Post by Scumhunter on Apr 9, 2018 0:28:57 GMT -5
(Above photo credit: NBC 10 Providence)
From NBC 10 Providence:
The 911 call came into the city’s dispatch center before dusk on Sept. 26, 2004 from the new luxury Jefferson Place apartment complex downtown next to the mall.
Inside room #313, Providence Police found the badly beaten body of 35-year-old Helene Kramer. She was found in a bedroom of her father’s condo by a male acquaintance.
“It was definitely a horrific scene. A lot of blood splatter. It was definitely gruesome,” said Detective Sergeant William Dwyer.
Kramer was new to the city. She had grown up in the Boston area, graduating from Babson College and eventually settling out west where she got married and had a son, said her mother Joan Florsheim.
But by late September o2004, she was back east, divorced, and living in Providence for about a month.
Police said she was searching for work in at least one well-known nightclub.
Life had been tough for Kramer. She had a few run ins with police, as well as a drug habit.
But her father, Joseph Kramer, who was a retired drug store owner, opened his door and often his wallet. Despite his own battle with Parkinson's disease, he offered Helene a place to stay, according to police.
In 2004, detectives had leads on a suspect.
“They had a lot of witnesses that they interviewed and re-interviewed,” said Dwyer.
But there were never any arrests. No indictments.
The case went cold and 13 years passed. That is until the summer of 2017 when Dwyer and the department's cold case squad renewed their interest in the Kramer murder, mainly because of DNA.
“I don't really want to get into particulars as far as what evidence was seized or what evidence was sent for DNA testing, but yes, evidence was seized and evidence has been resubmitted,” Dwyer said during an interview at police headquarters with the NBC 10 I-Team.
When police departments take a second look at DNA evidence, lab techs with the Rhode Island department of health step in.
“It's very satisfying to know that we're helping solve crimes that the families have been waiting years for answers,” said Cara Lupino, who is the supervisor of the DOH’s forensic biology lab. “Over the last 13 years the technology has gotten a lot more sensitive. We can detect minute DNA from crime scenes and people that were involved in a crime.”
Other pluses for retesting DNA include an expanded convicted felon database that only began in 2003, which was the year before Kramer’s killing. Lupino said there are now 24,000 names in the system. While the old way of testing involved looking at 13 DNA locations, new testing methods look at 23 locations, said Lupino.
Another change includes just focusing on the DNA of men.
New science coupled with a renewed effort by police to solve a murder puts the Kramer case back on the front burner. When asked about whether police have zeroed in on a suspect or suspects for the killing of Kramer, Dwyer is circumspect.
“There are people we want to talk to again, absolutely,” he said.
Yet, like the family, Dwyer said he wants closure.
“I’m looking to find a match for DNA that was seized from the scene,” he said.
The Kramer family told the NBC 10 I-Team that their pain is still too great to discuss the latest developments from police. Kramer’s younger sister, Stacey Kramer, said Helene lit up a room and had a way about her that made you feel special.
Sadly, their father died just five months after Helene's murder.
If you have any information on Helene Kramer's 2004 murder at the Jefferson Place apartments, which is now the 903, call the Providence Police cold case squad at 401-243-6944 or 401-243-6945.
turnto10.com/i-team/nbc-10-i-team-police-re-testing-evidence-from-2004-murder
Thoughts?
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