Indiana authorities said on Tuesday that they have identified the suspect responsible for the deaths of three women and the sexual assault of another one within a three-year span.
At a news conference, the Indiana State Police (ISP) said that Harry Edward Greenwell has been identified as the perpetrator responsible for the four crimes dubbed as the “I-65” or “Day Inn” murders.
Greenwall died of cancer nearly a decade ago, in 2013.
Police say that Greenwall from 1987 to 1990 robbed and murdered Vicki Heath, Margaret “Peggy” Gill and Jeanne Gilbert and sexually assaulted an unidentified woman, referred to as Jane Doe, at Super 8 and Day Inn motels in Kentucky and Indiana.
Authorities were able to identify Greenwell as the “I-65 Killer” through a process called investigative genealogy, a technique that uploads a crime scene’s DNA profile to one or more genetic genealogy databases in an effort to identify a criminal offender’s genetic relatives and locate the offender within their family tree, according to the statement.
Through this process, ISP’s lab was able to match Greenwell with a close family member, determining that Greenwall was the person responsible for the crimes.
Authorities also noted that Greenwall had an extensive criminal history ranging from 1963 to 1998.
“Indiana State Police investigators work diligently every day, in close collaboration with our state and federal law enforcement partners all across Indiana and beyond our state lines, to help solve senseless crimes like this one, no matter how many days, months or even years have passed since the crime occurred”, ISP Superintendent Douglas Carter said at the news conference.
In a statement, Jeanne Gilbert’s daughter, Kimberly Wright, expressed her gratitude toward the police department for solving her mother’s case.
“Our family is extremely grateful to all of the agencies, along with agency partnerships, who have committed to keeping these unsolved cases at the forefront for more than 33 years, and who have worked tirelessly to bring these cases to resolution for all who have suffered from these crimes,” Wright said.