Tech News Summary:
- Joseph Norman Hill Sr. was identified as the suspect in a 1975 murder case of two young boys, Bradley Bellino and David Evans, who were found dead near each other in Boardman Township, Ohio.
- BCI developed an offender profile using DNA analysis and utilized investigative genetic genealogy search by Parabon Nano Labs to identify Hill as the culprit after decades of the case remaining unsolved.
- Hill died in California in 2019, so he cannot be held accountable for his crimes, but the identification of him as the responsible party may bring some sense of closure to the victims’ families and friends.
In a major breakthrough, DNA technology has revealed a connection between a suspect and a second child homicide in Boardman Township from the 1970s.
The case involves Theresa Corley, a six-year-old girl who was found strangled in a wooded area near her home in 1972. Despite a thorough investigation and the collection of DNA evidence, the case remained unsolved for decades.
However, advances in DNA technology have now allowed investigators to link the suspect in the 1974 murder of four-year-old Barbara Blatnik to the Corley case. The suspect, Gustave Sapharas, was recently identified through DNA evidence and arrested in connection with the Blatnik case.
DNA analysis also revealed that Sapharas was a possible match to the evidence collected in the Corley case. Further investigation confirmed that Sapharas had lived near the Corley family at the time of the homicide, and witnesses had seen him in the area on the day of the murder.
“This is a significant development in a case that has haunted this community for nearly 50 years,” said Boardman Township Police Chief Todd Werth. “We owe it to Theresa and her family to uncover the truth, no matter how many years have passed.”
Sapharas, who is now 75 years old, has been charged with murder in the Blatnik case and is currently awaiting trial. The investigation into Theresa Corley’s homicide is ongoing.