Post by Scumhunter on May 19, 2015 23:38:47 GMT -5
(above photo credit: bakersfieldcalifornian.com)
This month marks the somber 25-year anniversary of the death of then 4-year old Jessica Martinez of Bakersfield, California. She was first aired on AMW on May 20th, 1990 as a missing child. I do not know if she was aired in the 90's after she was found murdered but her unsolved case would eventually be aired on the March 21st, 1990 episode of AMW. Below is the AMW archive description of the case. I will provide a few updates afterwards:
Missing Girl's Mystery Ends In Murder
Police say it happened in a matter of minutes, and only a few yards away from where 4-year-old Jessica Martinez lived.
On May 10, 1990, Jessica was playing near the apartment where she lived with her mother and two brothers. Sometime between 8:15 and 8:30 p.m., Jessica disappeared. A massive search effort began within hours as the community of Bakersfield mobilized for the hunt.
Hundreds of people joined the effort to find Jessica and the Bakersfield police formed an official task force. The community looked for the little girl with long brown hair and brown eyes, but came up empty-handed.
On May 20, 1990, AMW joined the search and broadcast a segment on Jessica. Hours later, police got their first break in Jessica's case.
The Search For A Killer
Eleven days after Jessica Martinez went missing, a field worker on a tractor discovered her remains in a 56-acre cotton field nearly 15 miles away from home.
The community rallied to gather funds for the search for Jessica's killer. By July, the coroner's office had finished Jessica's autopsy and determined that she was strangled to death. It was unclear whether or not the little girl was molested.
In the years that followed, Bakersfield authorities chased down various leads but nothing seemed to be panning out. But in April 2008, officials with the Kern County District Attorney's Office claimed to have found male and female DNA on Jessica's clothing.
Cops begin looking at a convicted murderer, Christopher Lightsey, as a possible suspect. Lightsey was imprisoned for the murder of 76-year-old William Compton.
But authorities looked to Lightsey's past convictions for child molestation and fondling children at the school where he worked as possible precursors to the Martinez case.
Now, police and Jessica's family are waiting for Lightsey's DNA results to come back, but cops still need your help to solve Jessica's murder."
Ok- now to updates. The reason I am posting this case today is because the ABC Bakersfield station did a new story on Jessica's case this week. It mentions that Lighstey's DNA was not a match but he remains a prime suspect.
What I find interesting is a suspect not talked about as much. Below is an excerpt from an earlier story done by Eyewitness News in Bakersfield:
"Mark Bingaman is a former Kings County sheriff's commander and was the lieutenant in charge of a 1995 murder case in Lemoore. Maria Piceño, 8, was kidnapped, sexually assaulted and murdered. Her killer then drove south and dumped her body in Poso Creek in Kern County. Bingaman led a team of investigators that eventually cracked the case with the arrest and conviction of Navy Petty Officer Gene McCurdy, of Wasco. Bingaman recently wrote a book about the Piceño case, "Vanished In Broad Daylight."
According to Bingaman, McCurdy was asked about the deaths of other children, specifically Jessica in 1990 and Deisy Herrera in 1987, both of Bakersfield. McCurdy fell out of his chair when both names were brought up, said the former commander. Bingaman says he crawled into a fetal position and stated "well, if I blocked off Maria, I would have blocked off other children."
Thoughts? Lightsey became a prime suspect because he lived in the same apartment complex as Jessica- but I have a few problems with him as the killer. One is that unfortunately, there are a lot more creeps out there than just the known offenders. I know we'd like to think our children are safe in certain neighborhoods but it's not unheard of for a general area to have an abnormal amount of sex offenders- known or not. It's also not unlikely for there to be more than one creep in an apartment complex.
The other is that the DNA didn't match. I realize DNA isn't everything. Prosecutors seem to be frustrated these days because everyone thinks cases are like CSI now. (I was once a potential juror and was asked if I watch CSI-type shows by the Prosecutor- I knew exactly what that meant- their case was circumstantial). I realize life doesn't work that way and an overwhelming circumstantial case is still enough for a conviction, however I do feel a lot better about putting a guy in jail if there's DNA evidence because of the high amount of wrongfully convicted inmates who were eventually freed as a result of DNA breakthroughs.
I don't know if DNA testing has been done with McCurdy but in my opinion he makes a better suspect, despite not being talked about as much. I do hope if they haven't already before, a closer look is taken at McCurdy.
Admin Note #1: According to online news articles, Anyone with information is urged to call police at (661) 327-7111 or to report an anonymous tip, call the Secret Witness number at 322-4040.
Admin Note #2: If you have any news-related updates on this case, please contact us here: amwfans.com/thread/1662/website-contact-form
web.archive.org/web/20111108125417/http://www.amw.com/fugitives/brief.cfm?id=64001
www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/25-year-old-unsolved-murder-case-frustrates-police-afflicts-victims-family-304208281.html
www.bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/Investigator-Police-overlooked-suspect-in-23-year-old-murder-cold-case-229019271.html