TX TX - Cheryl Henry, 22, & Andy Atkinson, 21, Houston, 21 Aug 1990

[maima]

If you do, I'd like to see it. There do seem to be enough similarities to make these cases worth looking at together. Poor Cheryl and Andy's case seems to have hit a brick wall but I am sure there are more attacks from this suspect out there; it's just a matter of finding them.

Well, now the folks at the AETV message board about EAR-ONS tell me that it is likely that the DNA profile for the Houston cases has already been entered into the national CODIS database, and since there has been no match to any other profile, it must not be a match to EAR-ONS's DNA (which is also in CODIS).

I'm afraid this was a dead end.

 

[chicagofa13]

Well, now the folks at the AETV message board about EAR-ONS tell me that it is likely that the DNA profile for the Houston cases has already been entered into the national CODIS database, and since there has been no match to any other profile, it must not be a match to EAR-ONS's DNA (which is also in CODIS).

I'm afraid this was a dead end.

I thought the sister had said earlier in the thread that the DNA had been entered and there had been no matches (obviously). But it is good to have another clarification.

ETA: I found it. It wasn't the sister but someone else posted an article. It is post #50


DNA profiling was still in its infancy, and the HPD crime lab had yet to set up the necessary technology.
Belk had to get special permission from the department to have the DNA lab at Baylor College of Medicine process the sample. The resulting profile was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). But a link was never found to any other crime until after the Harris County Sheriff's Office started sending a backlog of old rape kits from unsolved sexual assault cases to be processed at the Medical Examiner's Office, Belk said.
The medical examiner developed DNA profiles and submitted them to CODIS. In October, the database registered a match with a rape that occurred just two months before Henry and Atkinson were killed.

 

[zwiebel]

BBM

Yes, it was poorly written. 'May be Latino' or 'may be of Latin origin' would have been more clear. Generally if the suspect's country of origin has been verified they will use it, like French or Italian (and in order to do that they usually have a lot of info to confirm where someone is from!). The problem with Spanish speakers in the US, most people can't tell what kind of Spanish they are using or where they are from by their looks. So the catch alls of 'latino', 'hispanic', 'of Latin origin', come into play. I don't mean to offend anyone by my post. It's just a fact of life here.

I have wondered if they have done more in depth testing on the dna to obtain the suspects genetic heritage.I believe this was done in Morgan Harrington's case and the suspect is most likely African American.

This is the expensive one, isn't it? I wonder if we could get anyone to carry out the test for free, for this deserving case?

 

[zwiebel]

Well, now the folks at the AETV message board about EAR-ONS tell me that it is likely that the DNA profile for the Houston cases has already been entered into the national CODIS database, and since there has been no match to any other profile, it must not be a match to EAR-ONS's DNA (which is also in CODIS).

I'm afraid this was a dead end.

But well worth trying. And you have highlighted an unsolved case that I'd never heard of, so well done, anyway!

 

[zwiebel]

Does anyone have any suggestions about the kind of job this suspect may have had? To summarise:

He was free from, say 1am -3am during the rape attack, (allowing time for him to break in, wait, carry out the rape at 2am and then leave).

And from say 11pm -1am during the murders (allowing time for him to get to the 'lover's lane, murder Cheryl and Andy, and then leave).

I do think both these attacks required some forward planning, and these 'reccys' would have also been in the late night/very early morning hours.

If he'd had a normal 9-5, I'd have thought these were pretty late hours to keep. So maybe he didn't start work until late in the day. What could his job have been?

 

[McSpy]

I haven't seen any info about his 'mode of entry' into the Terra Cotta property. I am wondering if it was not considered important by media, or if LE didn't release the details because it could be important in a later court case. But if it was unique, why haven't they highlighted other home break -ins or attacks, where this was used? I am sure our killer left a trail elsewhere and releasing that info now might help track him down. Any new info might help, in fact.

No details of the woman who was raped appear to have been released except:
She was about 30, and put her attacker's age at about the same or a bit younger than herself. She worked in a striptease club and her then boyfriend was an airline pilot. The rapist asked, 'where's J.....? (boyfriend) as he attacked her. Given where she and Cheryl both worked, I think we can safely assume they had some shared physical characteristics (youth, attractiveness, slim build) but it would be very useful to know if they shared the same hair colour too.

I am also thinking you have a really valid point about the 'coincidence' that the rape survivor and Cheryl Henry, the murder victim, both worked - or had worked - in striptease clubs. As far as I can see, Cheryl had not worked in a club for some time before she died, and was simply home for the summer from college. The really sad thing is, imo, Andy had also just arrived in Houston. He had been brought up by his grandmother, and his father had only just persuaded Andy to move to Houston.

Bolded by me

okay, this makes a difference. Looks like it was a coincidence, unless the perp knew her from the past and knew what she did in the past. JMO

 

[McSpy]

Has anyone noticed that on top of the 'aged' missing poster it says 'could have been Latin"?

What does that mean, Italian?

Most likely they meant Hispanic, if you are talking about the perp's appearance. Texas borders Mexico. There is a large Hispanic population in Texas. Some of them have been in the US for generations. JMO

 

[chicagofa13]

BBM


This is the expensive one, isn't it? I wonder if we could get anyone to carry out the test for free, for this deserving case?

Yes, that's the test. I think it is similar to the one you can have done privately to learn your heritage.

 

[zwiebel]

Most likely they meant Hispanic, if you are talking about the perp's appearance. Texas borders Mexico. There is a large Hispanic population in Texas. Some of them have been in the US for generations. JMO

So it doesn't have to have been a foreign accent, do you think? It could just be olive-coloured skin that has led to that line of thinking. I still can't help questioning the accuracy of the drawing a bit - a stocking mask tends to thicken the lips and flatten the nose. Also, the woman wasn't sure if he had a beard or not.

ETA: I only know about the stocking mask effect because I tried it out for the purposes of this thread.

 

[zwiebel]

is this the sort of testing we're talking about?

http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/medicine/genetest.shtml

 

[zwiebel]

I'm having trouble finding a link for facilities that carry out this type of testing privately.

 

[zwiebel]

Hey guys, look at the profile of this killer. He's in jail but I think it's a good clue to our perp too. The similarities may not strike you at first, because he targeted young Moms with children. But:

He killed his victims savagely, with a knife.

He attacked one pair of victims in their home (Samantha and her daughter, Jazmine Bisset)
The home adjoined an open area. 1993

He attacked one pair of victims in an open park area (Rachel Nickell and her son), 1992.

He had, three years earlier, raped a woman in front of her children then confessed to his mother. His mother had notified LE, but no link was made with a rape and the investigation was discontinued. 1989

His victims bore a remarkable physical similarity.

He made maps of 'places of interest'.

"Robert Knapper is also believed to be the "Green Chain Rapist who carried out at least 70 savage attacks across south-east London over a four-year-period ending in 1994."

There were lots of mistakes made in this case, and undoubtedly a woman and toddler died who should not have done. An innocent man was indicted.

My point is, I think in this case, like the one above, the crimes our perp committed BEFORE Cheryl and Andy's murder, are very important. And they are there somewhere, just waiting to be found. I hope, hope they had a good, cold case officer on Cheryl and Henry's case.

I also think it would be worth the officers in charge of Cheryl and Andy's case consulting with their English counterparts. I am sure they would help.

Here's the link to the English case, anyway:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Napper

 

[McSpy]

Ummm. Okay, Click on these two links. Compare the photofits. Ignore the hair, even the features to some extent. But pay attention to the way those features are laid out; the spacing between them. I am a little bit of a portrait artist. The spaces/layout of features are how you get a real likeness. These match, imo.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-t...help-break-notorious-Lover-s-Lane-1635849.php

http://www.ear-ons.com/EnhancedComposites.html

hmm, I found this in the chron.com news link:

"The man wore a fishnet stocking over his face, black gloves, and a dark shirt and pants that matched, possibly a uniform. He held a long-barrelled handgun in his left hand. "Where's Randy?" he asked, referring to her boyfriend by name."

Fishnet stocking? I don't think they were popular in 1990. Probably only strippers wore these. Wonder where he got it? They aren't something you pick up at CVS or Walgreens.

 

[McSpy]

Hey guys, look at the profile of this killer. He's in jail but I think it's a good clue to our perp too. The similarities may not strike you at first, because he targeted young Moms with children. But:

He killed his victims savagely, with a knife.

He attacked one pair of victims in their home (Samantha and her daughter, Jazmine Bisset)
The home adjoined an open area. 1993

He attacked one pair of victims in an open park area (Rachel Nickell and her son), 1992.

He had, three years earlier, raped a woman in front of her children then confessed to his mother. His mother had notified LE, but no link was made with a rape and the investigation was discontinued. 1989

His victims bore a remarkable physical similarity.

He made maps of 'places of interest'.

"Robert Knapper is also believed to be the "Green Chain Rapist who carried out at least 70 savage attacks across south-east London over a four-year-period ending in 1994."

There were lots of mistakes made in this case, and undoubtedly a woman and toddler died who should not have done. An innocent man was indicted.

My point is, I think in this case, like the one above, the crimes our perp committed BEFORE Cheryl and Andy's murder, are very important. And they are there somewhere, just waiting to be found. I hope, hope they had a good, cold case officer on Cheryl and Henry's case.

I also think it would be worth the officers in charge of Cheryl and Andy's case consulting with their English counterparts. I am sure they would help.

Here's the link to the English case, anyway:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Napper

Right off the bat, I don't think there is a connection at all, because this man's British accent would have been very noticeable to the rape victim. He had spoke to her, so I'm pretty sure she would have picked up on his accent. It is quite different than the Texan accent. Something like that is very hard to disguise too. JMO

I think she would have even noticed an northeastern US accent too, because it is so different from the Texan accent. I guess this all depends on how much he talked, but even the word "talk" is pronounced differently in different regions of the US. JMO

 

[McSpy]

So it doesn't have to have been a foreign accent, do you think? It could just be olive-coloured skin that has led to that line of thinking. I still can't help questioning the accuracy of the drawing a bit - a stocking mask tends to thicken the lips and flatten the nose. Also, the woman wasn't sure if he had a beard or not.

ETA: I only know about the stocking mask effect because I tried it out for the purposes of this thread.

Going by the drawing, it seems she thinks he had olive skin and a dark look, which is very common with Hispanics. It is possible he was of Italian descent though. The US has a fairly large Italian population. Although, they are mostly concentrated in the east. Yet, as with all the older immigrant groups (Irish, Portuguese, Swedish, German, etc.), who had immigrated in the 1800s and 1900s, they have moved and settled all over the country. I'm sure the Houston area has their share of different groups, who have migrated. JMO

 

[McSpy]

Does anyone have any suggestions about the kind of job this suspect may have had? To summarise:

He was free from, say 1am -3am during the rape attack, (allowing time for him to break in, wait, carry out the rape at 2am and then leave).

And from say 11pm -1am during the murders (allowing time for him to get to the 'lover's lane, murder Cheryl and Andy, and then leave).

I do think both these attacks required some forward planning, and these 'reccys' would have also been in the late night/very early morning hours.

If he'd had a normal 9-5, I'd have thought these were pretty late hours to keep. So maybe he didn't start work until late in the day. What could his job have been?

Doesn't seem like he had to get up early, unless these crimes happened on the weekend. Off the bat, I would say he could have worked at a restaurant or he was a valet for a restaurant or night club. IMO, he worked at night, but got out between 10pm to 1am. Hospital shifts are usually 7am-3pm, 3pm-7pm, 7pm-11pm, 11pm-7pm for some staff. Not sure of all the staff. He may have worked flexible shifts too, but it doesn't seem like he worked during the early morning hours, unless he was an insomniac or unemployed. Another possibility is an airport. Maybe he worked with cargo or luggage. They work in shifts too. Just some thoughts . . .

However, if he went to strip clubs . . . isn't most of the action at night???

 

[McSpy]

bolded by me

I don't think this was a coincidence (their occupations). There is a 24 minute drive from Cheryl's murder site to the rape survivor's house. I think he targeted them and had watched them from afar. Seems that way to me at this point. Do you know if Cheryl lived at home with parents or with roommates? Maybe it was hard for this guy to get her in her home, so he saw an opportunity to get her at the lover's lane. Just speculating.

I am answering my own post here, but I just had a thought on this . . . maybe this guy remembers seeing Cheryl as a stripper in the past and saw her at the nightclub that evening . . then followed her. Just a thought . . .

 

[McSpy]

I looked up the day Cheryl and Andy went on their date. It was a Wednesday (Aug. 22, 1990). I noticed another article saying they went out on Aug. 21, 1990, but at any rate it was in the middle of the week.

 

[McSpy]

Correction: I said the perp could have been Hispanic, but here is part of an article someone posted:

"The ethnicity of the individual who left the suspect sample is 100 percent European," said Sgt. Billy Belk, with the Houston Police Department.

This leads me to believe the perp was most likely of Italian or Portuguese descent or had some southern European ethnic make up in his ancestry. However, it was August, so he could have been tanned.

 

[McSpy]

June 20, 1990 was a Wednesday. This was the day the rape happened. Interesting to know that these crimes happened in the middle of the week. What could it mean? Did he work on the weekends? He couldn't get away any other time of the week? Maybe he had a girlfriend, who he dated on the weekends?