Bloodline Detectives - Season 2, Episode 6 - The Alameda Attacker - Full Episode | Forensic Files

[MUSIC PLAYING] NANCY GRACE: Livermore, California. 1997. A young woman violently sex assaulted.
She was sitting down on the bleachers in the baseball field when she was approached from behind.
She told him that she was pregnant and said, don't hurt my baby. Don't hurt my baby.
NANCY GRACE: Investigators soon link a brutal attack in a neighboring city to the very same perpetrator.
NATE GARTRELL: He took a knife from her and then used it to forcibly cut off her clothes.
BRITTNEY ENGLAND: She then asked him, are you going to kill me? And he told her, no, I'm not going to kill you.
I'm just going to rape you. NANCY GRACE: The predator remains unknown for two decades, until fresh eyes and forensics
finally catch up with him. It took 22 years to catch him, and I believe he thought
he had gotten off scot-free. NANCY GRACE: This is the story of survivors of the Alameda
County rapist, the cruel and opportunistic crimes they endured, and how their attacker is ultimately unmasked
by investigators years later. I'm Nancy Grace. This is "Bloodline Detectives." [MUSIC PLAYING]
September 15, 1997. About 11:30 PM, officers from Livermore Police dispatched to investigate a sex assault.
BRITTNEY ENGLAND: When the responding officers arrived at her home, they were confronted
with a eight-month pregnant female in her early 20s. They described her as being very distraught,
with visible injuries. She was crying, frantic, hysterical, and appeared to be in pain and in a lot of fear
for what just occurred to her. She had gotten into some kind of argument with a boyfriend
and had just gone for sort of a walkabout. She was attacked somewhere out near the baseball field.
She was taking a walk, which oftentimes she would do. When she got to the baseball field,
she decided that she needed a break, so she sat down on the bleachers. NATE GARTRELL: Livermore is basically hot year-round,
but at night, it's pretty nice out. Probably very seemingly peaceful up until the point
that he approaches her. She initially saw this person. It sounded like he said her nickname to her, which
she thought was her nickname. She got up to move because she didn't recognize the person,
and then that's when he ran up behind her, grabbed her. ANTHONY BATREZ: He put his hand over her mouth,
and he started to pull her away. COLLEEN MCMAHON: He dragged her over to a more secluded area on the baseball field,
and she struggled with him. She was trying to get away, and he kept threatening her, telling her to be quiet, shut up
or I'm going to hurt you. I'm going to cut you. She never did see a knife, but he threatened that he had one.
So at that point then, he pulled her pants and underwear down and told her to stop struggling with him.
Otherwise, he would suffocate her. NATE GARTRELL: He forced her to orally copulate him
and inappropriately touched her too. After he ejaculated in her mouth, she actually spit it out on the floor.
NANCY GRACE: The suspect then removes almost all of Jane Doe's clothes, telling her don't move until he's gone.
COLLEEN MCMAHON: He took her shirt and her bra, told her to stay put, not move, scream, or yell
for help for about 20 minutes. And then he took off running. She didn't see where he went.
She waited a little bit, and then she was able to collect her shirt and her bra some distance away.
And then she ran back to her boyfriend's house. NANCY GRACE: The survivor gives a description of her attacker
and even what he was wearing. COLLEEN MCMAHON: He was wearing some type of face covering, whether it be a nylon
or something over his face. He also was wearing a hoodie. She also said that he was wearing some type of gloves,
like an off-white kind of knit fabric-type glove. She said he smelled like motor oil,
and he was about 6 foot tall, 170, 180 pounds, medium build. NANCY GRACE: The officers know they must collect evidence
as quickly as possible, so they ask the victim to return to the scene of the crime.
COLLEEN MCMAHON: So they were able to collect any DNA left or any slight evidence that could
help catch the perpetrator. They saw a liquid that was consistent with semen, and they collected it.
COLLEEN MCMAHON: Pictures were also taken of the crime scene, but unfortunately, those were misplaced
and ultimately destroyed. NANCY GRACE: It's almost an unimaginable ordeal for this victim who has been sex attacked to be taken back
to the scene of the crime so quickly after the assault. But horrible as it is for her, it yields vital evidence.
As soon as the investigators can, they rush her to a hospital for a sex assault exam.
COLLEEN MCMAHON: She was taken to Highland Hospital and received what is called a Sexual Assault Response
Team, so a SART examination. So that is an examination one undergoes after they've
been sexually assaulted. So she was taken to Alameda County Hospital. She had bruises on her knees and her elbows.
She had scratches in her chest and back area that were consistent with a struggle.
NANCY GRACE: The survivor hugely relieved when she learns her pregnancy is not at risk.
Thankfully, she was able to protect her child. NANCY GRACE: Police immediately launched an investigation
to ID the perp. BRITTNEY ENGLAND: The responding crime scene technician developed a map for an overview of Livermore High School
so they could understand which direction the suspect came from and where the victim was sitting and when first contacted
by the suspect, as well as where he left her clothing when he left, where the sexual assault occurred,
and the direction he took when he fled the scene. We felt like it might have been someone who knew the area
and who was local and who would probably live pretty close to those locations. BRITTNEY ENGLAND: Detectives began
checking the area, along with the officers on scene. They stopped a subject who was seen in the area who
had a similar description, and they were able to rule him out as being a suspect.
They then entered this assault into a shop database which loads sexual assaults to show consistencies in MO
or pattern of these. Officers begin doing sexual registrant checks for people in the area with similar MOs or patterns.
And they also began reaching out to try to find any witnesses in the area. It also went out in the newspaper.
ANTHONY BATREZ: Livermore is a family-oriented, small community. At that time of the attack, the crime rate was not high at all.
It was very rare to have a crime like that occur in the city. NANCY GRACE: All the evidence is sent for forensic testing
and a DNA profile developed and uploaded to CODIS, the national DNA database. BRITTNEY ENGLAND: Because it was a violent felony
sexual assault, it was uploaded into the CODIS system. If a sexual assault or any other DNA
was submitted with the same DNA, a hit would be formed. NANCY GRACE: Investigators quickly notified
that DNA from the Livermore rape is a match to another crime. ANTHONY BATREZ: That's when we got
a case to case hit between the Livermore case and the Union City case. NANCY GRACE: For the moment, investigators
feel lucky because of a quick DNA match on the national database. But as we see next, the "Bloodline Detectives"
have many, many more obstacles to overcome. September 1997. Livermore Police investigating the shocking and brutal rape
of a 22-year-old young woman who is eight months pregnant when she is attacked. Almost immediately, CODIS, the national DNA database,
links the DNA from that crime scene to another attack. Just four months before the Livermore attack,
a 41-year-old woman assaulted in nearby Union City, California. COLLEEN MCMAHON: The victim clocked out at work
at around 5:30 and walked down the street, walked through the empty lot toward the railroad tracks
to get over to Dakota Road. Once she neared those railroad tracks, she started to hear some footsteps coming from behind.
And she looked behind her, and she saw this man whom she did not recognize. A subject came out of nowhere and began
doing the similar method of, like, he's circling his prey, at which time he came up behind her.
NANCY GRACE: Not unlike the first attack in Livermore, the perp holds his victim's neck and mouth tightly as he drags
and pulls her to the ground. COLLEEN MCMAHON: She felt, like, a knit scratchy-type material
on her mouth. He was wearing a knit glove. And then dragged her to a field. It was in a secluded area.
NANCY GRACE: The victim takes out a knife she has concealed to fight back, but very quickly, she's overpowered.
Her boyfriend was really scared for her safety and provide her with a knife to protect
herself on these long walks. The victim was scared. She thought that he was going to kill her.
She then asked him, are you going to kill me? And he told her, no. I'm not going to kill you.
I'm just going to rape you. She was wearing overalls at the time. He was trying to pull her pants down.
He didn't realize she was wearing overalls because she had a jacket over her. He then began threatening to kill her and slit her throat.
She was extremely scared for her life. COLLEEN MCMAHON: He used the knife to cut her overall straps, her bra, and her underwear.
NATE GARTRELL: He sexually assaulted her basically in the same way as he would sexually assault the victim
in Livermore four months later. COLLEEN MCMAHON: So then he stood in front of her
and forced her to orally copulate him, and then he ejaculated in her mouth, which
she then spit into her jacket. NANCY GRACE: And just like in the first attack, he then takes the survivor's clothes, warning her,
don't move for 20 minutes. COLLEEN MCMAHON: She had no idea which direction he ran.
And then as soon as she thought the coast was clear, she then ran back to Glassworks, where she worked.
She was met with a coworker, who said she was frantic and upset. And she relayed what had just occurred to her, that she was
a victim of sexual assault. They then called the local police department. COLLEEN MCMAHON: Union City Police Department officers
came out to that location. They took an initial statement. NANCY GRACE: But the survivor is able to give officers
a description of the attacker. BRITTNEY ENGLAND: She provided a suspect description of a white male adult
between 30 and 39 years of age. He was about 6 foot tall, around 180 pounds. BRITTNEY ENGLAND: He was wearing blue jeans,
a blue hooded zip-up sweatshirt with the hood over his head, and white knit gloves.
She also thought that he had a slight southern accent. Which was similar also to the description
given by the victim in the Livermore Police investigation. NANCY GRACE: The victim even shows officers where
the attack takes place, and she's taken to the hospital for an SART exam. ANTHONY BATREZ: She took them back to the scene
where the incident occurred so they can look for evidence and collect evidence. COLLEEN MCMAHON: They collected her belongings, including
her jacket, and then they brought her to Alameda County Hospital, where she underwent a Sexual Assault
Response Team examination. BRITTNEY ENGLAND: They found that she had bruising and abrasions to her elbows.
She also had bruising and a redness to around her neck, which was consistent with her recollection of events of being held down
by her throat by the suspect. They also collected her clothing to try to get any DNA or any touch DNA from the suspect
because they were in such close quarters during the sexual assault. COLLEEN MCMAHON: She still had her jacket on,
but it was pushed up over her head. So while he was able to force her to orally copulate him,
the jacket was still hanging up around her head area. So when she spit it out, the ejaculate went
right onto the jacket itself. BRITTNEY ENGLAND: Those investigators uploaded that DNA
sample into CODIS, which matched with our CODIS upload as a case to case match. NANCY GRACE: Investigators then began
looking, searching for other unsolved cases with a similar MO. ANTHONY BATREZ: Between 1995 through 1987,
we had four other assaults that had similar MO to the Union City case as well as the Livermore case.
NANCY GRACE: At this point, investigators realize they've got a serial rapist on their hands
simply because of the sheer number of the attacks and always almost the same exact MO in every attack.
As we see next on "Bloodline Detectives," investigators compile as many similar case files as they can
to help them catch a predator. 1997. Detectives in the San Francisco Bay Area hunting a serial rapist.
The same suspect now linked to two recent rapes nearby. Revealing unsolved cases, they believe the perpetrator
committed other attacks in 1995 and '96 on or near Granada High School. Investigators find another similar attack from August 6,
1995, when a 13-year-old little girl attacked on her paper route. She was riding her pike past Granada
High School when a male came out and attempted to attack her. Using her bike as leverage, she
was able to break free from him and pedal home, because she lived nearby, to tell her parents what occurred.
And she was able to escape from him. NANCY GRACE: Then detectives link yet another case.
On October 27, 1995, a 16-year-old little girl attacked walking across a local football field.
BRITTNEY ENGLAND: She saw a subject riding a bicycle, approaching from the rear, jumping off his bicycle
and tackling her to the ground. He then threw her up against a chain-link fence and was beginning to try to sexually assault her.
She had a puffy jacket on. She was able to slip out of her jacket and get away. NANCY GRACE: Then investigators link what is perhaps the most
brutal attack on May 4, 1996. She had got in an argument with her boyfriend, and she went for a walk at Granada High
School near the football field. And she was walking near the track area when she was attacked from behind by the suspect
and taken to the ground. He had started to drag her towards the dugouts and told her if she kept screaming, he would cut her.
The victim pleaded and said, I just had a baby. Please don't hurt me. NANCY GRACE: But the attacker becomes even more violent.
He starts punching the victim as she struggles to get free. BRITTNEY ENGLAND: While dragging her this long distance,
he would stop and punch her and hit her and then continue dragging her. NANCY GRACE: Finally, the young woman dragged into the baseball
dugouts and sex attacked. BRITTNEY ENGLAND: She was begging, pleading to him that she had just had a baby, that she
still had injuries from having a vaginal birth two weeks prior. Even though she just had a baby and still
had these internal injuries, he still continued to violently sexually assault her.
NANCY GRACE: In a sick replay of his previous attacks, the perp tells the victim he's leaving.
He takes her clothes and tells her, don't move for 10 minutes. When police get to the scene, she's
able to describe her attacker. Unfortunately, there is not enough forensic evidence
to link that suspect to these crime scenes. This was the '90s, so there was no surveillance cameras.
There's no type of alarm system or anything that might capture an image that might
possibly lead to a suspect. BRITTNEY ENGLAND: There was no DNA collected on any of those cases.
So even though we had the similar MO, similar suspect description, and believed they all had the same suspect
as the Livermore Police main investigation and Union City, without DNA, we were unable to take those investigations
any farther. As far as we know, those were all the attacks at the high school from '95 to 1997.
After that, the attacks actually stopped. We were trying to figure out if it was somebody who came into town for a few years
and then moved away. NANCY GRACE: 2019, the cases are reopened by Livermore Police.
ANTHONY BATREZ: We would check the database once a year to see if the DNA profile matched anybody
in CODIS, which it did not. But we knew that these cases were linked because the DNA
donor was the same. NANCY GRACE: Detectives reach out to the district attorney's office.
They want to pursue the forensic science known as genetic genealogy. In June 2019, forensic samples are
sent to a specialist laboratory, so an SNP, or SNP profile, can be developed. MARK MELTON: SNPs referred to Single
Nucleotide Polymorphisms. And so these are the kinds of DNA uploaded into genealogical websites that you or anybody else
might do to find out who their relatives may be. And so this kind of DNA testing looks at a much broader
spectrum of the human genome than the DNA testing that they do to go into the CODIS databases.
And then the SNPs are then uploaded into the genealogical databases, and that's really where
your investigation starts. NANCY GRACE: On July 25, that profile is uploaded to a genealogy website.
Just four days later, the genetic genealogy consultant contacts the investigators with solid leads.
BRITTNEY ENGLAND: She advised that she had found a distant family member and was able to provide us
with that name. By providing us that name, we were able to start working forward, with her assistance,
to get a list of suspects. MARK MELTON: I think that there were 16 first cousins.
It turned out that at least eight of them were women, so you could eliminate them immediately
because a woman obviously can't be the source of any of the sperm found at the scene.
Now, that left eight other cousins that were male, any of whom potentially could have been the perpetrator.
And then that's where you get involved in some basic police investigation. ANTHONY BATREZ: Detective England and I had a look
into these people, of their criminal history, where they live, their description
to see if they match a description of our suspect. Went back to news articles to see where they were
or driver's licenses where they were living at the time of the incidents occurred.
NANCY GRACE: After over two decades of waiting, investigators finally ID a likely suspect.
BRITTNEY ENGLAND: The suspect we were able to identify was Gregory Paul Vien. So who is Gregory Vien, and how
does he evade police 25 years? As we'll see next on "Bloodline Detectives," investigators
in Livermore start looking into Gregory Vien's background and criminal history. 2019.
Investigators in Livermore, California, have a DNA match and now a prime suspect
in a series of sex attacks going back 25 years. His name, Gregory Vien. Gregory Vien was a 61-year-old man living in Livermore.
He was married. He had two biological daughters and one stepdaughter. He was from San Lorenzo, Hayward area of California.
ANTHONY BATREZ: He was 37 years old at the time these incidents occurred. We were able to pull his driver's license from that time
frame, and the picture and the description actually matched the description of the suspect.
NANCY GRACE: Officers can now place Vien close to the crime scenes at the time of the attacks.
Gregory Vien lived at 138 Cameo Drive in the city of Livermore, which is approximately one mile
to Granada High School and 3.1 miles to Livermore High School, and that's where these assaults took place.
So he lived close by At the time that the Union City crimes occurred, he and his wife were estranged, and he was living
with a co-worker friend of his. Company he worked for doing maintenance, he was going back and forth to different complexes,
and he would go to Fremont, Union City. Every day, he would travel past the Union City crime scene
to get to and from work. The Livermore victim remembered a distinct odor of motor oil coming from the suspect.
And at the time that the crimes occurred, he was working for a property management company,
and he was in charge of their maintenance crew. NANCY GRACE: Gregory Vien also has previous encounters
with law enforcement. BRITTNEY ENGLAND: After we got the name Gregory Vien, we started doing a complete record check on him.
We found out he did have a prior criminal history, which consisted of drug possession.
ANTHONY BATREZ: He was arrested for assault and battery, possession of stolen property, theft.
His DNA was never uploaded to CODIS because he had never been arrested for a violent felony, which is the parameters
to upload DNA up to CODIS. We decided to start conducting surveillance on him to see
his everyday movements, to see what he looked like now, and to get as much intelligence and information
we could about him. NANCY GRACE: August 18. Detectives follow Vien to an ice cream store
in the hopes of securing DNA evidence. NATE GARTRELL: Being a potential relative of a rapist obviously
isn't a crime. So they don't have enough to forcibly get his DNA at that point. So what they have to do is follow him around
surreptitiously and hope that he spits on the curb or does something to give up a piece of DNA
that they can then rush in and collect. And that's what happened in this case. Mr. Vien's undoing was going to get ice cream.
MARK MELTON: They followed him to a Baskin-Robbins ice cream place in Union City, recovered a spoon that he used.
He went like this with the spoon, and he put it in his cup and threw it in the trash.
And the police were watching this whole thing, and they rushed in and took the spoon, took it into evidence.
NANCY GRACE: The following day, detectives also get evidence from outside Vien's home.
BRITTNEY ENGLAND: We wanted to make sure that we had another surreptitious sample.
So we continued surveillance into that night. We followed Greg and his wife back to the residence.
And it was trash night, and we saw Gregory Vien bring his trash cans out to the street.
We went and collected his trash cans and brought them to a enclosed evidence area
where we went through his trash. And we found Pacifico beer bottles, and we sent those off to the lab to get
those comparison tested to the DNA from the crime scenes. MARK MELTON: It turned out that the DNA
from the spoon and the beer bottle matched each other. They both matched Mr. Vien.
NANCY GRACE: The forensic evidence against Gregory Vien, very strong. So is evidence of his movements when the attacks take place.
As we see next, the only thing left for the "Bloodline Detectives" to do is confront the suspect.
Livermore detectives obtain a warrant to arrest Gregory Vien for a series of violent rapes going
all the way back to the '90s. Law enforcement set out to arrest him. I was in phone contact with the Livermore Police Department
in case they wanted to talk to me about any issues or questions that came up. BRITTNEY ENGLAND: We didn't know enough about him
to safely enter his house to arrest him. So we planned a ruse, which consisted of a Livermore Police
detective dressing up as a City of Livermore employee who was doing maintenance on the sidewalk.
He approached Gregory Vien's house and knocked on the door and asked Gregory Vien if he would be willing to move
his vehicle to the sidewalk because if not, they were going to be doing work on the sidewalk,
and he was going to get his vehicle blocked in the driveway. Gregory Vien told him, hold on a second,
let me get some shoes on, and then exited the residence to move his truck. Once he was in the driveway, the units
converged on Gregory Vien's location in the driveway. Hello. Are you Gregory Vien?
Yes I am. BRITTNEY ENGLAND: I'm Detective England, and this is my partner, Detective Escavo,
with the Livermore Police Department. Yes. BRITTNEY ENGLAND: So basically, I wanted to take you back to the police department
where we can talk a little bit more privately so I can tell you everything that's going on today.
Just hold on one second. Hold on a second. BRITTNEY ENGLAND: Do you need shoes and stuff?
Yeah. I needed to move my truck for these guys so they can do their work outside here.
We'll take care of that. BRITTNEY ENGLAND: We'll take care of all that for ya. We don't want him to retreat back into his house
because that could be dangerous. So we took him to the Livermore Police Department.
GREGORY VIEN: What is all this about? BRITTNEY ENGLAND: Like I told you, I don't want a big ol' scene for all your neighbors.
Come on. - Are you locking up my house? BRITTNEY ENGLAND: Yeah. - We're not leaving.
BRITTNEY ENGLAND: Like I told you, I'll explain everything once we're in the car
and we're out of neighbor sight. GREGORY VIEN: [INAUDIBLE] Can you take a seat right here?
And we'll be with you in just a second, OK? Right here. I'll be with you in just a second.
- You need some water? - Please. Thank you. COLLEEN MCMAHON: Overall, his general demeanor
was that of somebody who was pretty arrogant, pretty smug. I think he thought he was the smartest man in the room.
And I think he thought that he was completely in control of that interview. However, that was not the case.
We have a warrant for your arrest. The allegations are sexual in nature. Really?
Yeah. Do you know who would make these allegations that are sexual in nature? Do you know who would corroborate these?
I'm sure it's all bull [BLEEP].. BRITTNEY ENGLAND: At certain points in the interview when I was really pushing him,
I saw anger, very-- like, anger in his eyes and in his tone. He would become angry, very just hostile, angry.
And then it would turn off again. Is there anyone out there that you think came forward and made
allegations against you? I've never pressured anybody for anything. Never. Ever.
Not even the slightest sexual-- - No. - Whether it be-- No, I never-- I never pressured anybody for anything.
--oral sex-- No. --sexual intercourse-- You know. --a handjob? Nothing. COLLEEN MCMAHON: At some points, when he was asked some pretty
direct questions, he got pretty nervous and jittery, started moving around a lot, tapping his foot.
Started to sweat a little bit. And that was at the point when he was shown some pictures
of the uncharged victims. So there were three victims that we weren't really able to connect to him with forensic evidence.
What about her? No. You don't recognize her? No. Never had any sexual relations with her?
Absolutely not. What about her? No Never seen anybody? Never seen her before. None of these girls?
Never had sex with them? Never seen them? - No. You guys are barking up the wrong tree.
OK. You really are. OK. But no consensual sex? No dating? I don't think so. No. Any forced sex with her?
Absolutely not. Never had forced sex with anybody. OK. MARK MELTON: In the interview, he looked almost defiant
and a little bit arrogant because certainly at the time he was first interviewed, he didn't
know about the DNA evidence. I don't know on what basis he thought he was being arrested.
He maintained that reputation of arrogance and, you know, I got away with this for so long.
I'm going to continue-- this is-- I'm going to get away with this. Never remorse or oh, I've been caught,
or oh, it's time to tell the truth. I never saw any of those characteristics in Mr. Vien.
I guess I can have candy still. Yeah. Just wait until we take-- - Just hold on. Till we take the--
Let them do the swab, and then you can eat all the candy you want. At the conclusion of the interview,
I obtained a search warrant to obtain another DNA buccal swab from Gregory Vien's cheek, just so I have a legal sample
to compare it to all the other samples that we had from the crime scene to the surreptitious sample.
Once we collected those from Gregory Vien, we sent those to the lab for comparison,
and they were confirmed a match with all the other samples, that he was in fact the suspect
and that his DNA matched. We charged him with counts in each case of forced oral copulation.
And I do know that we charged him with counts of digital penetration. And the key thing was that we charged him
with those enhancements that allowed us to defeat any statute of limitations arguments that could have
knocked the case out of court. NANCY GRACE: Finally, investigators contact Vien's victims, telling them they've
got the attacker in custody. BRITTNEY ENGLAND: We decided that it was time to tell the victims.
She went speechless on the phone. I think she was shocked. She didn't know what to say.
And she said she was extremely relieved that after all these years that she knows who did this.
NANCY GRACE: Then a bizarre twist. While waiting for trial, Gregory Vien is released
from prison due to COVID. Imagine the pain and the suffering this causes his victims, who have waited so long,
as well as fear for the entire community. COLLEEN MCMAHON: From the time that he
was arrested up until April 24 of 2020, he was in custody. And his bail was originally no bail,
and then it was reduced to $2.5 million, of which he wasn't able to meet. NATE GARTRELL: Once the COVID-19 pandemic hit,
he was released on zero dollar bail by a superior court judge. Basically, the judge found that the danger that he presented
to the public wasn't great enough to overcome the potential danger for him if he
caught COVID-19 in jail because he was getting up there in age. He was released on house arrest
with an ankle monitor because of COVID, pending the judicial process finishing. MARK MELTON: I was dumbstruck because the crimes were
so serious, his exposure was so great, by which I mean he faced so many years in prison, that there would be a lot of reasons
for him to want to flee the jurisdiction. The victims were devastated. I fielded several calls.
We spoke on the phone quite a few times. They were both emotional, crying, yelling,
and rightfully so. They had just spent the better part of their adult lives looking over their shoulders.
They finally were relieved and felt safe because their attacker was behind bars,
and now he was out, and he knew who they were. NANCY GRACE: Investigators are now
determined to get Gregory Vien back behind bars as quickly as possible. Colleen McMahon organizes a special preliminary hearing,
and the survivors finally get to go face-to-face with their attacker. COLLEEN MCMAHON: They were both extremely nervous
about having to confront him in court, the Livermore victim moreso than the Union City victim.
And I think a lot of that had to do with their age. The Livermore victim, at one point,
really didn't even want to come to court. She found the courage to do it. She realized if she didn't come forward that maybe he would get
away with this and maybe in the future do this to somebody else. The Union City victim had the resolve
that she was going to follow through with this all the way till the bitter end. BRITTNEY ENGLAND: We started the court process
of the preliminary hearings. The Livermore Police victim gave testimony as well as the Union City.
And the next day, a victim was supposed to continue her testimony, as well as I was
supposed to start my testimony. NANCY GRACE: With the following morning comes gruesome news.
As I was getting ready for court that morning, I got out of the shower, and I saw
I had probably 25 missed calls and even more text messages. And I was being notified that Gregory Vien had taken his life
before court that morning. It became pretty clear pretty quick that what actually happened was he left his home with a nail
gun and drove a short distance away from his home in Livermore, and he shot himself
with the nail gun in the head and in the chest near his heart. He had shot himself in the head with a nail gun
and then actually driven home and that emergency personnel were called from there.
The going theory is that he thought that, you know, his goose was cooked and that he was definitely,
you know, in trouble after they testified. NANCY GRACE: Gregory Vien's death leaves
everyone with mixed emotions. I don't personally know why Gregory Vien took his life.
I think that he didn't want to spend his life in prison, the rest of his life in prison.
And I also think that he didn't want everybody to know the monster he was inside.
Because for so many years, he's been a good father and a good dad, and I don't think he wanted anybody
to know the other side of him. NANCY GRACE: The survivors can now finally start to heal, knowing the person who attacked
them two decades before can never hurt them or anyone else ever again. COLLEEN MCMAHON: Both victims were such survivors and so
courageous, and how they both testified was truly something amazing. BRITTNEY ENGLAND: To use this new technology of genealogy
was amazing. I learned so much as an investigator. I got to work with a bunch of good people,
and we got to work together to give two victims closure. NANCY GRACE: The case of the Livermore rapist
is a lesson in good versus evil. Inside a seemingly good family man lived a monster, a monster who carried
out horrible acts, a man who was the personification of evil. Yet from that evil, courageous survivors
emerge whose faith in goodness sees them through the ordeal. And of course, there's the determination of the "Bloodline
Detectives," who bring about justice and closure to these courageous women. I'm Nancy Grace.
Thanks for joining us on "Bloodline Detectives." [MUSIC PLAYING]

In 1997, a woman is attacked on her route home. A suspect is arrested over 20 years later with the help of a genetic genealogical search.

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

The episode details the Alameda County rapist case, focusing on survivor stories and the eventual capture of Gregory Vien through DNA evidence.

Key points

The Alameda County Rapist Unmasked. This episode reveals the harrowing story of survivors and the eventual capture of their attacker.
A Match in CODIS. Investigators link the DNA from the Livermore rape to another attack, revealing a serial rapist.
DNA Evidence Collected. Detectives gather crucial DNA evidence from a spoon and beer bottle linked to Vien.
Gregory Vien's Release. Due to COVID-19, Vien is released from prison, causing distress among victims.
Tragic End. Gregory Vien takes his own life before facing court, leaving mixed emotions behind.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Don't hurt my baby.

A young woman pleading for her unborn child during an assault.

0:29WatchJun 1, 2022

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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