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On the Case with Paula Zahn Season 26 Episodes
Season 26 Episode Guide
12 Episodes 2023 - 2023
Episode 1
Follow the Blood
Wed, May 3, 2023
October 26, 1970, Sacramento, California: Twenty-eight-year-old court reporter Nancy Marie Bennallack was found stabbed to death in her apartment. Detectives worked the case tirelessly, but the homicide case eventually went cold. Decades later, Detective Micki Links of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office opened the unsolved cold case and worked it for six years. She was able to obtain the DNA of the suspect, and forensic genetic genealogy gave investigators the name of the killer. He was Richard John Davis, who had been a neighbor in Nancy's apartment complex. Davis was never brought to trial, though, because he had died in 1997. However, Nancy's sister Linda Cox stated she was relieved that the case had been solved. Another murder that happened near Nancy Bennallack's area of town was the March 1970 murder of nurse Judith Hakari, age 23. The man who killed Nancy Bennallack could not be matched to Nancy's killer, Richard Davis. At one time, it was thought that both homicides could have been carried out by the same man.
Episode 2
Faith and Duty
Wed, May 10, 2023
Santa Fe, New Mexico, August 5, 1982: A beloved Franciscan priest, 57-year-old Father Reynaldo Rivera, was lured away late at night from the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis by a killer who used the fake name of "Michael Carmello". The reason the caller used was a ruse, the caller wanted a priest to deliver last rites to his grandfather. On August 7, 1982, Father Rivera was discovered shot and killed in a field near the desolate La Bajada rest stop on the outskirts of Santa Fe. It is believed that two persons were involved in the homicide. In spite of years of investigation, the case has yet to be solved as of 2023.
Episode 3
Justice Frozen
Wed, May 17, 2023
On April 20, 1998, a man and woman were traveling on a lightly used highway in the mountainous region of Garfield County, Utah, at 6,000 feet in elevation. They saw something unusual and phoned in a tip to police. Law enforcement detectives discovered the frozen solid body of a young woman wrapped and bound tightly in a sleeping bag. She had been killed by a bullet to the back of her head. Over the years, detectives were unable to find the killer. In 2018, twenty years after the body was found, detectives published a photo of the woman's face. Soon, detectives received a tip about a missing woman in Ohio who resembled the Utah woman. Detectives made a DNA match with the missing woman's sister to identify the deceased as 37-year-old Lina Reyes Geddes. And again through advanced DNA techniques such as M-Vac, detectives were able to determine that her husband had been her killer. However, Edward Geddes had died in 2001 without being brought to justice for the murder of his wife.
Episode 4
A Lifetime of Grief
Wed, May 24, 2023
Willoughby, Ohio, January 11, 1980: Young mother, 25-year-old Nadine Madger is savagely stabbed to death in her apartment. Due to painful and intrusive questions from law enforcement, Nadine's husband, Mark Madger, lives under a cloud of suspicion for decades. The criminal case goes cold for over 40 years, until DNA Forensic Genealogy solves the crime. The killer had been Stephen Joseph Simcak. However, Simcak had died in 2018. Both Mark Madger and his son Dan appear on this program, speaking about the heartache and grief they both felt over the loss of their wife and mother.
Episode 5
Voice for the Nameless
Wed, Jun 7, 2023
This installment details the murders of two women in 1980. One murder occurred in Bakersfield, Kern County, California. The second murder occurred in Ventura, Ventura County, California. It took over 30 years for law enforcement officials to identify the killer, Wilson Chouest. The cases were solved through DNA forensics which were not available in 1980. The "Kern County Jane Doe" was identified as Shirley Soosay. The name of the "Ventura County Jane Doe" is still unknown as of 2023 and is under investigation. The "career criminal" killer was serving a life sentence in jail when he was identified through his DNA evidence, but he was brought to court on these two murders and was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Episode 6
Tragedy in Visalia
Wed, Jun 14, 2023
In 1994, Angelica Ramirez of Hanford, CA, age 10, was abducted and killed at the Visalia Swap Meet. 28 years later, the killer was identified by DNA as career criminal Ramiro Villegas. There is no justice, he died circa 2012 in Mexico.
Episode 7
A Quest for Justice
Tue, Jun 20, 2023
Mesa, Arizona, June, 1988: A young mother, Loretta McCray Lynn, was brutally murdered inside her own home. Her family members and friends eventually hope to put her savage, ruthless killer behind bars for life. Detectives have been investigating this criminal case for decades in order to bring justice for the innocent victim. In spite of all their hard work, as of the airdate of this installment, the homicide case is unfortunately unsolved.
Episode 8
Where is Jonelle?
Wed, Jul 5, 2023
Greeley, Colorado, 1984: A mystery person abducts a 12-year-old girl, Jonelle Matthews, who was returning home from her church choir recital. She had only been at home, alone, for less than one hour. Law enforcement detectives must turn over every stone to find this young girl and return her to her loved ones. The case goes cold for nearly 38 years, but in the end, the kidnapper and murderer, Steve Pankey, is found and convicted. Pankey was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 20 years.
Episode 9
Text, Lies and Video
Wed, Jun 28, 2023
April 30, 2019, Whitehall, Pennsylvania: 67-year-old Betsy Wiesenfeld aka Elizabeth Wiesenfeld, a registered nurse in an adult care facility, goes missing. Her daughter, Kathleen, receives an odd text message from her mother's phone claiming that her mother left town with a new man. This is the first clue that something is very, very wrong. The ensuing law enforcement investigation uncovers more troubling evidence, proving that the daughter's worst fears have come true -- Betsy has been forcefully abducted from her home. In the end, nearly a year later, Betsy Wiesenfeld's body is found. The killer is proven to be Douglas Berry aka Doug Berry, a handyman who worked for Betsy. Due to the overwhelming evidence against him, he pleaded guilty in a "plea deal" with the prosecutor. In April 2022, at age 50, he was sentenced to "17 to 40 years" in prison. Betsy's daughter, Kathleen, vows to attend every future parole hearing in the hopes of keeping this savage killer in prison.
Episode 10
A Murder in Red Cliff
Wed, Jul 12, 2023
June 27, 2003, Red Cliff, Wisconsin: Jody Ricard, age 50, disappeared from her job at Even Start Literacy Program, where she taught children to read. Jody's husband, David Ricard, reported her missing. Jody's body was later discovered 3 miles from her workplace in early July 2003. She had been brutally hit in the head, twice. The murder case went cold for 16 years until 2019. At that time, Special Agent Gerald Katchka and Red Cliff Police Chief Kyle Cadotte started their cold case investigation by reviewing all of the existing evidence. They solved the case with the help of a cassette tape that Jody had recorded during her last workplace visit from Michael LaGrew. In the end, the murderer was Michael John LaGrew, Jody's supervisor at work. Now age 57. LaGrew pleaded guilty, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. LaGrew showed no remorse for the murder. Jody's son, David Niesel, and Jody's sister, Faye Egger, appeared on the show and spoke about their heartache and grief over Jody's ultimately death.
Episode 11
Righting a Wrong
Wed, Jul 19, 2023
July 16, 1987, Chisholm, Minnesota: 38-year-old Nancy Daugherty was found dead in her home. She had been raped and strangled. Law enforcement detectives worked the criminal case, but came up empty-handed, and the investigation went cold for decades. Eventually, DNA evidence and genetic genealogy helped solve this crime. In August 2022, Michael Carbo, Jr. went to trial for Nancy's murder and was found guilty. Carbo was sentenced to life in prison. He had only been 18 years old at the time he killed Nancy.
Episode 12
Love Lost, Justice Found
Wed, Jul 26, 2023
November 30, 2010, South Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookstore owner Sherry Black, age 64, was found brutally murdered inside her place of business. Her husband of 46 years, Earl Black, was, and still is, devastated at his family's loss of such a wonderful woman. Law enforcement detectives worked the case tirelessly for many years, but it was not until a decade after the murder that Detective Ben Pender was able to use genetic genealogy to match the DNA evidence left at the crime scene to an actual suspect. The culprit was Adam Antonio Durborow, who was only 19 at the time of the murder. Durborow had been a troubled youth. During 2020 and 2021, he was arrested, convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.