A BRUTAL MURDER – POLICE HAVE DNA EVIDENCE – COULD A DISCARDED CIGARETTE LEAD TO A KILLER?
“48 Hours” Investigates in “The Twisted Case of Angie Dodge”
Saturday, Nov. 9
Click Here for a Preview
Correspondent Anne-Marie Green and 48 HOURS investigate the 1996 death
of Angie Dodge and have the latest news in the hunt for her killer,
which led law enforcement on a circuitous trail through a genealogy
database, in “The Twisted Case of Angie Dodge,” to be broadcast Saturday, Nov. 9. (10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
It’s an unusual case about a brutally murdered Idaho teenager and an
unknown killer who left a DNA sample behind. The story hinges on new
technology, developed since the murder, that has led investigators to
multiple suspects including a New Orleans filmmaker. The case raises
questions about what happens when police use publicly available DNA
databases to solve cases – and what goes on when an innocent man is
tagged as a suspect.
“Nobody ever thinks that they’re going to get picked up by the police
and taken into an interrogation room and questioned about a murder,”
filmmaker Michael Usry tells 48 HOURS. “When it happens to you, it’s
definitely a game-changer.”
After the murder, police and Angie Dodge’s family believed the DNA, a
semen sample, would quickly lead investigators to her killer. Police
tested the DNA of men Angie knew, but none matched. But then along came
Christopher Tapp, who knew her. His DNA did not match either, but after
28 hours of interrogation over 23 days, Tapp confessed to being there
when she was killed. He said he participated while others stabbed her.
One of the men, he said, was named “Mike.” But with no last name it
seemed like a dead end. Tapp was convicted of second-degree murder and
rape. Officially, though, the murder case was still open because Tapp’s
DNA didn’t match the man who left semen at the crime scene.
In 2014 police took a new approach. They searched a public database
that had been bought by Ancestry.com. The goal was to find a close
match, perhaps a family member to the alleged killer, through a process
called familial searching. The search resulted in a partial match. Armed
with a warrant, police got Ancestry.com to reveal the name of the
anonymous man behind the DNA sample. His name was Michael Usry Sr., and
it turns out he had a son, Michael Usry Jr. Police wondered if Usry Jr.
could be the “Mike” that Tapp told them about.
Usry Jr. is a filmmaker with a short film titled “Murderabilia.” Given
the subject of Usry’s film, along with the fact that he’d been through
Idaho Falls at one point in his life, police thought they had their man.
But in truth, Usry Jr. had nothing to do with the 1996 death of Dodge
and was officially cleared.
Usry Jr. joined with Dodge’s mother to search for the man who left his
DNA at the scene. And through their search they came to believe that
Chris Tapp, the man who was then serving time for the murder after his
confession, was, in fact, innocent.
The case took yet another turn when a new police chief told his team to
take another look at the evidence in the Dodge murder and find out who
matched the DNA sample. In May, police announced they had arrested a man
who matched the DNA, after getting a sample of the suspect from a
cigarette butt.
Is the case closed? Green and 48 HOURS have the latest.
48 HOURS: “The Twisted Case of Angie Dodge” is produced by Judy Rybak,
Lindsey Schwartz, Elena DiFiore and Chris O’Connell. Gregory McLaughlin
is the producer-editor. George Baluzy, Michael McHugh, David Spungen and
Michelle Harris are the editors. Patti Aronofsky is the senior
producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the
executive producer.
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