WEBVTT 1 00:00:07.400 --> 00:00:11.679 In a deserted, swampy patch of woodland in New Britain, Connecticut. 2 00:00:11.800 --> 00:00:15.960 In two thousand and seven, the scattered remains of several 3 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:17.559 women were discovered. 4 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:23.600 I have never had a case where ahead seven possible 5 00:00:23.640 --> 00:00:25.839 victims at one crime scene. 6 00:00:27.480 --> 00:00:31.199 For ten long years, detectives worked to discover who the 7 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:35.039 victims were and who'd killed them. 8 00:00:35.320 --> 00:00:37.880 After the bones were found, I think it was clear 9 00:00:37.960 --> 00:00:39.200 that there was a serial killer. 10 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:46.320 The investigations zoned in on a battered blue van belonging 11 00:00:46.359 --> 00:00:49.719 to local gardener William Devin Howell. 12 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:55.799 And they just started to pick that vana part fiber 13 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:57.840 by fiber, droplet by droplet. 14 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:04.959 It is a positive gold mine, a treasure trove of DNA, 15 00:01:05.799 --> 00:01:07.400 of all manner of clues. 16 00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:14.480 When the true nature of Howell's crimes were revealed, they 17 00:01:14.519 --> 00:01:19.480 were breathtaking in their brutality. 18 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:24.680 Physical violence, strangulation, probably some of the most violent behavior 19 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:26.680 that I've ever handled as a lawyer. 20 00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:33.280 Fourteen years after the first innocent victim was snatched from 21 00:01:33.319 --> 00:01:38.920 the street, William Devin Howell was finally confirmed as one 22 00:01:38.959 --> 00:02:07.799 of the world's most evil killers in twenty seventeen, a 23 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:11.240 case that had gripped and horrified a quiet corner of 24 00:02:11.319 --> 00:02:16.199 New England concluded with one of Connecticut's most prolific serial killers, 25 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:20.840 forty seven year old William Devin Howell, being locked away 26 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:26.960 for life. But when the story began fourteen years earlier, 27 00:02:27.319 --> 00:02:29.639 it had gone largely unnoticed. 28 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:33.280 The media hadn't really covered it very much. No one 29 00:02:33.319 --> 00:02:36.639 had really put together that we had of his missing women. 30 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:42.719 If she was a drug taker with addictions, if she 31 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:48.039 was a sex worker, it's not unusual for them to 32 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:51.879 go missing and not be reported for quite a long time. 33 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:57.000 When stories of the missing women's fate were finally told, 34 00:02:57.319 --> 00:03:01.599 it exposed a dark underbelly many in this leafy part 35 00:03:01.680 --> 00:03:04.479 of Connecticut did not know existed. 36 00:03:05.479 --> 00:03:09.960 Central Connecticut was more of a manufacturing area back in 37 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:15.960 the thirties, forties, fifties, and over time drugs has infiltrated 38 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:19.319 those areas and with drugs as prostitution. 39 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:24.039 But above all, the story showed the world that truly 40 00:03:24.280 --> 00:03:28.960 monstrous people are sometimes able to hide in plain sight. 41 00:03:29.719 --> 00:03:32.639 Bill Howe is one of those individuals that was convicted 42 00:03:32.680 --> 00:03:37.919 of committing horrific acts of violence, and yet he's a 43 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:43.120 likable man that you think about and you say, how 44 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:52.479 could he have done this? 45 00:03:52.479 --> 00:03:57.479 This killer's story begins on the eleventh of February nineteen seventy. 46 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:02.599 He grew up in a New News, Virginia, which is 47 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:05.840 a population of about two hundred thousand people. 48 00:04:08.159 --> 00:04:11.319 His mother was fourteen his father was forty five when 49 00:04:11.800 --> 00:04:12.680 Howe came along. 50 00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:19.399 William Devin Howell, known as Bill, was the youngest of 51 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:26.560 four children. Despite a stable childhood, in his late teens, 52 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:29.519 Howell began to take the wrong path. 53 00:04:30.600 --> 00:04:32.560 He went to school, he dropped out of school. 54 00:04:34.360 --> 00:04:39.959 Towards the end of his adolescence, Bill Howell drifted into 55 00:04:40.079 --> 00:04:43.959 drugs and he then got drawn into petty crime. 56 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:50.680 He had some motor vehicle violations that ultimately caused his 57 00:04:50.759 --> 00:04:54.920 license to be suspended, and it became a vicious cycle. 58 00:04:55.040 --> 00:04:59.480 He continued driving, kept getting arrested, and it resulted in 59 00:04:59.560 --> 00:04:59.959 jail time. 60 00:05:03.279 --> 00:05:09.199 By his mid twenties, Howell had collected convictions for drink driving, forgery, 61 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:21.839 reckless driving, and public drunkenness. In two thousand and one, 62 00:05:22.199 --> 00:05:25.399 age thirty one years old, he left Virginia. 63 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:28.759 He met a woman and she was from Connecticut, and 64 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:30.920 he ended up coming to Connecticut. 65 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:35.079 Moving in with his girlfriend, Dorothy in New Britain, William 66 00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:38.360 Howell took on of a near respectability. 67 00:05:39.240 --> 00:05:43.720 Howell appeared to be quite settled. He had a relationship 68 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:46.279 a girlfriend, He had a job. 69 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:50.720 He had this landscaping business that he seemed to be 70 00:05:50.720 --> 00:05:51.399 doing okay with. 71 00:05:55.079 --> 00:05:57.920 He cut people's lawns. It was not the kind of 72 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:03.199 lawnmowing service that you see landscapers and affluent communities, just 73 00:06:03.240 --> 00:06:06.240 a small twenty two inch one more And it was 74 00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:10.319 in the more urban areas of older people that stayed 75 00:06:10.319 --> 00:06:13.680 in those communities. They and they hired him, and they 76 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:16.560 said he was very nice, reliable. He'd come on a 77 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:17.399 weekly basis. 78 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:22.399 He had a dark blue nineteen eighty five for Dy 79 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:25.560 color Line van, pretty smashed up. It had plywood over 80 00:06:25.639 --> 00:06:28.240 some of the windows. He had on the side quality 81 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:31.360 lownwork called Devin and his cell phone. 82 00:06:31.879 --> 00:06:36.519 But criminality was never far away. In two thousand and two, 83 00:06:36.920 --> 00:06:47.000 Howell picked up more convictions for minor offenses. By this time, 84 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:51.600 he was a frequent visitor to the Berlin Turnpike area, 85 00:06:52.759 --> 00:06:56.199 a ten minute drive from the home he shared with Dorothy. 86 00:06:58.360 --> 00:07:05.399 The Berlin Turnpike has met many commercial establishments, restaurants, hotels, hotels, 87 00:07:05.800 --> 00:07:09.920 different shopping centers, well. 88 00:07:09.879 --> 00:07:13.120 Le Brulin Turnpike was one of the main roads that 89 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:15.959 used to go between New York and Boston, so there 90 00:07:15.959 --> 00:07:18.879 were a lot of little hotels, and over time those 91 00:07:18.920 --> 00:07:23.879 hotels stopped being used by conventional travelers and end up 92 00:07:23.879 --> 00:07:28.720 being used by hookers and john's and more nefarious type 93 00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:29.639 of activity. 94 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:35.720 William Devin Howell was drawn to the area where drugs 95 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:38.439 and prostitution went hand in hand. 96 00:07:40.519 --> 00:07:43.040 Many people who are females who are drug addicts, they 97 00:07:43.120 --> 00:07:46.160 end up prostituting themselves in order to get the money, 98 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:49.000 and mister Howell was able to get some drugs and 99 00:07:49.240 --> 00:07:50.240 party with these women. 100 00:07:56.120 --> 00:08:00.240 In April two thousand and three, a young woman was 101 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:04.360 reported missing from a town some twenty five miles from 102 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:05.680 the Berlin Turnpike. 103 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:12.519 Melanie Ruth Cameline issues from Seymour, Connecticut. She went missing 104 00:08:12.519 --> 00:08:15.360 from the city of Waterbury. She was the mother of 105 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:18.040 two dearly loved by her family. 106 00:08:19.560 --> 00:08:23.319 When twenty nine year old Melanie's mother reported her missing 107 00:08:23.399 --> 00:08:28.240 to Waterbury police, she hadn't seen her daughter for several months. 108 00:08:29.800 --> 00:08:33.799 WATERBURYPD was taken point on and the missing person report 109 00:08:34.039 --> 00:08:35.320 terrific investigators. 110 00:08:36.120 --> 00:08:40.960 Despite an investigation, there were no leads into Melanie's disappearance. 111 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:47.120 A month later, there was another missing person's report in 112 00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:48.000 the same town. 113 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:54.919 Marilyn Gonzalez was twenty six. She too was a mother 114 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:55.320 of two. 115 00:08:57.080 --> 00:09:00.759 Last scene on the fifteenth of May two than three, 116 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:05.559 Marilyn was reported missing by her mother. A few days later. 117 00:09:07.240 --> 00:09:11.480 Her loved ones or just frantically trying to what happened 118 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:12.600 to her. 119 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:23.279 On the twenty fourth of June, another desperate mother went 120 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:27.320 to the police, this time in New Britain. 121 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:33.360 Janice Roberts is a transgender woman. She was in her 122 00:09:33.559 --> 00:09:37.159 forties at the time. Her family thought that she went 123 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:40.799 to New York City and possibly ran into some trouble 124 00:09:40.840 --> 00:09:42.240 down there. They just didn't know. 125 00:09:44.039 --> 00:09:47.159 No one knew if the missing women had chosen to 126 00:09:47.240 --> 00:09:52.759 leave the area or if something more sinister had befallen them. 127 00:09:53.080 --> 00:09:57.360 Even when all of these women were reported missing, they 128 00:09:57.480 --> 00:10:03.240 weren't linked by the police. Things are made more complicated 129 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:07.320 when people go missing from different police jurisdictions because they 130 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:12.360 don't necessarily always share that information. They won't be looking 131 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:15.759 at the missing personal lists from neighboring jurisdictions. 132 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:25.960 By the summer of two thousand and three, three women 133 00:10:26.039 --> 00:10:29.919 were missing from towns in the Berlin Turnpike area. There 134 00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:35.399 was no uproar, no panic. Women weren't safe on the streets, 135 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:52.440 but they had no idea. In July two thousand and three, 136 00:10:52.679 --> 00:10:56.200 thirty three year old William Devin Howell was living with 137 00:10:56.279 --> 00:11:02.919 his girlfriend in New Britain, Connecticut. On the thirty first 138 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:06.639 of July, the mother and sister of thirty three year 139 00:11:06.679 --> 00:11:12.159 old Nilsa Arismendi walked into Weathersfield Police department nine miles 140 00:11:12.200 --> 00:11:16.919 away and reported that they hadn't seen Nilsa for almost 141 00:11:17.159 --> 00:11:17.600 a week. 142 00:11:20.679 --> 00:11:23.759 Nielsa Arasmendi had an on and off relationship with her 143 00:11:24.039 --> 00:11:26.919 childhood sweetheart, was always known as Ace, and they were 144 00:11:26.919 --> 00:11:29.200 living in a motel in New Britain. 145 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:33.639 She was a drug user, might have engaged a some 146 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:34.720 prostitution or so. 147 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:42.360 She had quite a stable life actually, so her disappearance 148 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:45.559 was flagged up as this is out of the ordinary. 149 00:11:45.639 --> 00:11:54.559 Vanilsa, Nilsa's boyfriend, as a convicted drug dealer, was first 150 00:11:54.600 --> 00:11:59.559 on the list of people to question, insisting he had 151 00:11:59.720 --> 00:12:03.240 no idea what had happened to Nilsa. Ace passed a 152 00:12:03.240 --> 00:12:09.679 polygraph test. Worried sick about his girlfriend's disappearance, Ace was 153 00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:11.120 desperate to help. 154 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:16.000 He gave the police all the information he had. 155 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:22.480 Ace told detectives about the last time he'd seen Nilsa. 156 00:12:22.679 --> 00:12:25.320 It was late at night after the couple had been 157 00:12:25.399 --> 00:12:28.559 hanging out with a man they knew only as Devin. 158 00:12:29.960 --> 00:12:33.000 Nilsa, her boyfriend and this guy were doing drugs in 159 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:37.320 a parking lot at a supermarket in Weathersfield. After that, 160 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:40.480 and her boyfriend saw her get into this weird looking 161 00:12:40.759 --> 00:12:45.440 van that was partly blue, partly black and had wood 162 00:12:46.039 --> 00:12:48.679 boards where the side windows should have been. 163 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:54.720 It was the first solid lead into working out what 164 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:56.320 had happened to Nilson. 165 00:12:57.399 --> 00:13:01.320 The blue van became a target of the Weathersfield Police 166 00:13:01.320 --> 00:13:02.559 Department's investigation. 167 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:08.440 The name Devin and the description of a van where 168 00:13:08.440 --> 00:13:12.000 all police had to go on in the search for Nilsa. 169 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:18.120 But two months later, a sharp eyed patrol officer spotted 170 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:20.799 the vehicle in Weathersfield. 171 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:29.960 So they traced the van. The van is traced back 172 00:13:30.039 --> 00:13:32.919 The owner is Dorothy Holcombe. 173 00:13:33.960 --> 00:13:37.399 And that's when they went to as Holcombe's residents trying 174 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:38.200 to interview her. 175 00:13:40.519 --> 00:13:45.000 Police records showed a man had been living at Dorothy's address, 176 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:50.320 one with an outstanding warrant for an assault on his girlfriend. 177 00:13:51.879 --> 00:13:55.279 His name was William Devin Howell. 178 00:13:56.559 --> 00:13:59.279 When the police arrived to talk to Dorothy, she said, oh, well, 179 00:13:59.320 --> 00:14:01.360 Bill has the van and most of the time it's 180 00:14:01.399 --> 00:14:02.440 just registered my name. 181 00:14:04.440 --> 00:14:07.279 He tried to dodge the interviews and she kind of 182 00:14:07.320 --> 00:14:10.720 protected him from the police. You know, they'd come in 183 00:14:10.720 --> 00:14:12.480 the front door to go out the back door type 184 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:12.759 of thing. 185 00:14:13.799 --> 00:14:17.840 Detectives were desperate to interview the man last scene with Milsa, 186 00:14:18.279 --> 00:14:22.159 but he kept evading them. Meanwhile, they turned their focus 187 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:26.279 on the van Miltsa had climbed into the night she disappeared. 188 00:14:27.559 --> 00:14:31.679 They got a search warrant for the vehicle, but. 189 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:35.720 When they returned in November to seize the battered blue van, 190 00:14:36.759 --> 00:14:40.440 neither Howell nor the vehicle were anywhere to be seen. 191 00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:47.279 In January two thousand and four, Weathersfield police finally caught 192 00:14:47.399 --> 00:14:52.879 up with William Devin Howell. The gardener denied any involvement 193 00:14:53.080 --> 00:14:57.440 in Nilsa Alice Mendi's disappearance, and his van, which they 194 00:14:57.480 --> 00:15:02.200 hoped might hold some clues, was still nowhere to be found. 195 00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:07.000 Parlor problem was they didn't have her body. They didn't 196 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:09.279 know what happened to her. She could have taken off 197 00:15:09.399 --> 00:15:11.080 no one knew that she was dead. At that point. 198 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:17.759 With no van, no evidence, and nothing to tie him 199 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:22.000 to Nilsa beyond the word of her boyfriend, detectives had 200 00:15:22.039 --> 00:15:33.159 no choice but to let Howell go. Weeks later, another 201 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:36.879 young woman was reported missing by her family. 202 00:15:37.799 --> 00:15:42.080 Joy Veleen, also known as Joy Martinez. She's twenty four. 203 00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:45.480 Joiveleen was a popular girl at school. She was a 204 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:46.240 track star. 205 00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:51.200 Born into a large and loving family. Somewhere between her 206 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:56.159 late teens and early twenties, Joyveleen had fallen into drugs. 207 00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:03.279 She'd last been seen in October two thousand and three. 208 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:07.559 She doesn't appear for her birthday, which mother finds quite strange, 209 00:16:07.679 --> 00:16:09.440 and then she doesn't appear at Thanksgiving. 210 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:14.039 On the twenty ninth of March two thousand and four, 211 00:16:15.559 --> 00:16:19.720 Joy's mother reported her missing to police in East Hartford. 212 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:25.080 Two days later, in Weathersfield, the team who were searching 213 00:16:25.159 --> 00:16:29.799 for Nilsa Aris Mendy finally had some luck. Six hundred 214 00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:32.639 miles away from Connecticut. 215 00:16:37.559 --> 00:16:41.120 They've found the vehicle in North Carolina, the blue van. 216 00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:43.600 They then got a search warrant and then they have 217 00:16:43.679 --> 00:16:44.960 the van towed back. 218 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:49.120 The van had been hidden on a property belonging to 219 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:54.159 one of Howell's associates, eight months after Nilsa Aris Mendy vanished, 220 00:16:54.440 --> 00:16:58.200 would it hold any clues about what had happened to her? 221 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:02.879 The crime scene investigation is are let loose. On the 222 00:17:02.919 --> 00:17:04.119 Fordy icon Line van. 223 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:10.319 They noticed that the back seat the cushions had been replaced, 224 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:14.480 and they ended up pulling those cushions back, and then 225 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:17.519 they found what they believed was blood and then reddish 226 00:17:17.519 --> 00:17:19.200 brown stains on the carpeting. 227 00:17:20.279 --> 00:17:24.920 This disturbing find suggested that someone had lost a large 228 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:28.279 amount of blood in the back of the battered work van. 229 00:17:28.680 --> 00:17:30.559 The question was who. 230 00:17:31.480 --> 00:17:35.119 The police department submitted a piece of the car seatback 231 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:37.559 and a piece of the carpet from the van to 232 00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:38.279 the laboratory. 233 00:17:40.200 --> 00:17:44.759 Forensic science examiner Kristen Maydell was part of the team 234 00:17:44.839 --> 00:17:49.359 at the State Forensic Lab tasked with analyzing the stains 235 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:55.240 on the upholstery. The first set of tests confirmed the 236 00:17:55.279 --> 00:18:00.440 stains were in fact human blood. The next step was 237 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:04.440 to find out who the blood had belonged to. When 238 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:07.400 the results came back, there was a shock. 239 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:11.839 From the initial testing of those two samples. They were 240 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:13.440 two different DNA profiles. 241 00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:21.640 It appeared that at least two people had come to 242 00:18:21.720 --> 00:18:26.240 harm in Howell's Van, as is common in missing persons 243 00:18:26.359 --> 00:18:30.720 cases in the US. Nilsa aris Mendi's mother had given 244 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:34.880 the police a DNA sample when her daughter disappeared. 245 00:18:35.240 --> 00:18:37.599 DNA gets passed from parent to childs where you get 246 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:39.599 half your nuclear DNA from your mother and half your 247 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:41.079 nuclear DNA from your father. 248 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:47.200 If human remains were found, the authorities would be able 249 00:18:47.240 --> 00:18:50.240 to say if the victim was likely to be a 250 00:18:50.319 --> 00:19:02.880 close relative of Nilsa's mother. For Nils's family, there was 251 00:19:03.079 --> 00:19:03.599 a match. 252 00:19:05.519 --> 00:19:09.400 The mother of the missing person did match the DNA 253 00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:11.039 profile from the van. 254 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:16.640 It was an important breakthrough for the case, but a 255 00:19:16.680 --> 00:19:20.240 body blow for Nilsa's anxiously waiting family. 256 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:25.279 The medical examiner said she couldn't have survived that much 257 00:19:25.319 --> 00:19:25.960 blood loss. 258 00:19:27.480 --> 00:19:32.839 It seems certain that Nilsa aris Mendi was dead. Police 259 00:19:32.920 --> 00:19:36.880 had no idea who the second DNA profile belonged to. 260 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:41.519 With more questions and answers about what had happened in 261 00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:49.960 Howell's Van, investigators needed to tread carefully. 262 00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:53.119 It takes a long time for the prosecutors to be 263 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:58.880 absolutely sure that they can charge how with Nielsa's killing. 264 00:19:59.480 --> 00:20:03.160 Blood in the van, opportunity, the fact that they had 265 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:06.440 seen her getting into the van, but the difficulty this 266 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:07.119 is nobody. 267 00:20:09.079 --> 00:20:13.079 On the fourteenth of May two thousand and five, William 268 00:20:13.160 --> 00:20:18.039 Devin Howell was arrested in connection with Nilsa Alice Mendi's death. 269 00:20:18.920 --> 00:20:22.640 Three days later, he was charged with her murder. But 270 00:20:22.759 --> 00:20:26.359 the police knew getting a conviction would be tough. 271 00:20:29.680 --> 00:20:32.240 The problem was they didn't know what happened to her. 272 00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:34.680 They knew something bad happened in the man, but there 273 00:20:34.720 --> 00:20:37.720 was no weapon, There was no trace of the body. 274 00:20:41.000 --> 00:20:45.799 Howell was reminded in custody until his trial. For now 275 00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:49.880 a suspected killer was off the streets, but would it 276 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:59.880 be for good. Almost four years after Nilsa Alice men 277 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.039 and his disappearance, thirty six year old William Devin Howell 278 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:09.119 stood in the dock at New Britain Superior Court in Connecticut. 279 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:11.960 On the twenty fourth of January two thousand and seven. 280 00:21:12.359 --> 00:21:17.759 William Devin Howell stands trial for the murder of Nielsa Arismendi. 281 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:24.000 The DNA evidence is produced, witnesses, including Ace, are produced. 282 00:21:24.759 --> 00:21:28.480 Howell's defense was that it was her boyfriend Ace who'd 283 00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:33.000 detacked Milsa arguing the couple had fought in the back 284 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:37.119 of the van. The prosecution highlighted the amount of blood 285 00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:40.599 spilled in the van and the fact that Nilsa hadn't 286 00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:45.480 been seen since that night. On the fifth day of 287 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:48.599 the trial, Howell changed his plea. 288 00:21:49.559 --> 00:21:52.200 He did a plea bargain and he used something called 289 00:21:52.200 --> 00:21:54.640 the Alford plea. 290 00:21:55.160 --> 00:21:58.640 What the Alfred doctrine stands for is you'd say, I 291 00:21:58.720 --> 00:22:02.240 understand if I got a trial, there was a significant 292 00:22:02.359 --> 00:22:07.720 chance I'll be convicted and face harsher punishments. So in 293 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:10.920 order to avoid that, I'm going to plead guilty, even 294 00:22:10.920 --> 00:22:12.599 though I'm not admitting my guilt. 295 00:22:18.920 --> 00:22:23.079 On the thirtieth of January, Howell pleaded guilty to first 296 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:28.279 degree manslaughter, still refusing to give any information about what 297 00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:31.920 had happened to Nilsa alis Mendy, all where her remains 298 00:22:31.960 --> 00:22:42.480 could be found. Howell was jailed for fifteen years. Just 299 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:46.680 months later, on the twentieth of August two thousand and seven, 300 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:50.480 local police got a phone call that had the potential 301 00:22:50.759 --> 00:22:53.039 to shed light on Niels's fate. 302 00:22:54.839 --> 00:22:58.240 The Umbritan Police Department got a call from a resident 303 00:22:58.359 --> 00:23:01.759 who was walking through some woods off of Hartford Road 304 00:23:01.799 --> 00:23:04.440 in New Britain, and he said he found what he 305 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:07.559 thought were human remains. I was a lieutenant in the 306 00:23:07.559 --> 00:23:12.920 bureau at that point, so we responded, we canvass a scene. 307 00:23:14.279 --> 00:23:17.119 That area is very commercial. It was like a little 308 00:23:17.160 --> 00:23:20.920 strip mall, and in the back is a little parking area, 309 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:26.079 and right below that is a steep drop off, and 310 00:23:26.119 --> 00:23:31.880 then there's a wooded area. 311 00:23:32.160 --> 00:23:35.319 It's really not a place you would easily walk through 312 00:23:35.400 --> 00:23:38.799 because of the brier, some of the wildlife that's there 313 00:23:39.279 --> 00:23:43.799 or completely swampy. It gets goes underwater quite a bit. 314 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:46.559 It's not where someone would want to walk and go 315 00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:47.359 have a picnic. 316 00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:56.720 More offices were brought in to search the densely wooded area. 317 00:24:00.039 --> 00:24:04.039 Found a few more remains that evening and into the 318 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:08.720 next day, and that when we discovered it wasn't remains 319 00:24:08.759 --> 00:24:11.240 of one person, but it was remains of two phoenix. 320 00:24:12.279 --> 00:24:15.839 Confirming that they had found the partial remains of two 321 00:24:16.119 --> 00:24:20.759 adult women, The state Medical Examiner gave an estimat as 322 00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:24.319 to how long the scattered bones had laid there. 323 00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:27.480 Give us a very wide range with the carryat is 324 00:24:28.039 --> 00:24:31.519 depends on whether depends on the animal activity. So we 325 00:24:31.599 --> 00:24:34.880 knew they were one hundred years old. We knew that 326 00:24:34.920 --> 00:24:36.000 they were a year old. 327 00:24:39.319 --> 00:24:44.319 A couple of days later, a third partial skeleton was recovered. 328 00:24:46.279 --> 00:24:49.880 There was nothing with the bodies to identify them, but 329 00:24:50.079 --> 00:24:56.279 one conclusion seemed inevitable. The women had all likely been murdered, 330 00:24:56.839 --> 00:25:01.920 and almost certainly by the same assail. 331 00:25:01.079 --> 00:25:05.279 We're certainly working on the strong possibility that we had 332 00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:06.000 a serial killer. 333 00:25:12.359 --> 00:25:16.359 With William Devin Howell's conviction fresh in the minds of 334 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:22.279 local law enforcement, the question on everyone's lips was could 335 00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:27.599 any of the bodies be Nilsa Aris Mendes. The State 336 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:30.799 forensic Lab was brought in once again. 337 00:25:31.960 --> 00:25:35.720 They submitted a sample from the three different possible bodies 338 00:25:35.720 --> 00:25:37.119 for us to do DNA testing on. 339 00:25:37.880 --> 00:25:42.200 DNA profiles were developed from the bones, but when they 340 00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:46.640 were run through the DNA database, there was more disappointment 341 00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:48.119 for Nilsa's family. 342 00:25:49.359 --> 00:25:53.680 We did try to make a connection with Nilsa, but 343 00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:54.880 there were no matches eric. 344 00:25:56.400 --> 00:25:59.279 In fact, there were no matches in the system for 345 00:25:59.400 --> 00:26:05.079 any of the women. Without knowing who they were investigating 346 00:26:05.160 --> 00:26:07.559 the women's deaths would prove difficult. 347 00:26:09.359 --> 00:26:13.559 If you don't know who the person is that has 348 00:26:13.640 --> 00:26:20.880 been killed, it's near on impossible to identify your suspects. 349 00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:24.720 There's always a motive for every murder. You're never going 350 00:26:24.759 --> 00:26:27.000 to find out what that motive is unless you identify 351 00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:28.319 the body. 352 00:26:37.400 --> 00:26:42.519 New Britain police threw themselves into working out who the women. 353 00:26:42.359 --> 00:26:47.480 Were, looking at unsolved missing persons reports and just try 354 00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:50.920 to chase them all down. The FBI down in quantico 355 00:26:51.119 --> 00:26:55.920 operator services to create an approximation of tour or victims. 356 00:26:56.480 --> 00:26:58.119 You would put it in the newspapers, gave it to 357 00:26:58.160 --> 00:26:59.559 the media. 358 00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:06.160 It was a slow and frustrating process, and as James 359 00:27:06.200 --> 00:27:10.359 Wardwell and his team worked to identify the victims, they 360 00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:14.880 couldn't shake the suspicion there might be more bodies lying 361 00:27:15.079 --> 00:27:17.200 in the woods. 362 00:27:17.240 --> 00:27:21.240 Never stopped believing there was more in there, still believed 363 00:27:21.279 --> 00:27:24.079 in our heart of hearts, Nilsa was in there, still 364 00:27:24.119 --> 00:27:26.480 believing that there might be more victims. 365 00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:31.880 Were police on the right track. Was William Devin Howell 366 00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:36.160 in fact a serial killer with Nilsa just one of 367 00:27:36.200 --> 00:27:37.000 his victims. 368 00:27:37.880 --> 00:27:40.640 We certainly were keeping all options open because we don't 369 00:27:40.680 --> 00:27:45.160 know yet, but that was definitely a working theory that 370 00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:48.359 there was a connection, and Nilsa was also connected to 371 00:27:48.720 --> 00:28:13.839 our say. 372 00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:06.759 In December twenty ten, New Britain PD got their first 373 00:28:06.799 --> 00:28:11.519 breakthrough when a woman called, introducing herself as the sister 374 00:28:11.599 --> 00:28:19.559 in law of New Britain residents Diane Cusack. She'd seen 375 00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:23.799 the photo in the papers of the facial reconstruction of 376 00:28:23.880 --> 00:28:26.039 one of the unidentified women. 377 00:28:29.319 --> 00:28:33.119 She said, by the face show looks like Diane. The 378 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:36.599 hair's wrong, but the face looked white. 379 00:28:38.480 --> 00:28:42.319 Diane Cusack alone in New Britain. I don't think she 380 00:28:42.440 --> 00:28:45.559 really was in contact with her family. She wasn't reported 381 00:28:45.599 --> 00:28:48.400 missing right away. 382 00:28:48.759 --> 00:28:51.680 So we were ultimately able to make that connection through 383 00:28:51.759 --> 00:29:00.240 DANEL records and DNA and made our first positive idea. 384 00:29:00.599 --> 00:29:03.119 I remember going sitting down at their kitchen table ensuring 385 00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:06.200 that news with them. I know it brought them pain, 386 00:29:06.400 --> 00:29:08.759 but I could see it also brought them some relief. 387 00:29:09.200 --> 00:29:12.559 I remember it like yesterday, that part, because it's a 388 00:29:12.559 --> 00:29:16.759 company deserves what happened to her. 389 00:29:19.960 --> 00:29:24.680 The tragedy for Diane Cusack and her family was nonetheless 390 00:29:24.799 --> 00:29:28.000 an important step forward in the investigation. 391 00:29:31.240 --> 00:29:34.079 Really started opening everything because then we could start retracing 392 00:29:34.119 --> 00:29:36.359 her steps, placing her in places. 393 00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:41.759 Fifty three year old Diane hadn't been seen since July 394 00:29:42.000 --> 00:29:46.519 two thousand and three. She'd lived in the same neighborhood 395 00:29:46.599 --> 00:29:50.759 as William Devin Howell, and the police believed they may 396 00:29:50.799 --> 00:29:56.160 have crossed paths, but there was no proof or evidence 397 00:29:56.440 --> 00:30:03.359 to link Diane to Howl. The mistigation went cold until 398 00:30:03.440 --> 00:30:04.480 twenty thirteen. 399 00:30:11.880 --> 00:30:15.440 Connecticut State's Attorney's Office has a cold case unit, and 400 00:30:15.480 --> 00:30:17.039 they put a task force together. 401 00:30:18.599 --> 00:30:22.599