More than 30 years after three women were brutally murdered and another attacked, the Indiana State Police believe they have identified the man responsible for the heinous crimes thanks to cutting-edge technology.
According to authorities, Harry Greenwell was identified as the person responsible for the murders, which occurred between 1987 and 1990. All four incidents linked to Greenwell occurred in hotels along Interstate 65, which runs north-to-south through Indiana and into Kentucky, and all four involved employees at those hotels.
Greenwell, who had a minor criminal record, died of cancer in Iowa in 2013.
Greenwell has been linked to three murders:
Feb. 21, 1987: Vicki Heath, killed at a Super 8 Motel in Elizabethtown, Kentucky
March 3, 1989: Margaret Gill, killed at a Days Inn in Merrillville, Indiana
March 3, 1989: Jeanne Gilbert, killed at a Days Inn in Remington, Indiana
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A fourth unidentified victim was sexually assaulted at a Days Inn in Columbus, Indiana in Jan. 1990. She survived the attack, and was able to provide police with a description and DNA evidence that would later be used to help identify the killer.
Police say that they used a method known as “investigative genealogy” to identify Greenwell as the killer. This method combines DNA analysis with genealogy research and historical records, and was performed in cooperation between the Indiana State Police and the FBI’s Gang Response Investigative Team.
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A match was made to Greenwell through the DNA of a close family member, and the likelihood of a confirmed match is more than 99%, officials said.
Now, family members say that they are grateful to know the identity of the man who killed their loved ones.
“Maybe I don’t have closure, but the peace in my life has been given to me by her,” Kim Wright, daughter of Jeanne Gilbert, said. “I celebrate her, and I encourage everyone else to celebrate her.”
