the words caravan to catch a killer next to several images of Brittany
inside the car Maggie set up framed photos of Brittany alongside some of her favorite childhood
toys although she barely had enough money to support herself Maggie set off across the Northeast USA
in her eye catching SUV for three weeks she traveled through small towns stopping wherever she could to tell
Brittany story and successfully attracted attention from local media upon her return home and to work Maggie
said about saving enough money to two of her caravan to catch a killer through the southeastern states
at the time of Brittany's murder just 15 states in the USA took the DNA samples from offenders upon their arrest the
remaining 35 states including Oklahoma only took DNA samples at the time of conviction this allowed too many sex
offenders to slip through the cracks as some victims retracted their statements or failed to testify before a conviction
could be made often due to shame and fear of retribution Maggie believed that if DNA samples were
required to be taken from offenders at the time of arrest Brittany's killer would have been
identified right away she began working in close contact with legislators and police to campaign for
the laws to be changed in Oklahoma telling the Tulsa world a newspaper quote we can't bring Brittany back but I
am going to use her name and her story to change these laws so maybe this does not happen to someone else
in response civil rights advocates argued that obtaining DNA upon arrest was an unconstitutional breach of
privacy rights another problem when it came to identifying the killer's DNA was that a
huge backlog of DNA samples collected from rape test kits were yet to be analyzed than to added to the CODIS
database this was a nationwide problem as funding cuts meant more pressing issues took precedence in Oklahoma alone
thousands of DNA samples taken from rape victims were still untested with some dating back as far as a decade there
were no laws requiring that testing be done or that untested samples were kept which led to a large number of rape test
kits being discarded by law enforcement agencies in April of 2008 Maggi embarked on her
second Caravan to catch a killer tour with Brittany's pink cowboy hat riding alongside on the
passenger seat she traveled a total of 4,200 miles throughout America's southeast giving 17 News interviews
across nine states while also campaigning for Oklahoma's DNA testing laws to be changed
Maggie was overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers who were willing to listen to her story with son they've been
donating money for fuel so she could continue her journey she also met other parents whose children had been murdered
and began building up a support network for families to share stories of their loved ones
Maggie spent the next few years setting out across the country on more Caravan to catch a killer tours whenever time
and finances are loud in 2011 lawmakers concluded that collecting DNA from a suspect who was not a convicted felon
went against the Fourth Amendment rights of unlawful search and seizure they also
believed it contradicted the fundamental constitutional right of the presumption
of innocence until proven guilty disappointed by the outcome but undeterred Maggie
pressed on the following year the Supreme Court determined that collecting DNA upon arrest was not an invasion of
privacy and had nothing to do with being innocent until proven guilty as DNA was
nothing more than a forensic tool akin to collecting fingerprints following this more states across the country
started passing laws that required DNA to be collected from suspects at the time of arrest for certain crimes
by 2014 as the 10-year anniversary of Brittany's death past Maggie wrapped up her twelfth Caravan to catch
a killer tour and was more determined than ever to stop the case from going cold in May 2016 thanks in part to
Maggie's tireless campaigning Oklahoma became the 29th state to sign a bill that required DNA to be collected at the
time of arrest for suspects of rape and certain violent crimes as the votes were
read aloud the Senators gave Maggie a standing ovation during a subsequent interview with Fox 23 news at Brittany's
gravesite Maggie said quote people tell me on brave or people tell me but I could never do this but I have no choice
I sort of feared that if we find her killer we're going to find out that he was arrested numerous times that he came
through the system and that because we didn't take the DNA then that he was out there doing it again she said she hoped
the new laws would enable perpetrators to be captured quickly before they had the chance to commit further crimes an
investigator from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations DNA lab said that if the law had been passed two
years prior 14 murders and 25 sex crimes could have been prevented she told Fox 23 news quote we're talking
about bat crimes murder assault child sexual assault child physical assault obtaining DNA upon arrest casts a wider
net where we capture those people maybe when they first offend instead of when they offend the fifth or sixth time
in mid 2017 a state-ordered into the backlog of DNA test kits revealed that the Tulsa Police Department had more
than 3000 untested kits dating back to the early 1990s due to lack of funding the department
concentrated on testing the more recent kits first as there was a higher chance the perpetrator would be prosecuted and
there weren't enough resources to process the backlog this meant that if Brittany's killer had committed another
sexual crime which police believed was highly likely his DNA could be sitting on a shelf untested
in early 2018 nearly 14 years after Brittany's murder advances in DNA phenotyping technology allowed for an
image of the prime suspect to be generated using the profile obtained from his blood and semen although DNA
phenotyping doesn't provide an exact match it can accurately predict the person's genetic ancestry eye and hair
color complexion face shape and even whether or not the person has freckles although the testing is expensive
Maggie organized for the leading DNA phenotyping laboratory in the country paraben nano labs to create the image in
the hopes that would result in further tips from the public the DNA phenotype revealed that the killer was a Caucasian
male of European ancestry he had a the blond or brown hair and blue or green eyes with a sprinkling of light freckles
over his nose and cheeks upon seeing the image Maggie's first thought was that he
was handsome and someone Britney would have been attracted to the image was circulated via the media and Maggie had
it enlarged and placed on the hood of her Caravan to catch a killer vehicle this way the picture could attract
attention while Maggie wouldn't be forced to look at it every time she got in and out of her car within the first
two days of its release the image generated approximately 200 tips from members of the public who thought they
recognized the man in addition to the phenotype image the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation
employed another unconventional method in Brittany's case a photograph of Brittany along with a brief explanation
of her murder was featured on the second deck of cold-case playing cards released
amongst Oklahoma prisons these decks featured a different cold case on each card with the aim of prompting
discussions between inmates as they played which in turn might result in new information being reported the cards did
generate a few tips from prisoners but investigators were also mindful that inmates may have been hesitant to
discuss Brittany's case given that she had such a youthful appearance and sexually motivated crimes against youth
so generally frowned upon in the prison community Brittany's murder has plagued the city
of Tulsa in 2014 criminologist Melissa Anderson began examining the case for a criminal
justice class she taught at Union High School which both she and Brittany had attended her classes dissected the
details of the case studying everything from the layout of Brittany's apartment to conducting interviews with Maggie and
members of the Tulsa Police Department one student had a relative who resided in the Gleneagles apartment complex
which had since been renamed to the Somerset apartments the layout of his relatives apartment was a mirror image
of Brittany's and to the students soon learned that the shared attic space was still easily accessible via the walk-in
wardrobe this meant that the tenants could still gain access to any of the adjacent apartments through their attic
manhole when the phenotype image became available the students combed through old yearbooks looking for anyone who
carried a resemblance but were unsuccessful in finding a match studying the case hit home for the students who
were struck by the fact that Brittany used to walk down the same hallways as them every day
one student remarked to Tulsa's news on six quote she was like one of us although no new developments have arisen
from their efforts maggie was touched by the amount of energy the students put in
she formed a special bond with Melissa Anderson and many of the class members who would show up to see her off when
she embarked on her caravan to catch a killer tours then welcomed her home when she returned by 2019
Brittany's case was being overseen by the head of Tulsa's cold-case homicide department
detective Eddie majors the alleged the Golden State Killer Joseph D'Angelo who's then unsolved
crimes were covered in episode 53 of case file had been arrested using familial DNA and investigators were
hopeful that the same technique could identify a Britney's killer at para bond nano labs the DNA found at Brittany's
crime scene was run through Jeddah match an online database that connects to other genealogy websites to compare DNA
samples from more than 1 million individuals it wasn't expected they would find an exact match as it was
highly unlikely that the killer would voluntarily submit his DNA to a genealogy site however there was a
chance that might detect the DNA of one of his relatives to help narrow the search to the surprise of investigators
the DNA belonging to the prime suspect in Brittany's murder not only detected a familial link but a direct match around
at the same time someone also recognized the person in the phenotype image and reported their name to police confirming
him to be the same person identified via the genealogy database the individual was quickly apprehended and interrogated
by the Tulsa Police while Maggie was informed that the prime suspect had finally been identified
however after 15 years searching for Brittany's killer using the DNA found at the crime scene as the number one lead
it was determined that the semen sample found on Brittany's bedsheet and to the blood sample found on her wall didn't
belong to the killer at all the DNA had been left behind by the boyfriend of one of Brittany's friends
after she had allowed the couple to sleep in her bed one night considering that his DNA hadn't been on
Brittany's body as no profile could be developed from the sample underneath her fingernails there was nothing to tie
this man to the crime the man was interrogated by police for hours until they were satisfied he
wasn't involved in Brittany's murder he was then free to leave Maggie was devastated with the hopes she had held
for the past 15 years dashed in an instant she told a local news station Katie ul that hearing the news was
nearly as hard as hearing of Brittany's death as it effectively put the investigation back to square one the
phenotype that had narrowed down the physical characteristics of the suspect was no longer valid meaning the
perpetrator could be of any ethnicity or appearance after receiving this significant blow detective majors has
spent countless hours going back through Brittany's case file his reinter viewed
persons of interest who had previously been ruled out on account of their DNA not matching that found at the crime
scene this is no easy task as many of these individuals have since moved from Tulsa and are difficult to track down
adding to this frustration is the fact that despite changes to Oklahoma's law state funding has not yet been allocated
to allow that DNA to be taken from offenders at the time of arrest as of early 2020
this means that DNA is still only being recorded at the time of conviction however DNA profiles continue to be
added to the CODIS database daily which now houses more than 13 million profiles
detective majors believes Brittany's killer likely has three or more other victims none of whom are from the same
location he probably moved around striking in different areas at different times one theory is that the killer was
a truck driver or had another occupation requiring frequent travel and was just traveling through Tulsa at the time of
Brittany's murder even though Maggie was crushed by the loss of the number one lead in the case
she has vowed to continue on her caravan to catch a killer to us until her daughter's murderer is caught and
brought to justice so far she has traveled a total of 240,000 miles across the 48 states of mainland America and
has gone through 20 different vehicles given the cases recent developments maggie intends to revisit the locations
of her earlier tours to keep sharing Brittany's story and educating the public about the advances in DNA
technology she manages a website dedicated to the case Brittany Phillips murder dotnet as well as a Facebook page
that provides any updates as they arise anyone with information about the case is encouraged to contact a Maggie via
her website I remember when I first held Libby in my arms you know the beauty of her sort of
angelic face - you know filled my whole body with love and as she grew up you know she just transformed from this
energetic fearless young little girl to this energetic spirit compassionate empathetic young woman who at times was
still you know like a little girl I mean I can remember a year before she died where she got upset and it was before
she went to school and she just you know sort of crumbled in my arms and you know
when she got upset you'd say mommy instead of mom and you know I just remember holding her in my arms you know
but as a child and as a young lady she became and I feel like both with her beauty because she was very beautiful
and her intelligence you know so much was taken she was you know gonna be a cancer researcher she was going to do so
much and that's no longer here and if anyone has a daughter a child you know hug them every day and if you're filled
you know with empathy from the story please send your ideas to this podcast or to me or to the Tulsa homicide
hotline [Music] [Music] [Music]

Case 146: Brittany Phillips

When Emma reached the front door of Brittany Phillips apartment, she knocked but there was no response...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Writing – Jessica Forsayeth Additional writing and editing – Elsha McGill Creative direction – Milly Raso Production, scoring – Mike Migas and Andrew Joslyn

SOCIAL LINKS

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-146-brittany-phillips

Brief Summary

Brittany Phillips, an 18-year-old student, was murdered in 2004, leading to a long and ongoing investigation by her mother and police.

Key points

Brittany's Tragic Death. Brittany Phillips, a promising young woman, was found murdered in her apartment.
A Mother's Heartbreak. Maggie Sigmund mourns the loss of her daughter Brittany in a heartfelt obituary.
Maggie's Campaign for Justice. Maggie tirelessly campaigned for changes in DNA laws after Brittany's murder.
DNA Phenotyping Breakthrough. Advances in DNA technology lead to a generated image of the prime suspect.
Breakthrough in Brittany's Case. Investigators identify a prime suspect through familial DNA, leading to a shocking twist.
Devastating Revelation. DNA evidence that seemed promising turns out to belong to an innocent party.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

We can't bring Brittany back, but I am going to use her name.

Maggie's plea for justice during a press conference.

39:31WatchJun 13, 2020

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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