Thirty years after their horrifying stabbings and attacks in a cornfield in Hancock County in 1975, the case of the three ladies was eventually resolved and the suspect was identified.
On Thursday, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police revealed a significant development in the nearly 50-year investigation. Thomas Edward Williams has been identified as the suspect in the girls, and he has managed to evade authorities ever since that day.
Williams, who was known as the “Slasher” by the women and the police, passed away in a Galveston, Texas, jail in November 1983 at the age of 49. He resided close to the kidnapping scene at the time of the kidnapping.
After surviving the horrifying attack, Sheri Rottler Trick, Kathie Rottler, and Kandice Smith were able to finally receive their answer decades later, owing to genetic genealogy technology.
Following extensive DNA testing and a thorough review of the evidence, the Indianapolis Metro Police Department declared on Thursday that the culprit had been identified.
In a statement, IMPD Deputy Chief of Investigations Kendale Adams stated that although the announcement took almost 50 years to make, it demonstrated the commitment and tenacity of their investigators and partners and that they will always pursue justice against those who commit crimes.
He continued by saying that although they would prefer to act right away, it can take years or even decades, and they never give up searching for solutions.
“He was hunting,” said Steve Gibbs, a Marion County Sheriff’s Office officer at the time who has been looking into the unsolved case since 2018.
The suspect was a hunter… of victims, according to Gibbs, who spoke to the Indianapolis Star. He detested using the term “professional.” He continued by saying that the women felt as though they were trapped in a web and couldn’t escape after they were inside the suspect’s vehicle.
Each of the three women spoke after police authorities gave a statement about the incident and how the victims’ tenacity, combined with investigative efforts and DNA evidence, had resulted in the case being solved.
Standing before you today as a survivor who has discovered the true meaning of patience, Ms. Rottler addressed the crowd. She went on to say that she has discovered that it can occasionally take decades to receive the response you are looking for.
According to Ms. Rottler, she made an effort to keep the matter open long after it had been closed.
She claimed that it appeared as though every call she made resulted in yet another dead end, but she was resolved to persevere.
What Suspect Did In 1975?
At 10:45 p.m. on August 19, 1975, on the east side of Indianapolis, 14-year-old Kathie Rottler, 11-year-old Sheri Rottler Trick, and 14-year-old Kandice Smith were exiting a petrol station on Washington Street close to Belmar Avenue.
Hitchhiking was the girls’ choice. After a while, a white man in a station wagon stopped and offered to take them home.
The females discovered the man had kept driving past their location while they were inside the car. The girl tried to exit the car, but she was not able to. The man eventually brought the vehicle to a stop next to a cornfield in Greenfield, Indiana.
Two of the females were bound when the suspect forcibly removed them from the automobile. Before repeatedly stabbing the other two girls, he sexually raped one of the girls and brutally stabbed her.
Finished At a press conference on Thursday, Sgt. David Ellison of Indianapolis Metro Police stated that the girls had acted lifeless to stop getting stabbed.
To obtain assistance, two of the girls returned to the road
Amazingly, none of the three girls was hurt during the incident.
A composite sketch of the culprit was produced at the time of the investigation, which also followed up on several leads and eliminated other suspects. The case eventually became cold.
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