the final end of RDI The Unsolved Murder of JonBenet Ramsey and genetic genealogy on distal stain 007

Genetic genealogy leads to suspect in 1968 South Dakota murder of Gwen Miller

Gwen Miller, a 60-year-old Rapid City, South Dakota pharmacist, was found sexually assaulted and strangled in her bed at her home at Hall Street in 1968. She was described as quiet and unassuming and loved poetry. She had no husband or children and didn't share much unless she was close with people. She was well-liked by her neighbors and they spoke kindly of her.

On the morning of February 29th, 1968, Gwen did not show up for work. Several of her nurse co-workers at the hospital decided to check on her, fearing something happened to Gwen relating to her diabetes. The nurses found that the back door glass had been broken. They were able to enter the house and found Gwen lying in her bed with the covers pulled up neatly with no sign of a violent occurrence in the house. When Rapid City Police arrived, they discovered that she had been murdered. An autopsy discovered that she had a fractured hyoid bone, fractured thyroid cartilage, fractured ribs on both sides, and she had been sexually assaulted. The cause of death was manual strangulation.

A neighborhood canvas was conducted and a neighbor across the street said that they had seen a taxi come and go from the house the previous night at about 1030 PM. An unknown male or female got out of the cab and the taxi left. Taxi records were gathered, taxi drivers were interviewed and given polygraphs. No taxi or taxi drivers were ever implicated.

Male neighbors and male co-workers were considered suspects. The one main suspect that rose to the top was a man named Michael Beckers. Michael Beckers owned Beckers Pharmacy on Main Street. When Gwen first came to Rapid City she worked for him part-time at the Pharmacy. Gwen spoke to her co-workers about something having happened between the two of them but would not elaborate. Michael Beckers was known to be frequently intoxicated and he took a taxi everywhere. He also was known to go to Gwen's house on Hall Street; police were called on numerous occasions and one time he was pounding on the door and wouldn't leave. He was later cleared through DNA.

In 2005 and 2010 agents in South Dakota Criminal Investigation took some evidence, processed them and were able to obtain a DNA profile of the suspect.

In November of 2014, Detective Keefe began his cold case work in the department and focused most of his efforts on this case. He interviewed well over 100 people on this case and interviewed over 25 suspects.

In April of 2018, Keefe learned of genetic genealogy and a genealogist in California named Colleen Fitzpatrick of Identifinders International (also the co-founder of DNA Doe Project). Dr. Fitzpatrick was first able to determine the haplogroup for the suspect - Northern European and was able to find Y-DNA matches to the name "Fields." Colleen has worked on 200 case, about 120 of those involving just Y-DNA. She solved the first genetic genealogy case in 2014--the Phoenix Canal Murders. All Colleen was given was a string of numbers. She used proprietary software to take that string of numbers and compare it to the Y-profiles in databases online. There is "hundreds of thousands" of profiles. Dr. Fitzpatrick didn't find an exact match but she did find 6 or 7 near-matches to the name Field or Fields.

Detective Keefe then took that information and went to the Rapid City Public Library and consulted the big group of Polk directories- basically a "phone book on steroids." It lists everything about a person: spouse, job, kids, etc. He then made a spreadsheet from 1949 to 1975 using those directories, listing all the names of Field, Fields and few other variations. The only subject he found that lived anywhere close to Gwen Miller was a man by the name of Eugene Carroll Field.

With that in mind, Detective Keefe had to start looking for any connections between Gwen and Eugene Field. Detective Keefe found that Eugene was a ticketing agent for Western Airlines and Gwen flew out of his airport on a fairly regular basis. Detective Keefe then created a tree on Ancestry and found that Eugene's father was an only child, he only had one brother, and he only fathered one female child. Detective Keefe was also able to determine through there tree that the father's heritage was from England and matched the genetics Dr. Fitzpatrick conducted. He was then able to find that Eugene had two wives at different points, reached out to them, and confirmed that he was mentally and physically abusive. Another connection was that the house next door to Gwen Miller, where a beautician Gwen went to lived, was where Eugene rented a room from them several years before Gwen's murder. Detective Keefe learned that Eugene Carroll Field was born Feb 13 of 1943 and died in June 18, 2009 from a cancerous tumor in his throat that eventually cut off his air supply.

Detective Keefe then located and interviewed Eugene's only brother, and Eugene's brother confirmed the genealogy for him. Eugene's brother also voluntarily provided a buccal sample for the detective. Those two buccal swabs were submitted to the state lab for analysis. The forensic scientist there stated that the Y-chromosome from the brother's sample was an exact match to the Y-chromosome from the crime scene. The scientist was also able to determined that the brother was not the source of the crime scene DNA. She stated that she felt that the crime scene DNA and the brother's DNA were likely siblings. Another laboratory did a statistical analysis of the two profiles and determined that the likelihood of sibling-ship between the two profiles was 99.23%. The report also indicated that the crime scene could have also come from a nephew or uncle, however, that option was ruled out because Eugene only had one brother and their father was an only child. And neither brother had male children. Any children that they didn't know existed would have been too young to commit the crime.

You can watch the whole press conference at the Rapid City Police Department face book page.

https://www.rcgov.org/news/rcpd-cold-case-unit-solves-1968-gwen-miller-homicide-6661.html?fbclid=IwAR24ofpkwho0GtcD7eaRo73kLfuiP2VNSFLP96wAnRoOKcdHqnvuswjoPhI

https://www.argusleader.com/story/news/2019/06/17/rapid-city-police-solve-51-year-old-cold-case-help-genealogy-gwen-miller/1481518001/

https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/update-dna-genealogy-solved-rapid-city-rape-murder/article_9f0e53af-4efd-5a54-8494-f17f84a5b3b8.html

When you don't know the difference between an idea, a speculation, a theory and evidence - you'll run into trouble trying to get to know a case.

Excluding the ninja pedo fetish trolls who have arrived in full regalia to degrade both these subs with their twisted pedo fan fic fantasies, I'd assume the rest of us who bother to even remain subscribed still would like to discuss the case at length and hash out theories and whatnot. I would too but after an extended break to come back and see some of these ludicrous IDI posts that are no such thing - I see a serious discussion may now be too much to ask for.

This is a fleshed out write up on some things that need to be addressed. It's not the tldr version. If you want that, oh well.

WHAT WE KNOW

There are two primary camps: RDI and IDI. Ramsey(s) Did It and Intruder Did It. In the RDI camp, we have three sub camps: Patsy Did It (all), John Did It (all), and Burke Did It (R/J cover up). We all have the basis elements down and we all know there are plenty of questions that will never, ever be answered so the most we can do is try the most sensical, intuitive, logical, reasonable, and rational speculation and see if it adds up.

When it comes to the IDI camp, at this place 20 years later, it's pretty clear that IDI is a dinosaur to everyone who is familiar with the case. We get it now, there's plenty of evidence of RDI - but which R remains up for grabs. The IDI debate ended years ago with new information, insight, and revelations. It's only a "thing" for those who for whatever reasons never followed this case, never paid much attention, just didn't delve into it beyond the age old headlines and going ideas that those who have been more involved have known for awhile are refuted, discarded, irrelevant, etc.

Then there's the other faction of IDIer that are not seriously IDIers. They are trolls or Ramsey shills or mentally disturbed sorts, and of course, the twisted Karr style fetishists who want a canvas to roll out their disturbing fetish nonsense and attach it to this case. This camp doesn't actually care about this case, the facts or the evidence, or what happened to JonBenet. Their sole agenda is to degrade the discussion. They will neither respect nor regard the following points and will likely argue them in spite of reality. By their fruits they shall be known.

tricia griffith wrote:
Anti-K, this whole forum has example after example after example that an intruder did not commit this crime.

No one can show one scintilla of evidence of an intruder.

As owner, I do my best to stay out of actual discussions about a crime.

The JBR case is the one expection.

Websleuths is a leader in true crime information as well as discussion. People come here to get information. It is imperative we deal with the facts. Not fantasy.

All I ask for are facts and a logical connecting of the dots. Logic and facts.

When I get time I will be going through the forum to make sure the JonBenet Ramsey forum is being held up to the high standards just like all our other forums on Websleuths.

The days of allowing anyone to post anything because it's part of their "theory" are gone. Facts and logic. Very simple.

Host Tricia Griffith is a veteran radio disc jockey and owner of Websleuths.com and owner of Forums for Justice.org.

tricia griffith wrote:
Anti-K, this whole forum has example after example after example that an intruder did not commit this crime.

No one can show one scintilla of evidence of an intruder.

delmar england wrote:
Letter to Boulder Colorado District Attorney, Mary Keenan

The crime scene consisted of an obviously bogus multi-page "ransom note" utilizing local materials. JonBenet's body was left in the basement of the Ramsey home with crude trappings falling woefully short of presenting a convincing kidnap\murder scene as it was intended to do. Even without pointing out more of a very long list of corroborating facts, the bogus note and inept staging is more than sufficient to isolate the perpetrators to the Ramsey household. Only a few minutes in examining and evaluating the evidence is required to reach this conclusion. It is impossible to reach any other conclusion on the facts. There was and is no evidentiary reason to look anywhere else. The only mystery to be solved was and is which Ramsey did what in relation to JonBenet's death.

Although it is not possible to reach any other conclusion from the evidence, it is possible to ignore the evidence and mentally invent "evidence" to take the place of truth and keep it hidden. Prompted by preconceived notions set in a context of money and political influence in conjunction with investigative cowardice and incompetence, this is precisely what has been going on for over six years.

delmar wrote:
Handwriting? Patsy has not been ruled out by several examiners. By my own analysis, not of the writing, but of the mind match between the note and Patsy is clear. This is explained in my analysis of the "ransom note." So far, neither you nor anyone else has quoted and challenged it. So, to say the handwriting does not match the Ramseys, thus all Ramseys are excluded as author, is just another arbitrary declaration without substance. Note the exclusion of Ramseys necessarily depends on the intruder idea of no factual substance.

DNA? So, it does not match the family. So what? Who does it match? Unknown? If unknown, how can it be known to connect to the crime and be "evidence?" If the source of this DNA were known, then factually connected to the crime scene, then it is evidence. Absence this, it is just more speculation that caters to intruder mental creation.

Does the DNA have to be connected to the crime? Could it not be from a benign source totally removed from the crime scene? Again, the alleged evidence evidences nothing except itself with no known connection to the crime. No outsider as perpetrator is required to explain the DNA since no connection is known as crime related.

The same is true for boot print, hairs, fibers, etc.. A close look into anyone's house would most likely turn up all sorts of things whose source were unknown whether there is a crime or not. To call something whose source and cause is unknown as evidence is to say it causal related while simultaneously saying cause is unknown, thus relationship unknown; more "negative evidence." If my recollection of high school Latin is correct, this could be called "ignotium per ignotius", the unknown by the more unknown.

This "Ramsey defense" "thinking" is a direct and absurd contradiction that is without limit. With this kind of "investigative latitude", I dare say that one could "prove" anything; or at least, convince the deluded self that he or she has done so. "negative evidence?" Surely, thou jest. I repeat: All known evidence is local.

delmar england wrote:
For every "could be", there is a "could be not", therefore, inconclusive until cause is known. Right? No thing is evidence until evidentiary cause is known. Right? Are we in agreement so far? If not, please point out what you think is my error in thinking, and why you think it is error.

A shoe print is found in the basement whose cause is unknown. It "could be" evidence of an intruder. "Could be not" is forgotten and "evidence" of an intruder is declared to be fact. There is a palm print with cause unknown; a rope with source unknown that "could be" something brought in by an intruder; an unidentified fiber, a baseball bat that "could have" been used by the intruder; a bit of dirt or leaves at a window well which "could have" been disturbed by an intruder. The list goes on and on and on.

This massive "evidence" stated to be more consistent with a theory of intruder than Ramsey guilt is hot air, nothing more than a string of unknowns verbally laced together on "could be", simultaneously divorced from the known, and declared to be much evidence of an intruder. Ridiculous to the max. No wonder no one will step forward and answer questions about alleged evidence of an alleged intruder. Its indefensible.

The beauty of truth is that it is consistent. Every fact is a complement of and blends with every other fact without contradiction. The presence of a contradiction is also the presence of error. Are we in agreement up to this point?

DNA? So, it does not match the family. So what? Who does it match? Unknown? If unknown, how can it be known to connect to the crime and be "evidence?" If the source of this DNA were known, then factually connected to the crime scene, then it is evidence. Absence this, it is just more speculation that caters to intruder mental creation.

Does the DNA have to be connected to the crime? Could it not be from a benign source totally removed from the crime scene? Again, the alleged evidence evidences nothing except itself with no known connection to the crime. No outsider as perpetrator is required to explain the DNA since no connection is known as crime related


The same is true for boot print, hairs, fibers, etc.. A close look into anyone's house would most likely turn up all sorts of things whose source were unknown whether there is a crime or not. To call something whose source and cause is unknown as evidence is to say it causal related while simultaneously saying cause is unknown, thus relationship unknown; more "negative evidence." If my recollection of high school Latin is correct, this could be called "ignotium per ignotius", the unknown by the more unknown.

This "Ramsey defense" "thinking" is a direct and absurd contradiction that is without limit. With this kind of "investigative latitude", I dare say that one could "prove" anything; or at least, convince the deluded self that he or she has done so. "negative evidence?" Surely, thou jest. I repeat: All known evidence is local.

detective pinkie wrote:
Hold yourself to the same standards - explain why an intruder would leave a body and a note, simply and believably

tawny wrote:
the fail in logic is astounding.

This is an example of NO IDI explanation. Why would an intruder hide her body? Seriously, please answer that for me. Why would an intruder hide her body rather than take her with them and dump her, or leave her where she was? Did an intruder seriously believe she would NEVER EVER be found inside the house?

Serious question: Why would an intruder hide her body in a dark room in a basement?

If he wanted to ensure it was found, why hide it? If he had to bug out, not taking the kidnapped-turned-murdered with him, why did he leave the note?

Delay discovery to what end? If he were bugging out, why would he care when, where, and how she's found?

It makes zero logical sense.

ukguy wrote:
Mama2JML,
Why does an intruder need to bother with a RN at all, all that sitting around authoring a RN, increases the risk of being caught.

No JonBenet in the house tells its own story, when followed up with a ransom phone call, no RN is required.

There is no IDI explanation forthcoming as to why the said intruder did not remove JonBenet from the house, which is just as inconsistent as any staged kidnapping leaving JonBenet in the house!

Intruder plan of action: Enter Ramsey household remove JonBenet, dead or alive, relocate to the boot of awaiting car, then simply drive away. Next day phone ransom demands. Total time to execute less than fifteen minutes!

nimyat of reddit wrote:
There is absolutely 0 reason to start to write a draft ransom note and then write the real thing and make it that ridiculously long.

If it was a premeditated kidnapping, ('hid in the house' theory) why the fuck wouldn't you bring a ransome note with you and why the hell would you start to draft one and then write one on paper found in the house.

If it was a burglary turned kidnapping, why would you start to draft a ransom note, and then write the real thing 4 pages long? You would scribble something like "I've taken your daughter, dont contact police, deposit money at this location at this time if you want to see her again." A panicked burglar does not sit and start writing about his 'organisation'.

A lot of people get bogged down in the details of the case, because it is a fascinating one and it is very interesting, but the ransom note is the most ridiculous thing ever and was totally written by one of the family in my opinion. They also completely over thought it - mentioning the fathers business, his bonus, writing 4 pages worth etc.

There's no way the family wasn't involved. As for which one did it, that is what is hard to prove.

docg wrote:

Questions

An intruder intending to express his anger or disdain for the Ramseys would have had no reason to write a meaningless ransom note. A kidnapper would not have left both the note and the body. If the parents were involved in this together, as so many assume, such a note might serve to throw the police off the track, but only if the body were found, days later, in some remote area. Or never found. With the body hidden in the house, where it is sure to be discovered, the note only creates problems for the Ramseys, the only ones who could "logically" have written it. If they were not planning on getting the body out of the house before the police came, then why would they write an obviously phony note?

Also, why was the note hand printed? Why not print it via computer? Or paste words together from newspapers? If the parents, or anyone at all close to the family, wrote it, they would be risking exposure for sure.

Answers

No intruder would have had anything to gain by writing the ransom note. No intruder would have any reason to write it. A kidnapper would have taken the child (or her body) with him. If something had gone wrong with his plan, he would have had no reason to leave a possibly incriminating note. Someone intending to frame John or Patsy would not have written the note in his own hand, as that would be evidence of an intruder. The conclusion is simple: there was no kidnapper. There was no intruder. The note must have been written by someone on the inside -- and it does indeed read like a staged kidnapping attempt.

tawny wrote:
the fail in logic is astounding.

This is an example of NO IDI explanation. Why would an intruder hide her body? Seriously, please answer that for me. Why would an intruder hide her body rather than take her with them and dump her, or leave her where she was? Did an intruder seriously believe she would NEVER EVER be found inside the house?

Serious question: Why would an intruder hide her body in a dark room in a basement?

Serious question: Why would an intruder hide her body in a dark room in a basement?