Bloodline Detectives - Season 2, Episode 4 - A Sinful Act in St George - Full Episode | Forensic Files

Good evening. I'm Nancy Grace. Tonight, an extraordinary story, a scientific breakthrough
that solves a brutal sex assault and the courage of a victim who inspires everyone
around her, even her attacker. April, 2018, St. George, Utah, an elderly woman reports a home invasion rape.
She told them that somebody had come into her home. There had been a sexual assault and actually
a rape, which is very surprising for a community like this. I was a bit shocked when I heard that
there was a 79-year-old woman. I fought like a tiger, but I didn't win. NANCY GRACE: The nature of the crime
deeply disturbs investigators and the entire community. I think all of us looked at her as if she
were one of our family members. How would we feel if that was my mother or my grandmother?
That was in that position. NANCY GRACE: Forensic evidence is recovered. But the attacker remains unidentified.
And officers hit a dead end. We were at a point in time where we were still trying to build some leads in the case.
We were getting to the point where we were running into block walls. NANCY GRACE: This is the story of Carla Brooks
and her terrible ordeal, also how forensic genetic genealogy gives investigators the break
they need to bust the rapist. This is "Bloodline Detectives." [THEME MUSIC] April 17, 2018, St. George, Utah, police
are called to the home of a 79-year-old woman. She calls police to report a home invasion robbery.
Carla Brooks reported that someone broke into her house and attempted to rape her.
KYLE WHITEHEAD: Our officers immediately responded because, even for a home invasion type of a call,
in our community that's very, very rare. And so it's all hands on deck when we get that type of a call.
We send our resources and try and get there immediately to make sure that the victim or victims are safe
and to try and apprehend the suspect. NANCY GRACE: Carla Brooks tells officers the intruder surprised
her while she was sleeping. She then describes a brutal rape. JOHN WILSON: She's very disturbed.
She was in her nightgown, and you could tell that she was definitely out of her element.
But she was very articulate in her speaking with describing the events that took place.
Carla reported that she was in bed in her home. She lives alone. Her husband has passed away.
Her children are all adults and have moved out. So she lives in her home alone. And on April 17, she had gone to bed.
The TV was on. And she had gone to sleep. She reported that she awoke to someone brushing,
kind of brushing her face. And initially, in her sleepy state, she said that she initially thought
that it might be her husband, her deceased husband. And he rubbed my shoulder. And I looked up, and then he just took me.
RYAN SHAUM: She was saying things like, can we please just talk? Can we please just talk?
You know, you can be nice. You don't have to be mean. She was trying to calm him down.
And he wasn't listening. I fought like a tiger, but I didn't win. He won. RICH TRIPLETT: While she was waking up,
this intruder had shoved a cloth in her mouth. He disrobed her, took her clothes off, and he raped her.
Her head was banging between the headboard and the side table. And then he left.
NANCY GRACE: Now, police realized this crime is far more than just a home invasion.
Investigators arrive on the scene. At the time, I was the division commander over the control division.
And so our officers were some of the initial responding officers that took on the case.
Of course, when they arrive on scene and see what is alleged, usually the protocol is to call out the detectives
to come out and really process and start looking into what happened, where they need to go,
where the case takes them. When I got inside, the Patrol Lieutenant informed me real quick that we had a sexual assault that
had occurred. And that the victim was sitting on the couch in the living room. NANCY GRACE: Detective Wilson asked Karla Brooks if she
can describe her attacker. One thing, to me, when I walked into that front room where she was sitting, I looked around,
and I saw pictures on the wall. And a lot of these pictures were pictures that my own grandma
had in her house. So I'm thinking, it's bringing me back to my own grandma. And that's what I was thinking in meeting with her,
was that I'm speaking with my own grandma, who is telling me of a horrific event that happened, which, it was pretty
difficult. And to be able to ask very detailed questions to her, she did an outstanding job in that first initial interview.
RICH TRIPLETT: She was able to give us a vague description of vague hair color and hairstyle description.
KYLE WHITEHEAD: So there wasn't a lot of detail. And unfortunately, these cases, oftentimes, I
can't imagine what it would be like to be assaulted in this way. There's so much shock and horror.
I can't imagine what a person would be experiencing. NANCY GRACE: For 79-year-old Carla, the nightmare goes on.
She's asked to go to the hospital for a forensic pelvic examination. CARLA BROOKS: They wanted to test me
and find out if anything had happened inside of me and so forth. And so I went through that.
JOHN WILSON: She was by herself. The patrolman dropped her off. And the nursing staff and the same nurses
were there with her. And then when they were finished with that procedure, a patrolman picked her up and brought her home.
KYLE WHITEHEAD: You know, I would imagine it would be a very invasive, almost feel like they're being
revictimized, know the fact that they have to go in and the medical staff have to prod and examine.
NANCY GRACE: Crime scene investigators arrive at Carla's home and start collecting evidence.
KYLE WHITEHEAD: There are a lot of different investigative techniques, as far as fingerprinting, looking
at the bed, at the floor, trying to collect any hair follicles or other things. There's a lot of things where they would come
into the home, where this is the suspected entry point would be. And so there are a lot of shoe prints
is another way that they try to develop suspects through shoe prints. And so there's just a lot of different methods.
JOHN WILSON: I started out with photographing the residence from the outside and then worked my way in.
I took photographs of the bedroom and the living room and then took photographs of the bedding and the stain
that was left on the bed using some lenses on my camera that helped magnify the black light.
And after those photographs were taken, we bagged up the evidence in paper sacks
and took those to the office. The rape of an elderly woman statistically is very rare.
In this case, investigators wonder, what kind of person is driven to commit such a heinous crime?
RICH TRIPLETT: Obviously, this case was very difficult in the fact that Carla was an elderly female that I think all of us
looked at her as if she were one of our family members, and how would we feel if that was my mother or my grandmother
that was in that position. I was pretty confident with the evidence that we had, were going to find someone quickly.
NANCY GRACE: It's April, 2018. Detectives in St. George, Utah start an investigation
into the brutal rape of a 79-year-old woman, Carla Brooks, in her own home. RYAN SHAUM: I was a bit shocked when I heard that there was
a 79-year-old woman, Carla Brooks, whose name immediately was recognizable. I knew that her husband, Carl Brooks,
had been mayor here in St. George. This was somebody who was well known in the community.
NANCY GRACE: Since so many sex attackers are known to their victims, investigators asked
Carla Brooks about her life and daily routine. CARLA BROOKS: I met Carl when I came to St. George.
And I took his place at the school that he was teaching. I was living over in a house right across the street.
And I didn't know that he lived right next door. But I always saw his car there, so I thought
he had a girlfriend there. So I didn't think much about it for a while. And then finally I realized that he lived there.
And then he came in when one evening and said, would you marry me, and I said, yes, I will.
And so that's how that worked. I was married 51 years to him. And I had three children.
And they're all just wonderful kids. My life as a teacher was going home at night
to be with my children in the afternoon, so I could be with my children and then go
teach school in the mornings. And I guess I became a teacher because of my mom. She said she loved teaching.
And so she taught English and just helping kids learn how to write and do and all those things,
and I just enjoyed it. I just enjoyed it. NANCY GRACE: Miss Brooks is well known in the community.
She's got so many friends CARLA BROOKS: Well, I think we have a lot of different people
in St. George, especially now. The older ones, like I am, they've just always just stayed here.
And so we have so many people who have just made their life here. And so I know many, many people here.
I just like to be with people and just see people, you know. And I've got good friends.
And I haven't got any friends that have left me. They're still very, very close, a lot of friends in St. George.
NANCY GRACE: The morning after the attack, investigators go to work using all their resources.
The suspect had left DNA evidence in the form of a seminal stain on Carla's sheets.
That was our biggest piece of evidence because our hope was that we would be able to send that
to the Utah State Crime Lab and that they would be able to enter that into the CODIS database
and receive a hit or an identification of the individual who left this DNA behind.
So our focus was on that right from the get go. Additionally, we canvassed the area
extensively for any possible video surveillance, any possible doorbell surveillance.
We talked to neighbors. We talked to everyone in the area that may have seen anything.
We talked to everyone in the area of any suspicious activity, anybody they may have suspected that could
have done something like this. We concentrated heavily upon the sex offender registry
in the area because we believed that someone capable of such a heinous and violent sexual assault
was likely a previous sex offender. And so we looked heavily into that, anyone that
may live in the area that would fit the demographic of the assailant. We did anything and everything that we
could possibly think of to track down who could have done this. NANCY GRACE: When local news reports the sex attack,
the community is shaken. Not just elderly, even young families, you consider that people have their children in bed
asleep at night and that fear of, am I going to wake up to someone either assaulting me or
assaulting one of my children? Will I wake up as a parent? Or will I just sleep through it?
It did have some effect on the neighborhood. I think they were frightened at what was going on.
NANCY GRACE: Investigators sent forensic evidence to the Utah State crime lab for analysis.
The Utah crime lab develops a DNA profile from semen on Carla's bed sheets. And they upload it to CODIS, the National DNA databank.
RICH TRIPLETT: Unfortunately, we did get the results back. And the results were that the individual
who left the seminal stain was not in the CODIS system. So they were not able to identify
who this might have been. We had exhausted pretty much anything that we could have possibly done.
We had canvassed the area. We had put undercover officers in the area. We had put up cameras.
We had talked to anyone and everyone that we could possibly think of. We had come up with some names of people
that we looked into that ultimately didn't pan out and proved to not be our suspects.
We were getting to the point where we were running into block walls. But I did see at the time the Golden
State Killer was in the news. And I saw how they were able to obtain his identity
through a DNA profile. At that point, he was finally going to court. And I looked into that a little bit further.
And if they're doing it in California, why can't we do it here? And then that's when CeCe Moore came in.
With all leads exhausted, the investigation slams to a dead end. But as we see next, "Bloodline Detectives"
learned of a new groundbreaking science that could crack the case. May, 2018, detectives working the vicious rape
of a 79-year-old woman asleep in her own home there in St George, Utah. The case has gone cold.
But now detectives look for a new forensic weapon to solve the crime. It's called genetic genealogy, a science being utilized
by Parabon Nano Laboratories. Detectives contact CeCe Moore at Parabon to find out just how it all works.
RICH TRIPLETT: I knew what it was in the fact that it was in the news recently, that the Golden State Killer had been identified
through genetic genealogy. And Detective Wilson had talked to me about the fact that he wanted to try and go down that road
and see if that was even a possibility. It was something that we had never used before,
so it was very unfamiliar to us. It's not like a CODIS database, where you have to actually have someone in the database.
But now because of this genealogy, you're able to go back and identify families and groups.
And maybe it doesn't identify the actual suspect, but people in that family line where we can go back and start
interviewing and finding out where people were on certain days and times, who's in their family,
and really help identify a very particular suspect. NANCY GRACE: CeCe Moore agrees to take the case.
And Parabon goes to work. Here is how genetic genealogy works. In the case of Carla Brooks, investigators
have plenty of the attacker's DNA, but none of it matches any of the suspects they have.
Genetic genealogy searches public genealogy databases, looking for matches, any match, to DNA
found at the crime scene. Matches with the highest DNA similarities will likely come from a relative of the rapist.
And then comes the systematic elimination of one family member after the next by way of circumstantial evidence,
like alibis, to pinpoint the culprit. She forwarded me to Parabon Labs. And I met with them, and they provided me
with the instructions that they needed. So I traveled to Salt Lake and gathered the evidence information that we sent them with the DNA.
And I overnighted that evidence to Parabon Labs. NANCY GRACE: Carla's courage, positive outlook,
and determination to help other survivors inspires police and her community. I just have to keep going.
If I let it really bother me and get down, then I can't do that, because I have to be on top,
to just keep going. That's what my husband would want me to do. That's what anybody wants me to do, is to not give up.
We raised $33,000. And I gave some to our policemen. To one place, I gave them some money
so that they could find and do the same things that Josh had found out for me, that they would keep going with it
so that they had some money to just say, don't drop the case. Keep the case going.
I was so surprised how many rape kits had not been solved. So I gave the money to do their rape kits.
KYLE WHITEHEAD: Very concerned about people, very compassionate, very service oriented,
just an all around good person. You think of the ideal grandparent, I think that's how I would sum her up,
just somebody that you could talk to, somebody that is very interested in other people
and always looking for ways to help. I think though because Carla did fight back, she was very brave.
And then to continue to go on with her life, I think that's very commendable. I couldn't imagine having this type of a crime,
being a victim of this type of a crime and knowing that the person was still out there for months
after this had happened. NANCY GRACE: In July 2018, CeCe Moore contacts investigators with good news.
RICH TRIPLETT: I wouldn't have been completely surprised if she were to come back and not really had much for us
other than your suspect has brown hair and brown eyes. But she didn't. She came back and was able to narrow
it down to four brothers. And it was amazing. It was magical. And I'll never forget that phone call.
RYAN SHAUM: When I heard that they were four brothers that lived in the local community just outside of St.
George in Washington, Utah, at least that that's where they were initially from, from my perspective,
I thought we've got it. He's there. He's got to be one of them. KYLE WHITEHEAD: We were able to determine
through our investigation and through social media some of those avenues that the majority of these brothers
didn't live within St. George. And only one of the brothers actually still lived in St. George.
And so that's the brother that we focused on initially because he was the only one in town.
The initial brother that we thought that it could have been was actually a juvenile.
And we were able to determine that he was not our suspect. After speaking with him, we were able to determine
that his older brother, Spencer Monnett, was in town during the time period of the assault
and that he was staying here in town in St. George. And then we were able to determine that he had
since fled to Phoenix, Arizona, where he was currently residing. So we investigated Spencer heavily.
We looked into social media accounts. We looked in any law enforcement databases that we had.
We turned over every rock we could to find any information about him that was possible.
And Josh was able to determine that Spencer, in fact, had a small traffic warrant out of our jurisdiction
that was active. NANCY GRACE: The traffic violation gives St. George police a perfect reason
to arrest Spencer Monnett. And they start tracking him down. I called the number that was listed for him,
and his sister answers. And I explained to her that Spencer had a warrant for his arrest for a small traffic ticket
and I needed to talk to him about that. And she says, I'll have him call you. And 10 minutes later, there he is calling me.
NANCY GRACE: It's July, 2018, and Detective Wilson in St. George, Utah speaks with Spencer Monnett
about an outstanding traffic violation. Monnett has just been identified through genetic genealogy
as the likely home invasion rapist three months earlier of an almost 80-year-old lady, Carla Brooks.
Officers arrest Spencer Monnett, taking him in for questioning. He was able to call Spencer on the phone
and convinced him that he needed to come back to St. George to rectify his traffic warrant.
NANCY GRACE: I say, hey you, you forgot to go to court. And there is a warrant for your arrest.
And I need you to come in, and we can talk about it. It's not that big of a deal, but we can get it worked out
if you can come meet with me. And we set up a day. He said he would be coming back up to Utah at a certain time
and he can meet with me then. Through our investigation, we were able to develop probable cause that his DNA was
necessary to further the investigation. So when he arrived in town, we had a search
warrant for his DNA in hand. NANCY GRACE: Spencer Monnett's DNA is a perfect match
to DNA for the crime scene. Officers confront him with the evidence, and he breaks down.
RICH TRIPLETT: I raced here and got here in time to see Spencer and be there for the interview.
And Spencer, his hair was similar to what Carla had described. It was longer. It was kind of shaggy.
But other than that, he looked like a fairly clean-cut individual. JOHN WILSON: We explained to him that we had been working
on a case involving Carla Brooks and he was the main suspect in this case with all of the information
that we have been able to gather. And at that time, he kind of-- I feel like he wanted to get something off his chest.
So after all the Miranda was done, we went through and we asked him to tell us what happened that night.
He told us he was having a bad night. He was frustrated with a girlfriend that decided to date other people.
And he was frustrated sexually. And he had been drinking a little bit that night.
And he went out walking around the neighborhood he was at. He saw Carla's house, and he saw that there
was the mature vegetation around the windows, making it possible for him to look into her house
without being seen. And he also discovered that the back sliding glass door was unlocked.
And at that time when he was opening the door, he knew that he was going to encounter or rape the person
that is in that house. He didn't know Carla. But he knew by going in there what he was planning on doing.
He said he was addicted to pornography. And he continued on escalating his addiction
to pornography to something that was called sleep rape pornography. And he talked about how he had watched these movies
about coming into somebody's bedroom who was sleeping and engaging in sexual activity and having them wake up
and be enjoying the situation. And that's what he said about Carla. He knew that she was a little bit older,
that there was maybe a possibility that she wouldn't even wake up. And so he went into her room, saw her sleeping there,
and did exactly what Carla said, brushed her hair with his hand. And at that time, she did wake up.
And he put that cloth in her mouth and was able to control her with his one hand
while he sexually assaulted her. And when he was finished, he got up and got dressed and went out
the same way that he came in. KYLE WHITEHEAD: I think we were in the-- several of us up in the command staff
were notified that he had confessed to this crime. And, man, what a great thing, a great thing that Detective
Wilson did and able to get this horrible individual that was out victimizing our community,
we were able to get him into custody, get him booked in jail. JOHN WILSON: You could feel the guilt,
or you could see it on his face. And at that time, I asked him if he was willing to write
an apology letter to Carla. And he said, yeah, I will. RYAN SHAUM: Much of his apology letter
was a detailed description of what he did and why he did it. And he walked through the events of that night and the bad state
that he was in and how frustrated he was. He seemed sincere. The fact that he would lay out in fairly good detail what he
had done to Carla Brooks meant to me that this was an individual who was trying to come clean with his crimes.
NANCY GRACE: Spencer Monnett now formally charged, and he accepts a plea deal just before trial.
JOHN WILSON: I stayed in good contact with the prosecutors. And they let me know what was going on
and that Spencer had pled to six years in prison. RYAN SHAUM: If someone enters into a plea deal,
they give up a lot of rights, potentially, that they would have otherwise to go to trial
and to contest various things at trial and then to appeal what happens during the trial.
In this case, if we were to resolve the case prior to trial, the only thing that he could really appeal
would be his sentence in the case. The science of genetic genealogy is a stunning breakthrough.
But there's nothing more inspiring than the human factor, in this case, the courage of a 79-year-old lady,
the rape victim, Carla Brooks. As we see next on "Bloodline Detectives," her courage is tested when Carla Brooks gets
to confront her own attacker. It's February, 2019. Spencer Monnett's sentencing goes down, St. George, Utah,
and the violent home invasion rape of a 79-year-old lady, Carla Brooks, the previous year.
RYAN SHAUM: That was quite a surreal experience there. It was an emotional hearing.
There were individuals from both families that got up and spoke. Carla finally faces her attacker in court.
And once again, she displays incredible courage and remarkable strength. I looked at him, and he looked at me.
And I didn't know what to say. I didn't really know what to do. And he was sitting there at the court.
And I just looked over at him. And when I was in there, I was just-- I don't know.
I was overwhelmed with all of it. And I just go and I said, Spencer, I forgive you,
because I need to do that to progress for my Heavenly Father, because, you know.
And I said, and you need to progress. And that's when everybody could not believe it.
I mean I even saw that the guy that was over the court had tears in his eyes to think that I would do that.
JOHN WILSON: Very, very emotional. But it was centered on forgiveness. She forgave Spencer and encouraged him to do better.
That's what her main focus was. RICH TRIPLETT: Carla proved at sentencing how brave and courageous of a woman she is.
Just the fact that she was able to be there and to speak in that setting was incredible.
And then the fact that she was able to tell Spencer how he had changed her life and how this had affected her,
and then ultimately for her to tell him that she forgave him was powerful. RYAN SHAUM: She is quite a put together person,
who was very thoughtful. And despite the physical and psychological damage that Spencer had caused to her, for her to sit there and say,
I forgive you and I want the best for you, is just something you don't see very often at all.
NANCY GRACE: Investigators relieved the perp is finally behind bars where he belongs, thanks to the power
of genetic genealogy. I think it's another feather in our cap. It was a great case to be able to go through.
It was frustrating at times. But it ended with success. And you can't go wrong with having a good case like that.
To solve a rape case where we have no suspect identified and then to go from no identity to having a person in custody
within four months is unheard of. RICH TRIPLETT: It very much emphasized the importance
of thinking outside the box. It emphasized the importance of asking questions that maybe
haven't been asked before and doing things that haven't been done before. NANCY GRACE: What's most extraordinary in this case
is Carla Brooks herself. She's a victim turned advocate, a victim turned healer.
In an unbelievable act of generosity, Carla is helping her rapist's mother to cope.
And most astounding of all, she's helping her own rapist to heal. Now that's inspiration.
I'm Nancy Grace. Thank you for being with us tonight on "Bloodline Detectives." [THEME MUSIC]

A small community in Utah is shocked when an elderly woman is brutally attacked in her own home. Detectives use innovative techniques to solve the case.

A compelling new True Crime series, hosted by preeminent legal analyst and renowned former prosecutor Nancy Grace, that explores the advanced form of familial DNA testing.

Brief Summary

Carla Brooks, a 79-year-old rape victim, inspires with her courage as genetic genealogy helps identify her attacker, Spencer Monnett.

Key points

A Courageous Survivor. Carla Brooks, a 79-year-old woman, shows incredible bravery after a brutal assault.
Breakthrough in Investigation. Detectives turn to genetic genealogy to solve the cold case of Carla Brooks.
Carla's Courage in Court. Carla Brooks confronts her attacker, displaying incredible strength and forgiveness.
Breakthrough in Genetic Genealogy. Investigators celebrate the success of solving a rape case using genetic genealogy.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I fought like a tiger, but I didn't win.

Carla Brooks recounts her struggle during the assault.

1:06WatchJun 1, 2022

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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