Post by Scumhunter on May 11, 2014 8:50:05 GMT -5
Out For The Night
It was May 9, 1990 and it seemed like just another quiet night in a small condominium community in Cape Coral, Fla. Around 10:30 p.m., Jan Cornell, a single mother, was tucking her 11-year-old daughter Robin into bed for the night. Jan told Robin that she was going to her boyfriend's house to watch some late night TV, so she gave the girl a kiss and headed for the door.
Before Jan walked out, she made sure her roommate, Lisa Story, was fine with watching Robin while she was gone -- after all, Lisa had just moved in the day before. Lisa told her it wasn't a problem, and with that, Jan left the house.
Jan fell asleep on her boyfriend's couch, but woke up shortly after 4:00 am and immediately began panicking. She was due at work in a half hour, but still needed to go home to shower and change. Jan raced back to her house, but was shocked by what she found there.
First of all, the bottom lock on her front door was locked and Jan had told both Robin and Lisa before she left the house not to lock it because it was broken and she wouldn't be able to get in the house. Jan knocked lightly on the front door and thought she heard footsteps coming down, but after a couple of minutes she decided to try the back door.
A Mother's Worst Nightmare
Jan's heart began racing when she she found the sliding glass back door wide open. Jan began trying to justify to herself why the door was open -- maybe her roommate had let their cat out and forgot to close the door. When she entered the house and took a quick look around, everything seemed to be in place -- until she got to the kitchen.
That's when Jan noticed that photos of Robin and her older sister, had been taken off of a shelf in the living room and were laying on an ironing board. Jan immediately knew something was wrong.
Jan ran upstairs to the bedrooms. When she arrived at the top of the steps and looked down the hallway, she could see Robin's naked body lying on the floor of her bedroom. Robin was unresponsive and her body was cold to the touch. Jan quickly called 911 and began administering CPR. Jan worked in the medical field and the rational side of her brain knew that her daughter was dead, but she desperately wanted to breathe Robin back to life. There was nothing Jan could do.
Within minutes, police officers arrived to the scene. They found Lisa Story in her bed. She was also dead. Police say both Robin and Lisa had been suffocated. Jan remembers thinking to herself, Oh my God. What happened here?
To this day, she is still asking that very same question.
The Search For Answers
Detectives have spent the last 15 years going over the evidence again and again, searching for anything that could help them identify a suspect and close this case.
Police believe the killer entered and exited the home through the rear sliding glass door. Investigators believe the killer may have locked the front door, not knowing it was broken, to give himself more time in case anybody came home. Investigators say the killer used a pillow to suffocate both Robin Cornell and Lisa Story. They also say that evidence shows that both Robin and Lisa were sexually assaulted after they were murdered.
Clues Left Behind
Police say they recovered the killer's DNA from the crime scene. They've learned the killer is a white male with type "O" blood. Police say the killer took several items from the crime scene, including, Lisa Story's driver's license, her credit cards, her checkbook, and a new wrist watch that Lisa had bought to give to her boyfriend. None of the items have ever been recovered. Detectives found a pair of white socks, that didn't belong to anyone in the house, on a dining room chair. They also found a set of car keys, sitting on a TV in Jan's room. The keys didn't belong to Jan Cornell or Lisa Story. Police believe they may have belonged to the killer, who accidently left them behind.
The killer's DNA has been placed in the Florida Department of Law Enforcement database as well as a national database, but detectives have yet to receive any matches. Police say they've cleared more than 70 people using DNA analysis. Investigators have also entered details about the case into an FBI database searching for matches to similar crimes.
Officer Down
t was around 2 a.m. on February 16th, 2004, when Detroit police officers Jennifer Fettig and Matthew Bowens, stopped a car in the southwest part of the city. A 23-year-old man named Eric Marshall was behind the wheel of the vehicle. The officers thought they had just seen Marshall soliciting a prostitute. Jennifer and Matthew were sitting in their patrol car when Marshall jumped out of his vehicle armed with a handgun. Marshall fired the weapon, striking both officers multiple times.
Matthew and Jennifer were rushed to the hospital but both died from their wounds. Marshall was arrested at his home later that day. Marshall was convicted of murdering Jennifer Fettig and Matthew Bowens and sentenced to life in prison.
A Name From The Past
Jennifer Fettig grew up in Cape Coral, Florida and knew Robin Cornell. Jennifer's mother, Kathy Fettig, worked with Jan Cornell and was close to the family. Jan Cornell hadn't spoken to Kathy in years, but when she learned about Jennifer's death, she reached out to offer support to her long lost friend.
Jan learned that Robin's murder was one of the reasons why Jennifer became a police officer in the first place. In an essay Jennifer wrote at the Detroit Police Academy, she mentions Robin. This is part of the essay:
I met this young girl a few times prior to her death. She was a sweet friendly girl whose life was only beginning. How someone could commit such a terrible and horrific crime we may never know but as a police officer and a crime scene investigator I would like to do all I can to help prevent such tragedies from happening or help solve the mystery so a family may obtain some kind of closure.
Jan wishes she could have thanked Jennifer for never forgetting about Robin. According to Jan, that is a parent's second biggest fear, "When they take your child from you, that's your first. And then your second, everyone will forget they were ever here." Cape Coral detectives haven't forgot about Robin Cornell or Lisa Story and they haven't given up on finding the killer.
Thoughts? That was the earliest AMW archived profile I could find. First of all, I apologize if it's inappropriate to post this on Mother's Day but the reason I am is there is a new article mentioning last week was the 24-year anniversary of these horrific killings. I also figured today of all days was a good day to bring awareness and continue to try to get justice for Jan Cornell, a loving mother who lost her daughter to whoever the monster was that committed these murders.
It is frustrating to me that they have the killer's DNA but don't have a match yet. It also sickens me when I read about all the items taken from the house. To me it wasn't to make it look like a robbery, but rather the killer sickly wanted to take home mementos. Sadly, based on the fact DNA has never matched another, I can see the killer being a BTK-type that lives a relatively normal life that no one suspects.
It might be 24-years but there is always hope. John Walsh always pointed out on AMW it took 27 years for police to solve the murder of his son Adam, also from Florida.
Admin Note: Anyone with any information on this case should call the Cape Coral Police Department at (239) 574-3223
Admin Note #2: If you have any updated information on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form
web.archive.org/web/20060205080414/http://www.amw.com/fugitives/case.cfm?id=28120
www.nbc-2.com/story/25480594/cape-murder-suspect-still-on-the-loose-24-years-later#.U296jvldWSo
www.winknews.com/Local-Florida/2014-05-09/24-years-later-Cape-Coral-double-murder-remains-unsolved
