A serial killer case with a shocking twist | Forensic Files

[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
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website at around 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday March 26th 1986 12-year-old michella Welch and her two younger
sisters left their home in Tacoma Washington and headed north michella and 11-year-old Angela were both on their
bicycles while 9-year-old Nicole was pulled along behind her elder sister wearing roller skates and holding onto a
skipping rope they tied to Michelle's bike it was a bright sunny day in the middle of spring break and michella was
in charge of her younger sisters while their mother was at work their destination was Puget Park a
pretty public space with a playground grassy nulls and more heavily wooded areas popular with
Walkers the 1.2 acre Park was less than 2 mi from the Welch sisters home and only took them a little over 10 minutes
to get to the three girls played at the park for over an hour before they started to
get hungry they'd made sandwiches at home so they could have a picnic lunch but had
forgotten to pack them michella who was a caring and protective big sister said she'd cycle
back home Angela and Nicole could keep playing and she would be back with their lunch very soon
michella hopped on her bike leaving Angela and Nicole at the park the minutes ticked
by the two girls noticed that their sister was taking a long time to come back longer than they would have
expected by around 12:30 p.m. more than an hour had passed since michella left Angela and Nicole needed to go to
the toilet and couldn't wait any longer so they left the park to use a restroom at a nearby
business while there they also used the phone to call their sister at home no one picked
up Angela and Nicole headed back to the park but still saw no sign of their sister they played for a little while at
a nearby cave before returning to the playground at around 2: p.m. there they noticed
something Michelle's bike was back and secured to a rack close by on a picnic table was a lunch bag that had been
ripped open inside was the food michella had gone home to get there were some sandwiches including
one that was partially eaten and a bag of Easter eggs michella had packed as a special
treat but there was no sign of michella [Music] something about the scene didn't look
right Angela and Nicole called out to their big sister using what the Welches had dubbed their family call
a loud distinctive Yelp designed to catch each other's attention michella didn't return the
call at that moment Angela and Nicole knew that something was wrong they continued looking for their
big sister their hopes momentarily soared when they heard someone calling their names but it turned out to be
their babysitter who'd arrived to help they had phoned her early when they'd gone to the restroom and
explained how michella wasn't with them the babysitter helped look for michella and phoned the girl's mother
Barbara Barbara was at work when she received the call she was shocked to learn of Michelle's unexplained
disappearance michella had called Barbara just a few hours earlier when she'd returned home to fetch the girls
lunches she was asking permission for the three of the to go to puug park and then stay there until Michelle's piano
lesson later that day Barbara had said no as Michelle's lesson wasn't for another 5 hours and
that seemed too long for her daughters to remain at the park unsupervised michella hadn't told her
mother that they had already gone to the park or that Angela and Nicole was still
there waiting for her return Barbara would have later surmise that Michelle who was a responsible and thoughtful
girl must not have wanted her to worry she'd likely assumed that going to the park would have been fine hence why
she'd taken her sisters there first without seeking permission when Barbara returned home
later that day she found that the house was spotless it seemed as though michella
had cleaned it before returning to the park perhaps as a way to soften any anger Barbara might have felt if she'd
discovered what her daughters had been up to terrified Barbara rushed to pujet park and called the
police initially they told her she had to wait 24 hours before reporting her daughter missing but Barbara was adamant
that she needed their help immediately by 3:10 p.m. police officers had descended on puug Park along with
family and friends of the Welches over the following hours police searched the park extensively
accompanied by8 K9 officers dusk arrived and darkness fell and still the search continued at 11:00 p.m. Michelle's
Mother Barbara sat waiting in a nearby police car as one of the police dogs honed in on an isolated location about a
quarter of a mile from the playground a long wooded area dotted with walking trail are buttered the
Eastern side of Puget Park this area was half a mile long and known as The Gulch the dog had been focused on The
Gulch when it headed off a trail and indicated at a spot about 60 yard into the woods where a makeshift fire pit had
been crafted hidden amongst the grassy vegetation was the body of 12-year-old michella
Walch she lay on her back with her arms out stretched either side her hands muddy and tightly clenched she wore a
white shirt and a tan jumper which had been pulled up to expose her upper abdomen there was blood on the
clothing michella was naked from the waist down though she still wore her socks pulled up to her
knees her left sneaker had been pulled off Michelle's pink trousers and her Underpants had been pulled down her body
and were Tangled inside out around one ankle there was no sign of the pink framed ey glasses she had been wearing
earlier the right side of Michelle's head had been fatally struck with the blunt
object her throat was also slit and she had a defensive wound to one hand the suspect's Seaman and pubic hair
were recovered from the scene confirming that michella had been sexually assaulted
as police lifted her body they found a folding pocket knife with a sheath under her right
leg a small length of cord was discovered hanging from a nearby Branch Michelle's coat had also been
draped from a bush it was covered in blood indicating the killer removed it after the
murder when Barbara Leonard was informed that Michelle's body had been found she
went into a State of Shock and had to be taken to the hospital without the police saying
anything else she knew that her daughter had been murdered as she recalled years later in
an interview with the television program dat Line quote you know when you say found a body it's not a person it's
terrible investigators suspected that Michelle had become worried after returning to Puget Park to find her
sisters gone she might have headed Along The Gulch Trail in search of them and had
been attacked by someone there another possibility was that her killer had seen her looking for the
girls and opportunistically told her that he knew where they were he had then lured michella into the
highly isolated fire pit location within the Gulch michella had been found with a
small cut to her cheek which could have been made with a knife her killer might have held the knife to Michelle's face
as a threat while forcing her through The Gulch Michelle's family could think of
no one who would want to harm her detectives took possession of some notebooks that had belonged to the
12-year-old and scoured Michelle's writings and drawings for Clues they found nothing of
significance detec Ives appealed to the public for information although no one had
witnessed Michelle's abduction a 15-year-old skateboarder had almost certainly seen the moments right before
it he'd spotted michella at about 1:30 p.m. walking around as though looking for someone she then headed back to the
picnic table where she'd placed her sister's lunches the 15-year-old left to use the
bathroom and when he returned just just a couple of minutes later michella was gone a number of sightings of suspicious
men trickled in one of Michelle's classmates who'd been at the park that day noticed a man
watching the three Welch sisters the man appeared to be in his mid-20s was short and wore dirty ripped
clothing a teacher who knew michella from school saw the 12-year-old talking to a young man with olive skin and a
dark hair he was pointing down towards The Gulch a short while later a boy heard
what sounded like a girl screaming he'd thought nothing of it as children often screamed while playing at
the park a woman reported seeing a Shifty looking man exiting The Gulch that afternoon the man moved quickly and
appeared to be in a rush to leave the park he was white tall and lean and between 35 and 40 years old with short
dark blonde hair a composite sketch of this individual was made and shared with the
media some local teenagers said they knew of several men who lived in The Gulch and often sat and smoked beneath
the nearby Proctor Street bridge on one occasion one of the men had chased a teen while brandishing an
air pistol an employee of the Metropolitan Park District also came forward to report
that she'd seen a strange man lurking around The Gulch Trail 2 weeks before Michelle's
murder the man had been walking along the trail but each time he saw the employee he ducked away into the heavy
brush that grew next to the path after reaching the end of the trail he turned around and walked back again
another composite sketch was made from this sighting depicting a white man in his 30s or 40s with dark hair parted to
the right and a bushy mustache in the weeks that followed investigators received a numerous calls
and reports from people who recognized the suspect sketches one tip off came from a jogger
who said he had seen the suspect hanging around another Tacoma Park called Point
Defiance Park located about 3.5 Mi Northwest of Puget Park police interrogated every known sex
offender who lived in the area but all were eliminated from the investigation the brutal killing had
terrified Tacoma residents some members of the public began calling for lighting to be
installed in puug park along with a fence to separate The Gulch from the rest of the space
a community group called friends of Tacoma Parks also launched a watch program at Puget Park to improve Public
Safety many of Michelle's classmates were among the 200 mourners who attended her funeral and were driven there in a
yellow school bus michella was remembered as a girl who loved art music and writing she was
a quiet a child who was almost always seen reading a book Michelle's aunt told those
assembled she lived in her stories and drawings now she'll live on in the dreams of magic and
light one of Michelle's friends performed a piano Melody that the two had previously played together as a
jwet in the weeks following Michelle's murder the police investigation stalled as each tip off led to another dead an
a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Michelle's killer went unclaimed weeks turned to months and the
case began to go [Music] cold on Monday August 4 1986 a 13-year-old Tacoma resident named
Jennifer Bastion decided to go for a ride on her brand new champagne colored 18-speed Schwin
bicycle Jennifer who was on her summer break from school was a keen cyclist and was set to participate in an upcoming
long-distance ride on the San Juan Islands as part of her training for this ride she often cycled the 3em journey
from her home to Point Defiance Park a 760 acre space with a zoo a beach an offleash dog park and roughly 400 Acres
of old growth forest the park sits at the North End of Tacoma on the point of the Kida
Peninsular and its 5m drive bike trail was ideal for cycling normally Jennifer trained with a
riding buddy but on that particular day her cycling partner was unavailable Jennifer got permission to
go for a solo ride instead and left a note for her parents letting them know she'd be home by 6:30
p.m. it was 2:30 p.m. when she departed 4 hours later Jennifer's father Ralph noticed that she wasn't yet home
as promised he went out with some neighbors to search the surrounding streets but
there was no sign of his daughter Ralph traveled the route that Jennifer was known to ride to Point
Defiance Park and found no trace of her there either he alerted his wife Patty who
raced home from work to help at 8:30 p.m. the Bastion reported their 13-year-old daughter
missing police immediately took the call seriously it had only been a little over
4 months since 12-year-old michella Welch was murdered now another young girl had
vanished after heading to different Tacoma Parklands that was only 3 mil away from Puget Park
officers immediately set out to look for Jennifer and by 1:00 a.m. two sniffer dogs and their handlers had also joined
in the dogs were given articles of Jennifer's clothing to smell and tracked her from her home to Point Defiance
Park they continued to pick up her scent on the Park 5m Drive Trail but didn't find
Jennifer witness sightings allowed investigators to pinpoint Jennifer's last known locations and movements as
well as confirm what she had been wearing a blue or purple onepiece swimsuit shorts and a white bike helmet
with red stripes between 2:30 and 3:00 p.m. that day a Park employee had seen Jennifer
bike riding near The Point Defiance Park entrance at 4:10 p.m. three boys who knew Jennifer passed by her on 5em
Drive they noticed she was being closely followed by another cyclist a white man
who wore mirrored sunglasses he seemed to Echo Jennifer's movements speeding up and slowing down
whenever she did so Jenifer appeared unaware of the man's strange Behavior several more witnesses had
spotted Jennifer over the next couple of hours with the final sighting taking place at 6:00 p.m.
a woman had seen her riding near what was known as the bowl area of the park over the next 3 days police
officers scoured the area in search of the missing 13-year-old roughly 230 Searchers from
numerous counties assisted meanwhile the Bastian family and their friends stood at the park
entrance handing out missing persons Flyers to passes by Patty Bastion work worked for a
telecommunications company which provided four cell phones to be used by the command center facilitating easier
communication during the search but no trace of Jennifer or the new bike she was so proud of was
[Music] found almost immediately police the public and the media began drawing comparisons to the michella Welch
case both girls had disappeared after riding their bikes to a Tacoma Park they were just one year apart in
age and even looked similar both with blonde hair and blue eyes though michella had long hair while Jennifer
wore hers short a key difference was that michella was found in the park she had been
visiting just hours after disappearing while officers had scoured Point Defiance park for days with no trace of
Jennifer days turned to weeks and there was still no sign of the missing 13-year-old posters alerting people to
Jennifer's disappearance were displayed all along the route from her home to Point Defiance Park asking anyone who
knew anything to report it psychics and members of the public called in to report possible tip
offs none of these led anywhere still Jennifer's family held out hope shortly after Jennifer went
missing the bastions were visited at home by michella Welch's mother Barbara and her
sister Barbara was all too aware of the pain the bastions were enduring and wanted to share her sympathy as well as
her hope that Jennifer would be returned to them unharmed Patty basan was touched by
Barbara's kind gesture and found her to be very nice however she struggled to understand why Barbara had visited
because she believed Jennifer's case was very different to Michelle's after Barbara left Patty
turned to a friend who was sitting beside her and said I'm not sure why she came Jennifer's Not
Dead on Tuesday August 26 just over 3 weeks since Jennifer went missing police received a tip off from a man who'd been
out jogging in Point Defiance park with a running club their route had taken them a 5em
drive and the man had noticed a foul odor Park police and members of the Tacoma Police Department were dispatched
to the location along with the sniffer dog but couldn't find the source of the smell still they continued to focus on
the general location 2 days later on Thursday August 28th a German shepherd search dog honed
in on a wooded area off 5 Mile Drive it was about 150 ft From the Path and positioned between the road and the
peninsula's cliffs the Dog Led Searchers to a spot that was difficult to reach due to the
dense vegetation on closer inspection the location was a kind of hollowed out cave
in the ground ground hidden from view by the trees and brush it looked as though it had been
prepared ahead of time by someone who knew the park woods and trails extremely well officers had to climb down into the
cave like space in order to see inside there laid the body of a young girl it was Jennifer
Bastion she was lying on her back with her legs apart and arms out stretched her swimsuit and shorts had
been pulled down around her right ankle she still wore her socks shoes and bicycle
gloves her state of undress and the way her body had been posed implied that she
had been sexually assaulted but her remains were too decomposed to confirm whether or not she had been
raped a ligature made from a thin rope was found around her neck her her state of decomposition
prevented investigators from conclusively determining whether there were other injuries but it appeared her
throat may have been cut as well she was missing a tooth suggesting her killer might have inflicted blunt
force trauma Jennifer's cause of death was determined to be aixia secondary to strangulation her bicycle was discovered
lying on its side in some brush further towards the Cliffs it had been covered with Fern
fronts that had since died and turned brown Jennifer's blue bike sadle bag was still attached with her white and red
striped bike helmet inside other contents included a water bottle some clothing a bike manual and
Jennifer's pink and black velcro wallet with $3 and some loose change inside detectives faced the difficult
task of informing the bastions that their daughter had been found Patty Bastion was at home painting
the living room's walls when there was a knock on the front door she would later tell dine
journalist Keith Morrison that she could not bear to think of what had happened to her daughter
stating I have my fairy tale I think and I'll just live with it she was riding her bike the monster came out of the
woods and grabbed her and killed her more than that I can't wrap my brain around right away the public began to
speculate that Michelle Welch and Jennifer Bastion had been killed by the same man child abductions and murders were
rare in Tacoma and now there had been two under disturbingly similar circumstances within mere months of each
other fear spread that there was a serial killer stalking to koma's parks and praying on
girls when asked whether this was the case law enforcement officers were Ki merely stating that at this point in
time they had no physical evidence linking the two cases but behind closed doors it was a
different story almost immediately investigators drew the conclusion that the two girls
were victims of the same perpetrator in addition to the similarities of their age appearance and
the circumstances of their disappearances their bodies had been found posed in almost the same way on
their backs with their legs apart and arms out stretched both were exposed with articles of clothing left in disarray
around their ankles their remains had been hidden in wooded isolated areas in general Jer had a rope ligature
around her neck while a cord was found though not used at Michelle's scene michella had definitely had her
neck cut and it was possible Jennifer had as well initially it was wondered whether
the two murders could have been committed by an as yet unidentified serial killer who'd been dubbed the
Green River Killer the Green River Killer had been operating around the Tacoma and Seattle
areas since 4 years earlier in 1982 by 1984 he had already killed five women and girls and a special task force
was formed to handle the case investigators consulted renowned FBI profiler John Douglas and even spoke
with convicted serial killer Ted Bundy in an attempt to build a picture of their
suspect following michella and Jennifer's murders the Green River Killer task force took a look at their
cases but they were deemed to have been committed by somebody else a new task force was formed to
coordinate the Welch and de Bastion cases thousands of tips poured in from the public and detectives interviewed
hundreds of Persons of Interest collecting their hair blood and saliva as well one man soon came under scrutiny as
their Prime Suspect multiple people had reported him as a creeper who was known to sunbath nude at
Point Defiance Park he drove a van and possessed strange drawings of young girls hair and blood samples
subsequently ruled him out despite the abundance of calls from the public none of the tips resulted in
an arrest numerous suspects were identified interviewed and deemed plausible before
later being cleared if a suspect seemed likely for one of the cases but had an alibi for
the other he was ruled out several times a prime suspect came into Focus only to ultimately be
eliminated for one reason or another months continued to pass and as soon the first anniversary of Michelle
Welch's murder arrived closely followed by that of Jennifer Bastion by this time the task force had been
disbanded but two detectives still regularly checked in on the case and evidence from the crime scenes was still
being processed when speaking to the media law enforcement spokespeople were adment
that the investigation was still very much active and ongoing in 1989 3 years after the
murders investigators sent the Seaman sample from Michelle's murder to a private laboratory in California for
testing DNA profiling was still in its infancy when it came to use in criminal investigations with the first conviction
based on DNA evidence having taken place in 1987 the California Lab sent back the
Killer's profile though there was no database for investigators to compare it to instead they used it to rule out any
potential suspects that emerged emerged by the mid naughties a more sophisticated DNA profile of the killer
was created by this time there were state and federal databases that detectives could check the profile
against yet they couldn't find a match whoever the killer was he seemingly didn't have a serious criminal
history investigators wondered if the killer had been in the military and was now living far away
elsewhere or perhaps he'd died before he could commit any more murders without any arrests in their
daughter's cases the victim's families did their best to continue living Michelle's Mother Barbara took
solace in her Christian faith and staunch belief that she would one day be reunited with her
daughter Jennifer's mother Patty likewise found comfort in religion and began coordinating a child safety fair
that was held in Tacoma every year in an interview with the News Tribune she stated I can always calm myself down
with the knowledge that whether we as human beings solve the crime or not it is solved and whether Justice happens in
the criminal courts or the Heavenly courts it doesn't matter it will happen in the summer of 1986 11-year-old
Lindsay Wade had her innocence Shattered by the murders of michella Welch and Jennifer
Bastion prior to learning about the two crimes she'd been a Carefree child growing up in Tacoma oblivious to the
dangers that might exist after she found out what had happened to michella and Jennifer
Lindsay became scared like much of the broader community the two girls were close to her in age
and had been killed while out riding their bikes in local parks something Lindsay also loved to
do all over Tacoma everyone was asking how such a thing could have happened and who was
responsible alarmist headlines and news stories added to Lindsay's fear and she no longer felt safe playing in the woods
as she had before this newfound fear persisted over the following years as a Junior High student Lindsay
sometimes had to walk past a wooded Gulch on her way to school and doing so always made her heart
race she couldn't help imagining a dangerous predator lurking nearby waiting to snatch
her looking back as an adult it would later seem to Lindy as though her entire childhood and Adolescence was colored by
the two unsolved murders that devastated Tacoma in 1986 during High School Lindsay
developed an interest in criminal investigations after reading author Ian rues book about serial killer Ted Bundy
who was also from Tacoma after graduating Lindsay ultimately decided that she wanted to
become a police officer and then a detective she achieved both Ambitions by 2003 when she was promoted to the role
of detective at the Tacoma Police Department the now detective Lindsay Wade spent
time investigating Auto thefts and was then assigned to the sex crimes Department in 2008 She was transferred
to the homicide Squad in 2009 detective Wade had her first child and took 5 months off for
maternity leave that same year Tacoma Police Department established a Cold Case unit
which would be dedicated to investigating old unsolved cases they had more than 250 unsolved
homicides and missing persons cases on their books but the inspiration for the unit's formation was the 1986 murders of
michellea Welch and Jennifer Bastion 23 years had passed since the two young girls were murdered and both
cases still remained unsolved due in part to the police department not having the resources to dedicate to older
cases with a dedicated unit detectives could finally take a closer look at the Case
Files when detective Lindsay Wade returned from maternity leave she began reviewing a number of the cold cases
alongside the head of the unit detective Jean Miller one of the cases detective Wade
began pouring over was that of Jennifer Bastion and Michelle Walch the crimes that had haunted her
since she was a little girl were even more disturbing up close and with access to all of the
details over the next few years detective Wade returned to the case whenever she had the time motivated by
the memory of the fear she had felt as a child and the desire to help get Justice
for the girls she painstakingly combed through the case File in 2013 Detective Wade met Jennifer
bastion's parents for the first time during a visit to their home with Detective
Miller as the two investigators were leaving Jennifer's father Ralph begged them to solve the case adding that he
didn't have much time left he had been 59 when his daughter was murdered and was now 86 years old he
desperately wanted to see Justice for Jennifer before he died seeking additional expert opinions the
detectives took the case to the National Center for missing and exploited children in
Virginia there they spoke about the case with a panel of 20 experts including current and former FBI agents
Consultants specializing in crimes against children and two forensic scientists this trip helped to Galvanize
the two detectives and they came up with some new ideas as to where they could take the
investigation subsequently detective Miller submitted Jennifer bastion's swimsuit away for
testing the swimsuit had been warned by Jennifer on the day of her murder and was found around her ankle at the crime
scene over the ensuing 2 and a half decades it was preserved in evidence DNA testing had advanced in
Leaps and Bounds since then and the detectives hoped that forensic scientists might be able to obtain a DNA
profile for Jennifer from the swimsuit this profile would then be used as a reference
sample in November 2013 the detectives received a phone call from a scientist at the
laboratory he asked whether they were also interested in a profile for the male DNA found in Jennifer's
swimsuit he explained that recovered in the crotch of the swimsuit was a seen sample which had been tested and was
found to belong to one man the detectives were shocked this evidence had been completely missed by the case's original
investigators perhaps because the swimsuit had been removed from Jennifer's Body they had assumed the
perpetrator's DNA wouldn't be on it there was another shock to follow since the early 1990s
investigators had had a DNA profile for the killer of michella Welch and Jennifer
Bastion this had been built from Seaman recovered from michella Welcher's remains when the new sample from
Jennifer swimsuit was compared to that taken from Michelle's crime scene investigators were stunned to find that
it wasn't a match they weren't looking for one killer they were looking for two this Revelation totally upended the
investigation almost from the start detectives had believed the cases must have been
connected stranger abductions assaults and murders were rare and Tacoma was seen as a safe upper middle class
City the similarities between the two crimes were overwhelming right down to the victim profiles the manner of the
attack and the locations they had taken place in what were the odds that the two girls
had been killed by two different men within Just 4 months of each other yet now the DNA made clear that
two separate individuals bore responsibility perhaps Jennifer's murder had been a copycat crime with Michel's
providing the inspiration but that was as far as the connection went over the past decade investigators had
run the DNA from Michelle's case through the combined DNA index system or codus the United States national police DNA
database they did never found a match now they checked the profile from Jennifer's
killer it wasn't a match to anyone in the Koda system either that meant neither killer had had
a criminal record detectives had also used the DNA from Michelle's case to eliminate more
than 100 possible suspects from both cases now it was possible that those individuals could still be suspects in
Jennifer's murder similarly other Persons of Interest had been ruled out because
they'd been incarcerated or had Alibis for one of the murders the the fact investigators were
now looking for two killers would mean those individuals would need to be looked at
[Music] again detective Jean Miller began compiling a list of suspects who hadn't
been eliminated via DNA the goal was now to obtain voluntary samples from them so they could be
checked against the evidence roughly two dozen individuals willingly provided their DNA to
detectives and were gradually ruled out as suspects detective Lindsay Wade trolled
through the police department's old records searching for any cases with similarities to Jennifer
Bastion anytime she came across the name of a suspect or Person of Interest she would look them up and run a background
check when they couldn't be eliminated through DNA in codus she would often add them to the list for voluntary sample
collection this work was slow in January of 2015 detective Miller retired and detective Wade replaced him
as the lead investigator months later detective Wade utilized the Innovative technique of
phenotyping to gain a clearer picture of her suspects phenotyping involves identifying a person's physical
characteristics based on the DNA the results indicated that Jennifer's murderer was w with light
eyes and blonde or red hair Michelle's killer was predominantly of European Heritage but had 9% Native
American ancestry he had fair skin a round face brown or hazel eyes and brown hair composite sketches of both men were
created and shared with the public that same year detective Wade learned of a cuttingedge technique that
might help in the case investigators were Now using Y chromosome DNA to hone in on potential
suspects as Y chromosome DNA is passed down from father to son men who share the same yst DNA profile typically have
the same surname the exceptions are when a son has been given his mother's last name is
adopted or is unaware of his true biological father's identity some genealogists involved in forensic
investigations were Now using yst DNA profiles to come up with possible surnames for male
suspects detective Wade wasn't sure about this new technique but figured it was worth a
shot she reached out to Dr Colleen Fitzpatrick a genealogist who had founded a forensic genealogy
organization called identifiers International the detectiv sent the profile of Jennifer's killer to Dr Fitzpatrick
asking for any possible surnames that might be associated with it three names were sent back Smith
Holbrook and wasburn wondering if anyone with those names might be mentioned in the case
File detective Wade scoured it for the name Holbrook but found nothing given how common Smith was as a
surname the detective didn't think she'd have any luck there she turned her attention to the
final name on the list Washburn one result came back in May 1986 several months before
Jennifer was murdered a man named Robert wasburn called the police with a tip off
for the michella Welch case he said that he'd seen the suspect sketch of Michelle's killer and realized
that he'd recognized it wasburn said he'd been out jogging when he saw a man who resembled the sketch
loitering in a park but he hadn't seen the man in Puget Park where michella was killed he said the man had been at Point
Defiance Park the location where Jennifer would be attacked and killed 3 months later in December of that year
detectives had paid Robert wasburn a visit at home to follow up on his tip off he' repeated his story about seeing
a man who resembled the sketch in Point Defiance Park lurking near the rodo Dandan
Garden wasburn explained that he jogged in the park up to twice a day always along the trails off 5m
drive he had lost his job so had plenty of time to do so he' added that he'd been in the Park
after Jennifer Bastion went missing and saw police searching he'd also noticed the foul
smell emanating from 5em Drive in the subsequent weeks but hadn't known what it was the 1986 detectives had found
nothing suspicious in Robert washburn's conduct or demeanor they noted his name in the case
File and left it at that detective Lindsay Wade was somewhat dubious about the yst surname selection
but she added Robert Washburn to her list of Persons of Interest to be approached for a voluntary DNA
sample she'd been painstakingly creating a record of every maale mentioned in Jennifer's case File along with whether
or not their DNA was on file there were more than 2,300 names on the list it was ordered from most to least
suspicious and individuals were only eliminated from the list if their DNA failed to match or if they'd been
incarcerated at the time of the murder detective Wade was assisted by a special agent from the FBI and together
they were able to track down and obtain DNA samples from a number of suspects after a few months detective
Wade's Department had chased down 121 suspect samples from Washington to be tested the FBI focused on Interstate
Persons of Interest tracking down an additional 40 samples testing all of these took a long
time during 2017 detective Wade submitted more than 100 to be tested none were a
match a second batch was also submitted with no positive results in January 2018 detective Wade
sent a final batch of 18 samples away for testing given so many promising suspects
had already been ruled out after having their DNA tested her hopes were low several months later in April
detective Wade retired from the Tacoma Police Department she'd been there for 14 years
and the job had left her burnt out less than 1 month after her last day Lindsay Wade was at home when she
received a phone call from the detective who had taken over her role after she answered he immediately asked
if she was sitting down then stated there's a match on Jennifer Bastion in shock and unable to speak it
took Lindsay a minute before she asked for the man's name Robert wasburn the detective
[Music] replied in 1986 Robert Washburn was 28 years old he lived about 2 miles from
Point Defiance Park and was divorced he and his wife had split the year before after 6 years of
marriage 1985 hadn't been great for Washburn overall as he was also arrested that year on suspicion of vehicle
prowling and Criminal Trespass however he ultimately wasn't charged and consequently had no criminal
record the next time he'd come to police attention was in May 1986 when he'd reported seeing the suspect in the
michella Welch case hanging around at Point Defiance Park given the timing of this call and
the fact it took place before Jennifer bastion's murder investigators would later wonder if Washburn was already
scheming to kill a girl and frame the other murderer for it another theory was that he'd become
fixated by the michella Welch case and got a thrill out of inserting himself into the
investigation maybe his fixation had grown to the point where he' decided to commit a copycat
crime in the years that followed Washburn began working for an airplane and Aerospace company as a
mechanic he remarried in 1990 and he and his second wife had a daughter during the late 1990s they
relocated to the Washington city of Berlin Robert wasburn filed for bankruptcy in
2000 and about a decade later he relocated to the state of Illinois he was found there by the FBI
in March 2017 after detective Lindsay Wade added his name to her suspect list by then wasburn was 60 years old
and living in the city of Eureka with his now 25-year-old daughter she had cerebral pausy and
required a feeding tube and Washburn was her full-time caregiver when the FBI asked Washburn
for a DNA sample he obliged it would take more than a year for the results to come back yet
Washburn made no attempt to relocate or flee during that time when FBI agents returned to his
home to arrest him in May 2018 he went willingly and didn't fight ex tradition to
Washington his cooperation only went so far though as he refused to speak with detectives when told that his DNA
matched that of a murder suspect he stated I did not kill that little girl up until that point detectives
hadn't disclosed that the case was related to a young girl wasburn explained the presence of
his DNA as being du to his frequent visits to Point Defiance Park saying my DNA was all over that
Park Robert wasburn was returned to Tacoma and arraigned in court after being charged with the Jennifer's
murder many of those who knew him were shocked neighbors described him as a kind but quiet man who kept to himself
and was devoted to his daughter disturbingly though he was known to be very friendly with a 12-year-old girl
who lived in his apartment building the girl often visited Washburn at his home and he was seen giving her
chocolate and gifts this girl was later interviewed and said Washburn had never abused her
but he had taken photos of her doing gymnastics Robert washburn's computer and technological devices were seized
child sexual abuse material was recovered from these and it was revealed that Washburn had also kept tabs on
unsolved murders and missing persons cases in the state of Washington shortly after washburn's
arrest an inmate who' met wasburn on remand in the county jail contacted authorities to say that wasburn had
confessed to the crime Washburn said that on the day Jennifer Bastion went missing he'd been
jogging in Point Defiance Park and simultaneously looking for someone to have sex
with he said he did this often describing himself as a quote sick kinky Washburn told the inmate that while
hanging around 5em Drive he'd found Jennifer's abandoned bike and hid it in the bushes later that night he saw on the
news that the bike had belonged to a missing girl named Jennifer Bastion Washburn said that he'd subsequently
gone back to where he'd hidden the bike and wiped it down after doing so he decided to look
for Jennifer and discovered her deceased body nearby Washburn told the other inmate
that he'd stood over Jennifer's remains and masturbated that was how his DNA had
ended up on her swimsuit Washburn had accurately described the way way Jennifer was posed
and her state of undress subsequently Washburn changed his story he said he'd noticed to
Jennifer Bastion riding her bike and said he couldn't help himself as she was so quote
Exquisite he had raped and strangled her he didn't say whether this crime was spontaneous or premeditated but
investigators suspected the latter the cave likee space where Jennifer's Body was left had been prepared well in
advance although he claimed he jogged a daily at the park those who knew him said Washburn never jogged at all
meaning he more likely went there looking for victims perhaps wasburn had seen Jennifer riding her bike around the park
on other occasions and planned to attack her in the wake of michella Welcher's murder or maybe he his choice of victim
was opportunistic but detectives had no doubt that wasburn had gone to Point Defiance Park on August 4
1986 with the intention of raping and murdering a girl according to the inmate wasburn
also admitted that he'd been keeping tabs on the Bastion family in the years after the
murder he said he didn't want his family to know what he'd done while claiming he
also wanted to receive the death penalty despite this Robert wasburn continued to maintain his innocence for
another 9 months while the prosecution began to put their case against him together then he abruptly changed his
mind and decided to enter a guilty plea this news was a huge relief to the basan family who would be spared the
pain of a trial tragically Jennifer's father Ralph had passed away 2 and A2 years prior to
washburn's arrest and hadn't lived to see her case solved Jennifer's mother Patty and her
big sister Teresa attended Robert washburn's sentencing in January 2019 both read Victim Impact statements
to the court Teresa said that she had been so devastated by Jennifer's murder that
she'd never ridden a bike again or taught her own daughter how to do so due to the terrible
Association addressing Washburn directly she stated you made me an only child Patty Bastion described the
ongoing suffering their family had been left with saying that even on beautiful summer days there was always a cloud of
fear and for boing Robert wasburn did not address the court but a statement he had written
earlier was read L despite the presence of his seen at the crime scene and Jennifer's state of
undress he maintained that he hadn't sexually assaulted her instead he claimed he had grabbed
her by the arm led her into the woods and strangled her he said he was admitting to this to
spare the bastions and his own family the trauma of a trial adding that he was sorry for what he'd done and how many
people he'd hurt he looked it down as the judge sentenced him to 27 years in prison now aged 61 this made it unlikely
that he would ever experience Freedom again outside Court Patty Bastion told the media there had been a sense of
relief in the courtroom that day referencing the way wasburn had stared down the entire time refusing to
meet her eyes she stated I guess that's the picture of a guilty man after Robert washburn's arrest media
reports celebrated the long awaited resolution in the decades old cold case they simultaneously noted that the
murder of michella Welch long thought to be related to Jennifer's case remained unsolved yet behind the scenes it was a
different story Lindsay Wade and other detectives had been reinvestigating Michelle's case in
parallel to Jennifer's applying the same breakthroughs in DNA in 2017 detective Wade sent the
suspect's DNA from Michelle's body to genealogy consultant Dr Barbara Ray Venter genetic genealogy was starting to
be used as a way to solve cold cases with the genealogists examining online family trees to identify unknown
suspects whose DNA hadn't been uploaded to police databases using the websites family tree
DNA and Jed match Dr Ray Venta was able to identify two individuals who were the
suspects second cousins or first cousins once removed she requested the assistance of
DNA technology company parabon nanolabs in studying the genealogy the company's genetic
genealogy unit had made a name for itself by solving a number of Cal cases headed by renowned genealogist CC
Moore the unit employed four genealogists in total who examined online family trees to identify unknown
suspects the DNA from Michelle's case was sent to parabon nanolabs in May 2018 the parabon team quickly calculated
that the suspect was mostly White with 9% Native American Heritage they also identified the same
two cousins as Dr Ray Venta the cousins were not directly related to each other meaning they were
related to the unknown suspect on different branches of the same family tree when CC Moore examined the built
out family trees of the suspect's two cousins she noticed that one of them known as Clyde s had two first cousins
who looked interesting they were brothers with tires to Tacoma who both shared the
surname Hartman their names were Gary and arj on their paternal side Gary and RJ
Hartman had two second great-grandmothers who were Native American this was consistent with the
amount of Native American ancestry found in the suspect DNA furthermore in 1986 Gary and RJ had
both lived in the Tacoma area residing in the North End Neighborhood this was less than a mile
from where michella was attacked in Puget Park RJ had been in his late 20s and Gary in his mid-30s when michella was
killed making them both old enough to be the killer neither of Hartman brothers were
named in the michella world Shore Jennifer Bastion Case Files they had never come under any
suspicions for the murders at all but based on the recommendation of CC Moore at parabon nanolabs detectives
decided that they needed to obtain DNA samples from both Gary and RJ to compare to the suspects
profile they would do so surreptitiously given they had no way of getting a voluntary sample with without alerting
the brothers to their suspect status RJ seemed the more likely suspect his wife had alleged that he was
abusive when she had filed for a divorce in 1993 and obtained a restraining order
against him the couple had later reconciled but this still seemed like a red flag in contrast RJ's elder brother Gary
was a family man with no allegations against him and a long career as a nurse at a mental health
facility on Saturday June 2 2018 a detective from Tacoma Police Department tailed RJ as he visited a state
park when RJ threw away a Coke can the detective pounced and took it into evidence a week later detectives again
followed RJ as he dined at a restaurant with his family he drank three cocktails sipping
each of the drinks through a straw when staff at the restaurant cleared the table detectives approached
them and collected the straws as well as a glass RJ had drunk water from DNA profiles were constructed from
these items RJ Hartman wasn't a match in 1986 Gary Hartman was 35 years old and lived a short distance from Puget
Park in fact he'd lived on the same street as Robert wasburn though their homes were about 10 blocks
apart now more than three decades later Hartman was 66 and still resided in Washington about 10 Mi Southwest of
Tacoma in the City of Lakewood on Tuesday June 5 2018 detectives surveilled harman's home and
followed him as he drove in his turquoise Chevy pickup to Western State Hospital the psychiatric facility where
he was employed Hartman went inside the hospital before soon returning to the parking lot with a female
colleague the pair got into a work vehicle and made their way to a nearby McDonald's
restaurant once again the detectives followed Hartman and his colleague went inside the McDonald's and sat down at a
table after ordering some breakfast two detectives did the same choosing a table about 10 ft from
Harman they watched as Hartman drank his coffee which he'd poured into a mug he'd
brought with him as Hartman ate his breakfast he used a brown paper napkin to wipe his mouth
several times when he was done he crumpled up the napkin and tossed it into the McDonald's bag his food had been served
in along with his receipt and empty rappers hutman then crumpled up the bag and set it to one side while continuing
to chat with his colleague and sip his coffee one of the detectives approached a McDonald's employee who was cleaning
the area and explained who he was he asked if she would collect harman's bag from him under the guise of
doing her job so they could take it into evidence the employee agreed and went up
to Hartman asking if she could remove his rubbish for him he agreed waving at the bag to indicate she should take
it the employee collected it and it was subtly handed over to the detectives the napkin was processed for
a DNA analysis the profile obtained from it was a perfect match to the DNA recovered
from 12-year-old michella Welcher's body 2 weeks later at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday
June 20 police officers arrived at Hartman's home and waited quietly for him to leave he emerged 5 hours later at 10:30
and drove away in an SUV he was followed by his adult daughter in another car officers pursued the father and
daughter and when Hartman break at a stop sign they pulled in alongside and in front of
him a detective approached Hartman's window which Hartman rolled down you're under arrest turn off the
car and step out the detective said Harman did as he was told asking why he was being arrested as he was
handcuffed he was informed that he would be told the reason later Hartman was subsequently charged
with the rape and murder of michella Welch officers accompanied harman's daughter home and executed a search of
the property this was no easy task as the house was in poor condition detectives would describe it
as a near hoarder house with cardboard boxes full of various items stacked from florid to ceiling in multiple
rooms heavy layers of dust covered the furniture there were dog faces on the kitchen floor and a neglected pet dog
found outside officers were looking for any evidence relating to Michelle's murder
they recovered multiple folding knives two handguns and lots of ammunition they had been hoping to find
Michelle's pink eyeglasses which weren't found with her body unfortunately the glasses were
never recovered Gary Hartman denied killing Michelle Welch and said he wanted to speak with
an attorney when he was told what he was being charged with bual swabs taken by detectives confirmed that he was a match
to the killer prior to becoming a mental health technician in 1992 Gary Hartman had been
in the Navy and then had a series of menial jobs he seemed to find his niche in mental health care later getting a job
as a registered nurse in 1998 he had been married four different times to three different women he was
divorced twice and married to his second wife at the time of Michelle's murder harman's marriages with his first
two wives broke down due to his infidelity he wed his third wife in 1996 and they were still together at the time
of his arrest the couple had two adopted daughters [Music] harman's family said he was a
functioning alcoholic but his attorney claimed he had found sobriety in 1989 at the age of
38 RJ Hartman told police his older brother had been abusive when RJ was a child hitting him with a baseball bat
choking him to the point of unconsciousness and tying RJ up in the garage when Hartman was supposed to be
babysitting RJ also accused his brother of raping him and said he tortured and killed
animals according to RJ Hartman loathed women a result of his hatred for his mother she suffered from alcoholism and
was an abusive parent RJ claimed that when his mother had female friends over and they passed
out from drinking Harman would rape them RJ said that Harman had long been fascinated by little
girls he'd made inappropriate remarks about RJ's daughter when she was 8 years old it would turn out that one year
after Michelle's murder Gary Hartman was arrested for public indecency after he exposed himself to a young girl at a
store he was arrested for this crime but for some reason was never convicted and
had no criminal record however he was ordered to see a psychiatrist in a disturbing twist of
fate it would turn out that RJ's daughter had been school friends with the Jennifer
Bastion Gary Hartman had been fascinated by Jennifer's case and frequently spoke
of it to his family he claimed he was friends with a detective working on the case and so he
knew things about it that others didn't he never spoke of Michelle Welch's murder
but RJ had often considered reporting his brother as a suspect for the murders of the two
girls the crimes seemed like something he was capable of RJ couldn't remember exactly when but
around the time of Michelle's murder Harman had shown up panicking on his front door in the middle of the
night he asked RJ to tell anyone who asked that he'd been there all night claiming he'd been cheating on his wife
and did don't want to get caught Gary Harman refused to plead guilty but his attorney did strike
another kind of deal with the prosecution Harman would wave his right to a jury trial and have a bench trial
instead this meant the verdict would be decided by a judge assuring a guilty conviction while still allowing Harman
to play not guilty as a consequence of this deal the prosecution and defense negotiated a
sentence of 26 years and 6 months and agreed to certain stipulated facts surrounding Michelle's
murder one of these facts was that Hartman Seaman had been found on Michelle's body though the first-degree
rape charge against him was dropped Harman did not provide any details as to why or how he had
approached and attacked michella in May 2022 Gary Hartman was found to guilty of the first-degree
murder of Michelle Walch although Hartman's sentence had already been agreed upon his attorney
argued there were mitigating factors that should be taken into consideration such as the childhood abuse Harman had
been subjected to by both his parents the judge dismissed this St stating that nothing Hartman had
experienced prior to 1986 could excuse or minimize his brutal murder of a child he was sentenced to the agreed
upon 26 years and 6 months in prison now aged in his late 60s Gary Hartman will most likely die during his
incarceration Harman sobbed loudly and repeatedly apologized as Michelle Welch's loved ones shared their Victim
Impact statements one of Michelle's aunts told the court that the murder hadn't just
impacted their family it had traumatized an entire Community adding 30 years is a long time
to agonize over who did this to michella and why is he still living a free life Michelle's sister Nicole spoke of
how the crime had ended her childhood given her repeated nightmares and impacted her other
relationships she stated forgiveness is the only way to keep me from being infected by the
continual pain and keep furthering it on I do not wish any harm to come to him because I would be of The Same Spirit as
him though our lives are linked together because of this tragedy I do not want to
be of the same mindset in harming others Michelle's Mother Barbara spoke of how she had often wished she could trade
places with michella quote michella was a happy child she was also trusting too trusting this is the day Harman faces
the judge I say lock him up and throw away the key it won't bring her back but Justice will have been served
[Music] in 2023 former detective Lindsay Wade published a memoir titled in My DNA
about her life and her time in the Tacoma Police Department focusing heavily on the impact michella and
Jennifer's murders had on her life as Gary Hartman's case was still before the courts at the time of
publication Lindsay couldn't go into detail about Michelle's investigation however she did write in
detail about her work on Jennifer B 's case and how it was finally solved over the years Lindsay had formed
a strong bond with the jenifer's mother Patty and the two were close although Robert washburn's arrest
came after Lindsay had retired as a detective she was still permitted to be the one to break the news to the Bastion
family in her book Lindsay describes how she knocked on Patty's front door and informed her we got him
the two women hugged and cried as the news they had waited so long for began to sink
in one month after Jennifer's mother finally received answers Michelle's Mother Barbara got the news she had been
waiting three decades for as well she would later say that upon learning her daughter's killer had been
apprehended she got Shivers up her spine in 2019 Washington passed a new law inspired by the cases of the two
girls Jennifer and Michelle's law has expanded the state's DNA databases by requiring those convicted of indecent
exposure to provide a DNA sample to codus the legislation also allows detectives to obtain DNA samples from
deceased sex offenders Patty Bastion worked on the law alongside Lindsay Wade and told
reporters that knowing the good it's going to do is just [Music] [Music] amazing e

Case 301: Michella Welch & Jennifer Bastian

*** Content warnings: Child sexual assault, child murder ***

In 1986, two pre-teen girls from Tacoma, Washington, were abducted and murdered mere months apart. Both Michella Welch and Jennifer Bastian were attacked, sexually assaulted and killed after cycling to a public park. Their crime scenes were eerily similar; both bodies were hidden in wooded areas, and the girls even looked alike. Investigators were quick to rule the slayings were the work of a serial killer… But it would take more than 30 years for the shocking truth to come out.

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Erin Munro Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

SOCIAL LINKS

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources, please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-301-michella-welch-jennifer-bastian

Brief Summary

The episode details the murders of Michella Welch and Jennifer Bastion, their investigations, and the eventual arrests of their killers.

Key points

The Disappearance of Michella Welch. Michella Welch, a 12-year-old girl, goes missing after leaving for a picnic with her sisters.
The Discovery of Michella's Body. Michella's body is found in a wooded area, revealing the tragic outcome of her disappearance.
Jennifer Bastion Goes Missing. Just months after Michella's case, 13-year-old Jennifer Bastion disappears while cycling.
Jennifer's Body is Found. Jennifer's remains are discovered in a concealed area, echoing the tragedy of Michella's case.
The Fear Spreads. The community fears a serial killer is targeting young girls after two similar murders.
Detective Lindsay Wade's Journey. Lindsay Wade, haunted by the murders, becomes a detective to seek justice.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

You know when you say found a body, it's not a person, it's terrible.

Barbara Leonard reflecting on the discovery of her daughter's body.

9:12WatchOct 26, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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