Forty-three years ago a Wisconsin couple was brutally murdered on a camping trip. Now a suspect has finally been arrested thanks to a sealed envelope.
Ray Vannieuwenhoven was asked by two cops on his doorstep to complete a brief survey on policing in the area. He did just that and when he sealed the envelope by licking the flap he also sealed his fate.
Days later the 82-year-old was in custody on charges of murder for the fatal shooting of David Schuldes and Ellen Matheys, who were killed while camping in a park just north of Green Bay in July 1976, The Washington Post reported. Cops had cleverly obtained his DNA from the survey and envelope ruse.
Vannieuwenhoven's neighbors were stunned. For decades the 800 residents of Lakewood, Wisconsin, had known him as the helpful handyman who always greeted them with a smile. He was a widower and father of five grown children, but they never once thought he could be a murderer.
"I said, 'You gotta be kidding me,'" Wayne Sankey recalled to The Associated Press. "And then I told the wife and she couldn’t believe it. 'There’s no way,' she said. 'Ray down the road?'"
Vannieuwenhoven had managed to evade authorities while living in plain sight but as technological advances were made, investigators came closer to finding their suspect. Their break came last year after contacting Virginia-based Parabon NanoLabs, which has used genetic genealogy analysis to help police identify over 50 suspects in cold cases since last May alone.
By December experts had drawn up Vannieuwenhoven’s entire family tree. Weeks later they ruled out all other family members after obtaining DNA samples collected from trash and used coffee cups. All they needed was Vannieuwenhoven’s DNA, which they finally managed to get a hold of in March after convincing him to seal that envelope.
Vannieuwenhoven’s first court appearance was held on March 22, where bond was set at $1 million. He pleaded innocent to all charges and will appear in court again on June 19.
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