Had been the murders of California teenagers the work of a serial killer?

This story beforehand aired on June 9, 2018. It was up to date on July 6, 2024.

Produced by Lourdes Aguiar and Cindy Cesare

Each morning for the final 37 years, Jim Alt wakes up terrified —  pondering that it is 1978, and that he is simply been brutally attacked on Torrey Pines State Seashore.

“After I develop into conscious that I am awake, I don’t open my eyes. I put my arms on the mattress, and I really feel for that sheet or I really feel for sand of a seashore,” mentioned Alt.

“You continue to do this?” “48 Hours” correspondent Richard Schlesinger requested.

“Sure, sir,” Alt replied. “Earlier than my eyes are open I wish to know the place I am at.”

It wasn’t all the time this manner. The seashore was Alt’s second dwelling — a secure place, a enjoyable place.

“You have been an enormous surfer,” Schlesinger famous.

“Completely,” Alt mentioned. “There’s not a sense on earth like browsing. It is simply — there is a large rush inside your physique.”

Rick Selga has felt that rush. He was considered one of Alt’s good mates again then.

“Who was the higher surfer between the 2 of you?” Schlesinger requested Selga.

“Uh, in all probability he was,” he replied with fun.

“Do you keep in mind what he was like again then?” Schlesinger requested of Alt.

“He was an enormous, sturdy, humorous, pleased man. He was in all probability the man that everyone appeared as much as,” Selga replied.

And that is in all probability one motive why: Alt was featured in a moist swimsuit advert in Surfer Journal.

“We have been rock stars, all of us in there,” Alt recalled. “… when that journal — that problem — got here out, we autographed fairly a couple of.”

“And he had loads of women that loved him. However he did not see anyone else however her,” mentioned Selga.

Jim Alt solely had eyes for 15-year-old Barbara Nantais. They have been the all-American couple. Jim, the surfer, had been relationship Barbara, the cheerleader, for 9 months.

“Man, only a lovely lady — brown hair, brown eyes,” Alt mentioned fondly. “I used to be in love together with her the minute I noticed her.”

They have been launched by Barbara’s sister, Sue Nantais.

“She was outspoken … Actually cussed, and set in her methods,” Sue Nantais mentioned of her sister. “We had plenty of arguments [laughs] and fights and disagreements as sisters do.”

Barbara’s dad and mom, Ralph and Judy Nantais, knew they’d their work lower out for them fairly early on.

“So she wasn’t simply one other fairly face,” Schlesinger commented.

“No, she wasn’t,” Ralph Nantais laughed, “she was robust as nails.”

“She was a preferred, defiant, lovely, ache within the ass, fantastic daughter. ?” Judy Nantais mentioned. “God gave her to me to maintain me humble, and it labored.”

On the weekend of Aug. 12, 1978, Ralph and Judy Nantais left city to go to mates. A household pal was taking care of Barbara and her three siblings. Earlier than leaving, Ralph Nantais took Jim Alt apart.

“What did you inform him?” Schlesinger requested.

“Care for my lady, OK? And make it possible for she’s secure,” mentioned Ralph Nantais.

“I instructed her father and mom, you already know, that we’d keep put. And once more, that — that, you already know, I’ve mentioned it earlier than, it is the most important mistake or the most important lie I’ve ever instructed in my life,” Alt instructed Schlesinger.

Virtually as quickly as Barbara’s dad and mom left, she and Alt hopped right into a station wagon with Rick Selga and his girlfriend. All of them drove off to the seashore.

“I keep in mind as they pulled off although, simply saying, ‘You guys higher watch out.’ They usually’re kinda like, ‘Yeah, haha,'” Sue Nantais mentioned. “My sister was like, ‘See ya!'”

The 4 mates finally ended up at Torrey Pines Seashore.

“The car parking zone was crammed with folks. It was like an enormous get together,” mentioned Selga.

Round 9:30 p.m., the buddies referred to as it an evening. Selga and his girlfriend determined to sleep within the station wagon and Alt and Barbara went all the way down to the seashore for some privateness.

“We zip the sleeping luggage collectively, and crawled in them and went to sleep. She was in my arms. That is the very last thing I keep in mind,” mentioned Alt.

The following morning, Alt awakened chilly and alone and moist — he was lined in blood.

“I am freezing. I am — I am feeling for Barbara, do not know the place she is. I do not know something. I can not see something, do not hear something,” he mentioned.

Blinded and disoriented, Alt needed to really feel his manner alongside a fence up the sandy hill to the car parking zone the place his mates have been sleeping within the automotive.

“And Jim got here up right here, and he — he was down low like this, and he rapped on the window,” Selga demonstrated, kneeling within the seashore car parking zone.

“And what did he appear to be then?” Schlesinger requested.

“His face was swollen. Blood, throughout his blonde hair,” mentioned Selga.

Jim Alt had been savagely overwhelmed with a rock and a log from a fireplace pit on the seashore

“Did he say something to you?” Schlesinger requested Selga.

“He goes, ‘Go discover Barb,'” he replied. “So I ran all the way down to the seashore lookin’ for her. … And he or she was there.”

Barbara’s nude lifeless physique lay on the seashore.

“I used to be pondering … ‘What do I do?'” Selga recalled. “I feel that I simply yelled at some folks to name the police.”

Information report: Murder officers say what began out as a night with mates turned out to be an evening of demise.

Paul Ybarrondo was a Sergeant for the San Diego Police Division. He was one of many first investigators on the scene.

“Once we uncovered the physique, it was — lined with sand,” Ybarrondo instructed Schlesinger as they walked alongside the seashore the place Barbara’s physique was discovered. “She had some very severe-looking wounds on her head. Regarded like she had in all probability been struck with one thing, maybe the rocks that have been discovered close by.”

Barbara’s homicide had been vicious; there was sand in her mouth and the killer left a grotesque mark.

“It appeared that someone had taken a pointy instrument and lower across the areola of her breast, and in addition lower across the nipple of the breast,” mentioned Ybarrondo.

“So she’d been kind of mutilated,” mentioned Schlesinger.

“Mutilated,” Ybarrondo affirmed. “In a while, it was decided she had been raped and sodomized.”

Quickly after, Barbara’s dad and mom have been notified.

“And I simply began screaming, ‘No, no, no!’ I will need to have mentioned it 50 occasions,” mentioned Judy Nantais.

“It was like someone took a sledgehammer and hit me within the head … as a result of we did not even know that the youngsters have been down there. We had no thought,” mentioned Ralph Nantais.

Jim Alt had been rushed to the hospital. He had suffered traumatic mind damage and was in a coma for days. When he awoke, he had no reminiscence of the assault.

“I’ve bought titanium within the skull, chrome steel. Um, I’ve bought that — that plate that runs proper about there,” he mentioned, circling the best facet of his brow with a finger.

“This was a critical, life-threatening assault,” Schlesinger famous.

“Sure sir. I virtually didn’t make it,” mentioned Alt.

Alt was briefly investigated, however dominated out as a suspect — his accidents have been too extreme. Ybarrondo and different investigators tracked down different leads, however the police couldn’t discover the killer. The bloody assault and homicide haunted everybody for years.

“They have been simply youngsters, you already know. And … that stuff did not occur,” mentioned Selga.

However a couple of years later, Claire Hough’s physique was discovered on Torrey Pines Seashore.

“She was murdered identically to Barbara,” mentioned an emotional Jim Alt.

SERIAL KILLER?

Within the years after Barbara Nantais’ homicide, her household struggled with the overwhelming loss and ache.

“There have been conditions the place I might get up in a chilly sweat, crying,” mentioned Ralph Nantais.

“Simply the unhappiness at dropping this little one that you simply liked,” Judy Nantais mentioned. “Once you’re the mother, you simply carry that. … I felt like I — was a whole failure as a mom.”

Barbara’s dad and mom have been each unhappy and indignant at their daughter for mendacity to them, however Ralph Nantais was particularly livid at Jim Alt.

“I did not wish to see him. … I did not wish to discuss to him,” he mentioned. “That is precisely what I felt. You did not preserve my little lady secure. I used to be very, very upset.”

“It hurts,” Jim Alt mentioned with remorse “I did not convey their daughter dwelling.”

Six years later, Claire Hough’s family members confronted the identical ache that originated in the identical place. She was like Barbara Nantais, a yr youthful — simply 14, good and spirited and he or she liked the seashore.

“She simply had an interior mild, a pleasure about her. It is onerous to clarify except you’ve got met her,” mentioned Kim Jamer, Claire Hough’s greatest pal, who described her as “very light, humorous, sort.”

Claire’s dad and mom, Sam and Penny Hough, have been — and are — immensely pleased with her.

“She was the category mediator,” Penny Hough mentioned. “Youngsters who bought into arguments would ask Claire to adjudicate.”

“Couple of occasions she bought in bother at school as a result of the trainer had accused somebody wrongly and Claire would not put up with it. She fought again,” added Sam Hough.

Claire discovered to like the ocean early on. She grew up on the coast of Rhode Island and spent as a lot time as she may strolling alongside the shore with Kim Jamer.

“We grew up searching for treasures and bringing her mother fairly issues dwelling from the ocean. Sea glass … and fairly shells,” she recalled.

Claire had additionally spent loads of time on San Diego’s seashores. Her grandparents lived only a few blocks away from Torrey Pines Seashore. One of many first photos of Claire was taken there.

“She was nonetheless sufficiently small to be carried,” Penny Hough mentioned. “This can be the primary — her first introduction to actual ocean surf.”

The Houghs had all the time thought of it a secure place, and in the summertime of 1984, they despatched Claire and her brother out to California for a go to with their grandparents. Kim Jamer went alongside, too.

“We may simply be foolish and no person knew us and it did not matter how goofy we bought,” Jamer mentioned. “And it was simply actually enjoyable.”

The night time earlier than Jamer was supposed to move dwelling, Claire satisfied her to sneak out of her grandparents’ home and go to the seashore after darkish. However as soon as they bought there and settled close to their favourite spot by the bridge, Jamer virtually instantly had a panic assault.

“It was simply an terrible feeling,” Jamer mentioned. “I knew how freaked out I used to be … how someone may simply stroll proper up and by you with out you even understanding they have been there.”

“You requested Claire to make you a promise, once you have been again on the home,” Schlesinger famous. “What was the promise?”

“I simply did not need her sneaking out by herself once more,” Jamer replied.

Two days later, after Jamer went again to Rhode Island, Claire broke that promise. On Aug. 24, 1984, Claire Hough’s physique was discovered by a beachcomber close to the bridge. Retired detective Paul Ybarrondo additionally labored on this case and was interviewed by the native CBS station again then.

“We’re evaluating all of the proof we recovered on the scene,” Ybarrondo instructed a reporter.

Claire had been discovered only a few hundred yards from the place Barbara Nantais had been killed.

“To me it was — loads of similarities there,” Ybarrondo instructed Schlesinger.

Like Barbara Nantais, Claire Hough additionally had been overwhelmed, strangled, and sexually assaulted.

“It was decided on the post-mortem that this lady had loads of sand packed in her mouth and larynx space. Our different sufferer had sand in her mouth,” Ybarrondo defined.

However maybe most chilling, like Barbara’s, Claire’s breast had additionally been mutilated.

“We both have — serial killer or a repeat efficiency by the person who in all probability did the primary case,” mentioned Ybarrondo.

It did not take lengthy to discover a promising suspect. As quickly as they heard about their daughter’s demise, Sam and Penny Hough went to Torrey Pines State Seashore. Earlier than lengthy, they have been approached by a person named Wallace Wheeler. He was the beachcomber who had discovered Claire’s physique.

“He mentioned, ‘I am Wally Wheeler. I am a psychic,” mentioned San Hough.

“He mentioned what?” Schlesinger requested.

“Along with his arm outstretched,” Penny Hough mentioned. “‘Hello, I am Wally Wheeler, I am a psychic.'”

From there, issues solely bought stranger.

“After which he went on for a half an hour with this lengthy story about how he may see at night time. He had been … a fighter pilot,” Sam Hough continued.

“What did you consider Wally Wheeler, the psychic?” Schlesinger requested.

“He was unusual,” mentioned Penny Hough.

“So then we referred to as the police to … inform them that,” mentioned Sam Hough.

The police inspired Claire’s dad and mom to maintain speaking with Wheeler, pondering he may confess or not less than give them some helpful info. Wheeler wrote lengthy and rambling letters to the Houghs, considered one of them saying Claire was coming to him in visions.

“‘That was why she let me see her smiling face and actually her eyes have been radiant,'” Sam Hough learn aloud from the letter. “It is a man who discovered a bloody, mutilated physique and he is speaking a couple of smiling face and radiant eyes.”

The letters have been very odd. The police questioned Wheeler, however he by no means confessed to something. The letters finally stopped.

“What was the very last thing that you simply heard about Wallace Wheeler?” Schlesinger requested.

“That he had killed himself,” Penny Hough replied.

“He threw himself off the highest of a constructing — a 13-story constructing and died,” added Sam Hough.

Investigators would later inform the Houghs they’d dominated Wheeler out as a suspect, however they have been satisfied for years that he was their daughter’s killer.

“You thought he was concerned by some means?” Schlesinger requested

“Oh yeah,” Sam Hough replied. “We assumed that Wheeler … that he had accomplished it.”

For all of the intrigue surrounding Wallace Wheeler, the family members of the primary sufferer, Barbara Nantais, had by no means even heard of him on the time. In reality, the households didn’t even find out about one another. However round 2008, the San Diego Police Division posted the circumstances on their web site and for the primary time mentioned publicly that they believed Claire Hough and Barbara Nantais had doubtless been murdered by the identical killer.

“I used to be mad that it occurred to Claire and we weren’t knowledgeable,” mentioned an emotional Sue Nantais.

However who might have been accountable would stay a thriller for 4 extra years till superior DNA testing revealed two suspects — and considered one of them was considered one of their very own.

A BREAK IN THE COLD CASE

For many years after the murders of Barbara Nantais and Claire Hough, the San Diego Police Division stored investigating sporadically. However nothing had ever materialized. Claire’s pal, Kim Jamer, stored ready for some information.

“Do you concentrate on this case so much?” Schlesinger requested Jamer.

“On a regular basis,” she replied. “I imply, you already know, nothing’s going to convey your pal again. And also you simply hope that nobody is on the market hurting different folks.”

In 2012, there was lastly a promising improvement. The circumstances have been reopened, and investigators have been hoping superior DNA know-how would change the course of issues. It was encouraging for Barbara’s dad and mom, Judy and Ralph Nantais.

“I used to be cautiously optimistic …”mentioned Judy Nantais.

They’d be disillusioned. The brand new DNA checks would discover nothing helpful on their daughter, however Claire Hough’s pal, Kim Jamer, would quickly get a go to from a detective.

“He introduced a number of photos,” she mentioned. “‘Did you see any of those folks throughout your journey?’ I did not acknowledge something.”

Jamer was given few particulars, however she had a sense that investigators have been lastly onto one thing.

“I used to be like, ‘Lastly … Anyone’s actually trying into this,'” she mentioned.

“48 Hours” obtained the San Diego Police Division case affidavits and search warrants. This is what Kim Jamer did not know. The police had discovered two DNA hits on Claire Hough. Blood on her denims was linked to a convicted rapist named Ronald Tatro. The opposite DNA — a tiny, microscopic quantity reportedly discovered inside Claire — was linked to a person named Kevin Brown. Police knew him; he was a former criminalist of their lab.

Rebecca Brown, a Catholic college trainer, had been married to 61-year-old Kevin Brown for greater than 20 years. Kevin Brown retired from the San Diego Police Division in 2002.

“I used to be preparing for work. And there was the knock. And two detectives have been there,” mentioned Rebecca Brown.

“So I believed, OK, they’re speaking about some case that he labored on,” she continued.

The couple met in 1992 by the old-school model of on-line relationship: the classifieds. A number of months later, they married.

“He was so candy,” Rebecca Brown mentioned. “… he would open the automotive door for me. And he liked animals like I did. He liked cats. … he was a sweetheart.”

The Browns had led a quiet life revolving round church, journey, and their pets earlier than that go to by investigators in January 2014.

“Did you take heed to what they have been saying to him?” Schlesinger requested.

“I began. And I believed, ‘Nicely, that is kinda going odd. What’s with this?'” Rebecca Brown replied.

The detectives confirmed Kevin Brown an image of Ronald Tatro, and requested if he knew him.

“What did he say?” Schlesinger requested journalist James Vlahos.

“He mentioned, ‘I’ve by no means seen this man. I do not know him,'” he replied.

James Vlahos, a CBS Information advisor, wrote in regards to the case in October 2015 for The Atlantic Journal.

“Did the police go and discuss to Ronald Tatro after they discovered his DNA in Claire Hough’s physique?” Schlesinger requested.

“They’d have appreciated to have accomplished that however … Ronald Tatro was already useless.” Vlahos replied.

Tatro had drowned in what was dominated a boating accident in Tennessee in 2011. To today, there may be suspicion it was a suicide.

“His pockets had been positioned on the seat … his glasses had been positioned on the seat. They usually mentioned it appeared as if he meant to enter the water, as a substitute of getting fallen in accidentally,” Vlahos mentioned. “… and one other factor that definitely raises eyebrows is that his demise passed off on the anniversary of Claire Hough’s homicide.”

Kevin Brown, the retired criminalist, was now the one dwelling suspect. Police confirmed him an image of Claire Hough.

“And after they confirmed him an image of Claire Hough what did he say? Schlesinger requested Vlahos.

“‘Oh, certain, I keep in mind her,'” he replied.

The detectives instructed Brown that his DNA had been discovered within the proof.

“They did not inform him the place or how they discovered it. And the police maintained that it was Kevin who first talked about the opportunity of it being discovered on a vaginal swab,” mentioned Vlahos.

The investigation ramped up rapidly. That very same afternoon, investigators served a search warrant on his property, searching for any proof associated to the murders of each Claire Hough and Barbara Nantais as a result of they have been so comparable.

“I mentioned, ‘you’ve got gotta … clear this up. That is loopy,” Rebecca Brown mentioned. “And he mentioned, ‘I attempted telling them I do not know what they’re speaking about. … I by no means killed anyone in my life. that.’ And I do know that. In my deep core, I do know he by no means killed anyone.”

However investigators believed Kevin Brown had a darkish facet. On the time of Claire Hough’s homicide, Kevin Brown was a bachelor in his 30s and had a randy popularity on the crime lab.

Retired criminalists Jim Stam and John Durina labored with Kevin Brown within the lab for years.

“He had a nickname, Kinky Kevin Brown. That was as a result of we knew that he frequented strip golf equipment,” mentioned Stam.

“They referred to as him Kinky Kevin?” Schlesinger requested.

“Yeah … his nickname was Kinky. Yeah,” Stam replied.

“Did he brag about going to the strip golf equipment? Did he make any secret of it?” Schlesinger requested.

“Early on, I do not suppose he stored it a secret,” Stam mentioned. “However he did have mates that will go together with him … to both a film or a strip membership, I consider.”

“He would go to, what? Soiled motion pictures?” Schlesinger pressed.

“I consider it was a porn film, sure,” mentioned Durina.

Durina and Stam by no means noticed any inappropriate conduct by Brown within the lab, however he made some feminine colleagues uncomfortable.

“There was a criminalist who labored with Kevin Brown … and he or she describes how Kevin took a report of a violent rape … and when she was alone in a lab with him, learn it aloud to her and made a comment alongside the strains of, ‘Is not that humorous?'” Vlahos defined. “After that she by no means felt snug being alone with him within the lab once more.”

As they dug into Kevin Brown’s background, investigators discovered extra about his hobbies. He loved images, and within the 80s, he went to undies and boudoir shoots marketed in a neighborhood journal. Photographer Rocky Forguson took photographs of aspiring fashions with Kevin Brown.

“So that they pose for the photographer and in return, they get a free image,” Schlesinger commented to Forguson.

“Sure,” he replied.

However Forguson says that generally sure photographers would make preparations for personal periods that have been racier.

“And Kevin did that?” Schlesinger requested.

“Kevin did his personal factor,” Forguson defined. “If he likes someone, he’ll rent his personal fashions.”

“In these personal periods what would occur?” Schlesinger requested.

“Grownup sort stuff,” mentioned Forguson.

“Grownup stuff. Naughty stuff?” Schlesinger requested.

“Sure,” Forguson replied, “express photographs.”

Kevin Brown’s pastimes as a bachelor might have raised detectives’ eyebrows, however his statements in the course of the investigation made them much more suspicious. Though he initially denied having truly met Claire Hough, Brown later appeared to make a startling admission.

“He had accomplished some pondering and that he now did recall having met somebody named Claire within the Nineteen Eighties and probably having intercourse together with her,” mentioned Vlahos.

After which he bought himself in even deeper bother. In line with the affidavit, Kevin Brown volunteered to take a lie detector take a look at. He failed. After the polygraph, an investigator talked to him about Claire Hough saying, “I do not consider for a second that you simply thought she was 14.” Brown reportedly responded “I had no thought.” Then, police discovered, Kevin Brown had referred to as a pal.

“And instructed him, allegedly, ‘The police are me as a suspect. This lady I photographed on the seashore ended up useless,'” mentioned Vlahos.

QUESTIONING THE DNA

Ever since investigators bought that DNA hit on Claire Hough in 2012, they’d been quietly making an attempt to construct a case in opposition to Kevin Brown. However his spouse, Rebecca Brown, stood by him.

“I by no means ever thought he was a killer. By no means. By no means,” she mentioned emphatically. “It is a man who did not have a imply bone in his physique.”

“Nicely, you already know all these issues that individuals are saying about … he was going to strip golf equipment and taking images of bare ladies,” mentioned Schlesinger.

“He had proven me some. And [the] majority have been simply, like … simply cutesy poses. Glamour pictures,” mentioned Rebecca Brown.

“Did the truth that a few of these picture shoots went additional than others hassle you about him?”

“No, he had a standard male intercourse drive. And that was again when he was single and he would’ve thought ‘Wow, that is nice!'” Rebecca Brown replied.

Attorneys Gene Iredale and Gretchen Von Helms symbolize the Browns.

“If all people who ever checked out a photograph of a scantily clad lady … if all people who ever went to a strip membership … is prone to be a serial killer, I am afraid we will should construct fairly a couple of extra prisons,” mentioned Iredale.

“We don’t convict folks on their character,” mentioned Von Helms.

“This was a violent, sadistic, choking killing,” she continued. “The scope of what occurred to those poor younger ladies who have been brutally sexually assaulted and murdered is sort of completely different from going to a strip membership or going right into a porn store or studying an off-color story.”

The attorneys argue that there’s virtually no case in opposition to Kevin Brown. For starters they are saying, investigators may by no means say if or when or how Kevin Brown, the mild-mannered criminalist, met Ronald Tatro, the violent convicted rapist.

“Zero proof that they’d ever seen one another or met at any time. Zero,” mentioned Iredale.

They are saying there are completely harmless explanations for Kevin Brown’s actions and statements, just like the one he made when detectives confirmed him an image of Claire Hough.

“He mentioned at one level, ‘Oh, I keep in mind her.’ Why did he say that?” Schlesinger requested.

“It was a widely known case and that {photograph} that they confirmed him had been one which had been within the newspaper,” Iredale replied.

However Kevin Brown additionally mentioned he might have met somebody named Claire within the 80s, and that he might need had intercourse together with her. Iredale says Kevin Brown was simply being trustworthy.

“I feel that he mentioned that he had met a Claire, however the Claire that he was speaking about was a lady who was 30 years outdated,” mentioned Iredale.

Even the investigator appeared to acknowledge within the affidavit that this lady didn’t sound like Claire Hough. However keep in mind, Kevin Brown had allegedly additionally instructed a pal that he photographed a lady who was discovered useless on the seashore.

“The person to whom this assertion is attributed says he by no means mentioned such a factor,” mentioned Iredale.

Gretchen Von Helms argues investigators had tunnel imaginative and prescient and interpreted every little thing Kevin Brown mentioned as proof of his guilt. She says that is what occurred when Brown instructed a detective “I had no thought” Claire was 14.

“They instantly suppose the — the suspicious, responsible model of that versus, ‘Oh, my God. You are telling me this terrible crime,'” Von Helms mentioned. “A traditional citizen, when instructed about this terrible crime would say, ‘Oh, my Gosh! This poor little one was 14? … How terrible that is!'”

The attorneys admit Kevin Brown’s persona did little to assist him in the course of the investigation.

“He was one of many worst public audio system … to illustrate, within the historical past of the San Diego Police Division lab,” mentioned Iredale.

“He was form of like a nervous Nelly,” mentioned John Durina.

Retired criminalists Durina and Jim Stam say Kevin Brown was, at greatest, a shaky witness for the police in court docket circumstances.

“Every time he bought confronted, he bought very nervous and really upset,” Durina mentioned. “He needed to agree. He needed to please them.”

“I feel that his persona is ready up in order that I may virtually persuade him to say something. You’ll be able to bully him. It is simple to bully him,” mentioned Stam.

However Kevin Brown’s shyness or awkwardness can’t clarify his DNA on that swab. A number of swabs have been taken from inside Claire in the course of the post-mortem. The medical expert examined considered one of them in 1984 and located nothing. One other swab was despatched to the San Diego Police Division lab and that is the place the attorneys say the difficulty started.

“It was not stored in a manner that will make sure the integrity of the proof,” mentioned Iredale.

It was the early 80s earlier than a lot was recognized about DNA, and the procedures now used to forestall contamination didn’t exist.

“How completely different have been the procedures again then?” Schlesinger requested Stam.

“Loads,” he replied.”We did not put on masks — that is for certain.”

Kevin Brown didn’t work on the Claire Hough case, however he labored close to the criminalist who processed the proof — together with that swab the place a minute quantity of Brown’s DNA was later discovered.

“The swab itself was put to dry within the open air…” mentioned Iredale.

“And not using a cap,” added Von Helms.

“On a desk close to the place Mr. Brown labored,” Iredale continued. “The whole lot that was in a position to be airborne may have gone and touched that swab.”

“The issue although, with this case is, appears to me that the allegation is that this is not sweat or spit. … It is his semen. … How would his semen get on a swab?” Schlesinger requested.

“You’ll be able to nonetheless have cross contamination of semen as a result of they needed to have recent samples of semen within the San Diego lab,” mentioned Von Helms.

On the time of Claire Hough’s homicide, criminalists would typically convey their very own seminal fluid to the lab and use it to make sure the chemical compounds used to detect semen have been working appropriately. Durina and Stam consider that every one the criminalists within the lab did it.

“I feel Kevin was doing that very same factor,” mentioned Durina.

The San Diego Police Division, nevertheless, insists that contamination was not doable. However the retired criminalists know what they noticed.

“Probably, Kevin’s semen commonplace was in that lab and several other analysts might have even had it. It could have been even used on that exact — on Miss Hough’s case,” Durina defined.

“We did not change gloves again then, both,” Stam defined. “So to illustrate the analyst took Kevin’s semen pattern, wearin’ the identical gloves after which dealt with the deep vaginal swab … there is a logical rationalization for the contamination.”

Cross contamination does occur. There have been circumstances of lab technician’s DNA ending up on proof documented in a number of states and not less than 4 different international locations. Given the procedures used within the lab on the time and the shortage of different strong proof, Kevin Brown was assured that the case in opposition to him was weak.

“And I believed … that they lacked the proof essential to cost Mr. Kevin Brown with these murders,” mentioned Von Helms.

However by mid-2014, the stress of the investigation, which was dragging on, was making Kevin Brown very anxious.

“I mentioned, ‘Name ’em and get it straightened out.’ And he mentioned, they only mentioned, ‘ you killed her and chances are you’ll as nicely confess.’ And he hung up the telephone and he mentioned, ‘I did not even say something again to them … as a result of I did not know what to say at this level.’ He mentioned, ‘I did not do it they usually’re by no means going to consider me,'” an emotional Rebecca Brown mentioned.

Rebecca Brown hoped that their nightmare would quickly finish, nevertheless it would not finish in a manner that anybody anticipated.

WAS KEVIN BROWN ANOTHER VICTIM?

On the morning of Oct. 20, 2014, Rebecca Brown got here dwelling from work and located her husband’s Bible sitting on the desk. In it, he had underlined a Psalm about being wrongfully accused.

“His watch was there. And his cellular phone was there. And so I requested my mom, ‘The place is Kevin?’ … And he or she simply mentioned he went someplace. He went out … he was cleaned up, he’d shaved, he’d showered, appeared good and mentioned, ‘I’ve issues to do,'” mentioned Rebecca Brown.

Kevin Brown did not come dwelling that night time. The next day, Rebecca bought the information she feared most.

“And I used to be simply sitting there ready after which there was the door knock. And it was the detective and he mentioned, ‘ We discovered your husband. And he is gone,'” she mentioned in tears.

A ranger at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, close to the place the Browns had a trip cabin, had discovered Kevin hanging from a tree.

“Had been you shocked, even after every little thing that he’d been by?” Schlesinger requested Rebecca Brown.

“We tried — I attempted to maintain his spirits up,” she mentioned by tears.

“You thought you had stored him secure,” mentioned Schlesinger.

“Yeah,” Rebecca Brown sobbed.

Rebecca Brown is adamant that her husband’s suicide was not an act of contrition.

“I completely perceive why he did it,” she mentioned. “… he knew there could be folks … who would suppose even when he went to court docket and was discovered not responsible — that will consider it … And this was gonna tarnish his popularity that he prided himself in.”

“He did not escape that, after all. After he died, the police held a information convention,” Schlesinger famous.

“Yeah,” she replied.

Three days after his demise, the San Diego Police Division publicly named Kevin Brown as considered one of two suspects in Claire Hough’s homicide.

Press convention: We have been in a position to set up a really sturdy case that Ronald Tatro and Kevin Brown have been the suspects within the homicide of Claire Hough. And in addition an arrest for Brown could be forthcoming.

“You by no means had sufficient to arrest him in his lifetime. And now that he is gone you are simply going to only say, ‘He did it, case solved, it is accomplished,'” mentioned Rebecca Brown angrily.

“Why do you suppose they did that?” Schlesinger requested.

“As a result of this may be very tidy for them,” she replied.

Rebecca Brown has answered the police prices with prices of her personal. She has filed swimsuit in opposition to two police detectives for misconduct and wrongful demise.

“He was not a rapist and a killer. He was a quiet, good man,” Rebecca Brown addressed reporters. “And I am hoping the authorized system will assist set issues proper.”

The San Diego Police Division refused “48 Hours”‘ request for an interview. However Penny and Sam Hough, Claire’s dad and mom, have the solutions they want.

“We’re assured within the San Diego Police Division and their discoveries,” mentioned Penny Hough.

The Hough household says after 30 years, the small print surrounding their daughter’s demise should not as essential to them as remembering her life.

“We have discovered to reside together with her demise. We have discovered to reside with out her bodily presence in our household,” mentioned Penny Hough.

“To us, what’s essential is what Claire was, and what she meant to us and to the folks round her,” mentioned Sam Hough.

Claire left her dad and mom with loads of reminiscences. And at 14, she had the foresight to go away a will telling her household and mates that she liked them and to not be unhappy.

“‘You have made me understand how treasured and exquisite life is. Thanks. I want I may listing all of the fantastic belongings you’ve accomplished, however everybody would go to sleep. I like you each,'” Sam Hough learn aloud from the doc.

“What did it imply to you that she had accomplished this, and he or she had written this?” Schlesinger requested.

“It is all the time a puzzle why she did it. However it is usually a treasure,” Penny Hough replied.

However the household of Barbara Nantais, the primary sufferer on this case, nonetheless has as many questions on her homicide as they did in 1978.

“… the truth of what occurred to her is so onerous,” Sue Nantais mentioned to her mom, Judy, at Barbara’s graveside.

“I needed to know her. I needed her to have a life,” mentioned Judy Nantais.

Police now say Barbara and Claire’s circumstances should not linked.

“I would really like a viable suspect,” Judy Nantais mentioned. “However we do not have one.”

Ronald Tatro was in jail for rape on the time of Barbara’s homicide and Kevin Brown was attending school in Sacramento, 500 miles away.

“What has it accomplished to you through the years, particularly with the developments in Claire’s case to see this case nonetheless stay open?” Schlesinger requested Barbara’s boyfriend, Jim Alt.

“It is devastating,” he replied. “We would like solutions. We wanna know what they’re doing to unravel this.”

Even at the moment, Jim Alt says he is affected by survivor’s guilt. It is stayed with him despite the fact that Barbara’s father, Ralph, despatched him a letter way back apologizing for having blamed him for her demise.

“‘I need you to know that I do not maintain you liable for Barbara’s demise. After I was grieving over her demise, I wanted responsible somebody. And since she was with you, I lashed out at you … “Ralph Nantais learn from the letter.

“‘Jim, you have been making an attempt to be alone with Barbara might be what each red-blooded American boy goals of. Sadly, the time you spent collectively turned out to be a catastrophe. However, the possibility of that occuring was in all probability one in 1,000,000. … Yours really, Ralph Nantais,'” Alt learn aloud.

“It nonetheless is difficult so that you can learn that with out choking up?” Schlesinger requested of the letter.

“Sure, sir,” he mentioned.

“He is absolving you in a manner. Does that assist you to?”

“After I first learn it, it did. However, you’ll be able to’t conceal what occurred,” Alt mentioned. “Due to a call Barbara and I made, she by no means got here dwelling. So, I — I personal a part of that call. And I am going to take that to the grave with me.”

In 2020, a federal jury awarded Rebeccca Brown greater than $6 million in her wrongful demise lawsuit.