Forensic Files - Season 7, Episode 16 - Within A Hair - Full Episode | Forensic Files

in 1996 a serial rapist preyed on women young and old in south bend indiana eventually three victims identified the
same man as the perpetrator but what happens when the forensic evidence points to one man
while the victims are pointing to another [Music] [Applause] [Music] throughout the spring and summer of 1996
police were investigating four sexual assault and burglary cases in the river park section of south bend indiana
all of the crimes occurred on weeknights between 8 and 11 pm and the descriptions
of the assailant were the same he was described as a young black male between 16 and 25 years of age about
five foot eight inches tall with a thin build one of the homes broken into belonged to
this woman who was asked not to be identified it had rained it had stormed and i was
in bed [Music] she says the perpetrator kicked in the door while she was asleep [Music]
she says she didn't get a good look at him since during the assault he covered her eyes with a shirt
first thing he said to me was [ __ ] i want your money in this case he assaulted her locked her
in a closet then stole her automobile but he was clever and left behind very few clues
he wore gloves so he wouldn't leave fingerprints and he wore a hood or mask to conceal his identity
i just tried to remember just do what he tells you to do and you'll be all right
and i was detectives sergeants sergeant cindy eastman and ann shellinger were investigating the crimes
there's nothing more stressful as an investigator than having a serial situation taking place because we know
until we solve this there are going to be more victims although the victims described the
assailant similarly his mo or method of operation in each case was different when we're looking at serial offenders
usually they stick with what works for them they normally carry the same weapon they normally approach the victim in the
same manner in some of the cases the perpetrator used a knife in others he used a handgun
sometimes he targeted young women on the street and other times broke into the homes of elderly women
in terms of forensic evidence investigators had very little in one case a semen sample
in another a pubic hair but few other clues the river park rapists most brazen crime
happened in july of 1996. the victims were a young man and his fiancee they were having an argument they
decided to stop the car get out just cool off talk it out seemingly out of nowhere the assailant
demanded money at gunpoint [Music] he struck the young man and took off with the woman sexually assaulting her
in a wooded area nearby [Music] when the police arrived their canine unit armed with the assailant's scent
identified a trail the dog walked past the tree line where the assault took place and continued
into a field at the spot where the dog lost the scent police noticed bicycle tire impressions
in the grass raising the possibility that he had used a bicycle to make his getaway
[Music] police staked out the neighborhood looking for men on bicycles who fit the
assailant's description it wasn't long before a suspect rode right into their trap
[Music] scores of police officers in south bend indiana searched the river park area in
a hunt for the river park rapist they were looking for a young black male living in the general vicinity of the
crimes who was using a bicycle as his method of transportation [Music] during a stakeout three months into the
crime spree a police officer saw a young black man matching the victim's description riding a bicycle just across
the street from one of the crime scenes the suspect was identified as 31 year old richard alexander
although he had previous brushes with the law alexander denied he was the river park rapist he claimed he was in
the wrong place at the wrong time i ain't did nothing man on my way home i'm the only you know
everybody in the area there's a quiet neighborhood whatever you know what i'm saying only black
going down the street on a brand new mountain bike they seen him riding his bike late and
so that's like a scapegoat they go you know a black man let's let's throw this on him
a search of alexander's apartment found a knife some hoods and bandanas at police headquarters investigators
placed alexander's picture along with five others in a photographic lineup and asked the couple who had been attacked
if their assailant was among them you don't recognize anyone the woman could not identify a subject
how about you that guy this guy here that's the one that's him but her fiance did i'm
absolutely certain he looked at the photo array and without hesitation pointed to the picture of
richard alexander as being the suspect that robbed them and sexually assaulted the victim
[Music] this was the only positive identification the other victims couldn't say for sure
but soon they would get a second chance police arranged for another lineup this time with the suspects in person
once again there were six suspects to choose from number six step forward and read the lines please
the first to step onto the stage was richard alexander reportedly one of the victims
gassed when they saw him walk out and perhaps even cried number three step forward and say your mind
each of the suspects was instructed to repeat phrases that the rapist had used during his attacks
[ __ ] i want your money where your car keys at uh don't talk uh i want your money
number six that's him after hearing his voice two female victims identified alexander as the
rapist bringing the number of identifications to three next forensic scientists analyzed the
pubic care found at one of the crime scenes since it didn't have a root it could not be used for dna testing
the only option was to compare it to richard alexander's hair visually to see if they look similar
the comparison was inconclusive scientists also had a semen sample from one of the victims who had been unable
to identify alexander from the police lineup when that sample was tested for dna
it did not match richard alexander so he was not charged for that crime [Music] but he was charged with rape confinement
burglary and theft in the three other cases at the trial the prosecution failed to make their
case to the jury barbara griffin was one of the 12 jurors i've been working public servant for
since 67 so i kind of know get a feel for people and i just on the first day i got a
feeling that this man didn't do this there were nine white and three black nine whites said guilty
two blacks said guilty but of lesser sentence and i said not guilty so i was the only hold out
and the jury was hung [Music] y'all got the wrong person four months later alexander was tried a second time with
the jury composed entirely of white men and women based on the three victims identifications
richard alexander was found guilty of two of the three assaults he was sentenced to 70 years in prison
we're just so devastated and just depressed because we knew in our heart he was innocent i was crying
you know what i'm saying because the way they did me you know what i'm saying just
tucked me off the street took my life from me barbara griffin could not believe the
news i was so angry i was just angry i felt like this is another black man going to prison i felt that way
even officer eastman had her doubts i was sorry and somewhat surprised to hear that the jury did convict
i was very conflicted i i had my doubts but i could not prove it with alexander behind bars police
assumed the river park rapes were over but they were wrong had the authorities jailed the wrong man
[Music] richard alexander says the first year in prison was the hardest but the second third and fourth years
behind bars weren't a lot easier there is a pecking order in prison murderers and thieves are held in higher
regard than child molesters and rapists alexander says he saw more violence inside the prison than he ever saw
outside i'm afraid now i'm gonna get killed y'all seen guys get raped in the in the shower seen guys get right
home in the shower taking the shower and they got this homosexual in there look like a girl you know what i'm saying and
uh you got about two guys in there so i hear every guy out there the boys and then knocked out and they
finally landed in the shower they thought it was dead blood everywhere alexander did what many inmates do he
wrote letters to everyone he could think of proclaiming his innocence and asking
for another trial with no success meanwhile the burglaries and sexual assaults continued
this time not in the river park section but just a short distance away and one of those victims identified
richard alexander's picture from a photo lineup as the assailant you're absolutely certain
even though alexander was in prison detective ryan harmon was assigned to investigate these new cases and noticed
similarities with the earlier cases i didn't investigate the river park rapes 1996. so
i became a lot more familiar with what happened back then [Music] the search for the perpetrator took an
unexpected turn in april of 2000 when a man called police to say there was a tan cadillac in his driveway and
there was a burglar inside when the intruder saw the homeowner he fled on foot in the foyer was a clear foot impression
which was collected for analysis in the assailant's car police found everything they needed
i found utility bills some receipts different pieces of paper that showed michael
murphy's name on there as well as a specific address and apartment number a background check revealed michael
murphy had been implicated for sexually assaulting his girlfriend's nine-year-old niece
yeah he touched her what actually stopped him from actually going through with it was um his pager
went off she said detective harmon interviewed both murphy's girlfriend and the little
girl's mother well these two girls just went off two hours about all these different types of
burglaries he had committed michael thought he was big and bad and thought he was cool what he was doing
and thinking he getting away with what he was doing with the search warrant investigators
discovered a pair of shoes in murphy's closet which matched the shoe impression at the burglary scene
murphy's girlfriend gave police some pictures of murphy with some of the items he had stolen in the burglaries
when confronted with the evidence murphy said little he'd say hey when i'm all hyped up on cocaine i need to go out
and just you know find a girl but things like that told me that he may be a sex offender
harmon then called the first investigator of the river park rapes to ask whether she had ever heard of
michael murphy he had been arrested by me the month prior so we began working together at that
point on murphy and various other crimes that he had been involved in when cindy eastman saw the photographs
given to police by murphy's girlfriend she saw an important clue in one of the pictures was a chrome and
glass wall clock stolen during a sexual assault in 1997 a crime that richard alexander was suspected of committing
eastman immediately phoned murphy's girlfriend she immediately said i know exactly what
you're talking about i remember when he came home with it it's hanging on my wall do you want it cindy revisited that
victim and asked her do you have any photographs that may depict the same clock and she had a photograph of her
her son during the holidays standing in front of this clock both detectives began to suspect
that the real river park rapist wasn't richard alexander but michael murphy they just needed some way to prove it
[Music] during richard alexander's trial five years earlier the pubic hair found on
one of the victims could not be tested for dna since there was no root material on the hair shaft
but science had changed in the five years since alexandra's conviction in 1996 forensic scientists began using
a new test to look for dna in a shaft of hair the new test was called mitochondrial dna
mitochondrial dna has given us tremendous power in forensic casework to solve the casework where no other dna
profile can be obtained it exists outside of the cell's nucleus although it is not as precise as nuclear
dna it still can provide much genetic information technicians clean the hair with chemical
solutions which purify the dna sample [Music] the second step is to amplify it or to
make enough copies to analyze the mitochondrial dna from the hair was compared to both richard alexander as
well as michael murphy the dna from the pubic hair did not match richard alexander
but it did match michael murphy we determined that at every place that we tested these two samples at all on an
average 800 bases that we compared they were identical to each other i got the word and it was just
absolutely exhilarating we knew then that richard alexander was going to be released from prison
next scientists performed dna testing of the second piece of evidence from the river park rapes semen from the rape
test kit in yet another surprise the dna did not match michael murphy as investigators assumed it would
the dna profile was then entered into the dna database of convicted sex offenders in the state of indiana
and there was another surprise it matched a third man a convicted sex offender mark williams
it was just unbelievable to get this call from the state police lab and there we have it we have the two suspects and
now it all makes sense ironically richard alexander michael murphy and mark williams looked similar
all three of these pictures showed a male black who appeared to be within a close age range all three had
similar musculature and statures all three of them had similar complexions and bone structure and
they did resemble each other which again answered the other mystery in this case
when confronted with the mitochondrial dna evidence michael murphy confessed he's just doing nothing but burglarizing
homes every day throughout the whole city looking back i think he's he's been well
over 200 to 250 that i know of that he's confessed to ironically michael murphy and his
girlfriend who knew nothing about the sexual assaults followed the river park rape cases on television
one time we were sitting at home watching tv and they showed the guy alexander i made a comment about you
know that's sad or what he done you know and if he done it i hope you know i told i said i hope
they kill him put him under you know and michael so they ain't gonna find nothing now he
ain't do them rapes in the face of this new dna evidence richard alexander was released from
prison after serving five years and four months for crimes he did not commit oh it was cheers
everybody stood up and cheered and hugged him and we got in the car and went home
it was so gratifying to me when afterward he came up to me and i held my hand out but he hugged me
and he thanked me and that's all that needed to be said it just solidified all the work you know
it was like going into that card game when you know you cut a royal flush and what's going to beat it
it still hurts it still hurts because really nothing's been done since i've been out you know what i'm
saying they uh i wanted the apology and you know saying they apologize but it ain't really nothing i'm saying
taking a man life five and a half years your life taken from your family loved ones kids all that stuff hurts
[Music] michael murphy was convicted of one count of burglary and one count of sexual molestation
he was sentenced to 30 years in prison mark williams was convicted of one count of rape and sentenced to 40 years in
prison [Music] richard alexander was a victim of mistaken identity his innocent bicycle ride passed a crime
scene cost him his freedom now science had vindicated him sometimes one tiny hair can say more about guilt
or innocence than a handful of eyewitnesses [Music] [Music] you

A look back at the case of the River Park Rapist, who assaulted four women in South Bend, Ind., during 1996. Law enforcement officers arrested Richard Alexander, who was convicted in 1998 and sentenced to 70 years in prison.

Forensic Files is the longest-running true crime series in television history. Evidence and interviews with experts help solve real crimes, disease outbreaks and accidents around the world.

Brief Summary

Richard Alexander was wrongfully convicted of rape; DNA evidence later identified the true perpetrator, Michael Murphy, exonerating him after five years in prison.

Key points

The River Park Rapist. In 1996, a serial rapist terrorized South Bend, Indiana, with multiple victims pointing to different suspects.
The Wrong Man Convicted. Richard Alexander was wrongfully convicted based on eyewitness accounts and circumstantial evidence.
DNA Evidence Exonerates Alexander. New forensic techniques reveal that Richard Alexander was innocent, leading to his release after years in prison.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I was so angry. I felt like this is another black man going to prison.

Juror's reaction to the conviction.

10:27WatchDec 10, 2021

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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