Nancy Marie Bennallack - Solved Cold Case - podcast episode cover

Nancy Marie Bennallack - Solved Cold Case

Nov 05, 202435 minEp. 227
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Episode description

Nancy Bennallack's murder was a mystery that left Sacramento searching for answers for 52 long years. But, thanks to persistent detectives and a breakthrough in genetic genealogy, the case was finally solved, bringing long-awaited closure to the community. This discovery showed just how powerful modern technology can be in solving even the oldest, coldest cases, but most importantly, that there are those who are never willing to give up.

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Transcript

Speaker 1

It's always good news when a cold case gets solved. With the advancements and technology over the past several decades, it has given investigators the edge they need to finally bring many individuals to justice. Today we discuss a case that was cold without any leads for over fifty years, until finally genetic genealogy gave investigators the information they needed to identify the attacker who took a woman's life in cold blood all those years ago. This is the story of Nancy Marie Benelac.

Speaker 2

My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked and Grim, a true crime podcast.

Speaker 1

The following podcast material intended for your audience listener discretion. Is it just me or did that feel like a weird intro coming off of Halloween Week?

Speaker 2

It did a little. It was almost I don't know what would be that, like, I'm climactic, really.

Speaker 1

I guess because Jacko during Halloween week certainly has a flare. I don't so, I don't know how to say it.

Speaker 2

Yes, you do, well, thank you. You're wearing your Jacko shirt though, Hey, I am you're feeling you're feeling kind of in the blues or whatever that Jacko wasn't here, so you're representing only your shirt.

Speaker 1

I'm just still in the Halloween spirit through and through Jacko vibes, Halloween Week, vibes, Halloween, just all of it.

Speaker 2

Yeah, it was a good week. It was really good.

Speaker 1

It was. Honestly though, we're driving around town yesterday, we were already see Christmas lights up.

Speaker 2

Yeah you even saw a Christmas tree? Yeah?

Speaker 1

I did. In someone's window in their house was a fucking Christmas tree. And that was just like a couple days after Halloween. That was That would have been November. I think it was November second, actually, not the third. I think it was the second I saw the Christmas tree, which is nuts.

Speaker 2

Well, I don't know I did, oh man. Someone shared something I can't remember exactly what it was, but it was like put your down tree up, like the world's weird enough anyway, or something like just like do what you want kind.

Speaker 1

Of oha, no fair enough, go for it, celebrate. But for me, it's like, who the fuck has the time to get that shit done? Only that like in that short of window. Afterwards, well maybe they even had it up before.

Speaker 2

But also I feel like I personally would get sick of Christmas to core up that long. I would too, Like I think usually even if we put it up in December, like by you know, Christmas, I'm like, okay, I'm done with like this extra clutter and stuff everywhere.

Speaker 1

Me too. And then you like put all the stuff away and your house seems like so empty and lean, and it's like whoa. Yeah, No, I don't judge those who put their decorations up, but wow, wow, I just hit Pubert. Did you hear that I did? Yeah? But for me, it's like an internal scream because it's just like I could never. It's not that I judge you, it's just if I were you, I could never.

Speaker 2

You know, Well, maybe they are as obsessed with Christmas as you are with Halloween.

Speaker 1

Yeah, fly at it right. Like I said, I don't um be. But we do want to talk about one more thing about Halloween Week before we move on. We actually had a record breaking twenty four hours.

Speaker 2

We did, yes.

Speaker 1

So we talked about it a little bit over on Patreon. But leading up to Halloween Week, I think our record was somewhere around like it was almost eight thousand downloads in a twenty four hour period. Then Halloween Week came around and it was nine thousand downloads in a twenty four hour period, and then finally the climactic Halloween Week moment came and we reached over ten thousand downloads in a twenty four hour period. Wild So thank you guys so much for tuning in to all the new listeners,

all the people binging you guys are amazing. Thank you, thank you, thank.

Speaker 2

You seriously, like you just keep blowing us away, you do.

Speaker 1

And we also have to thank our patrons as well over on Patreon. So we haven't thanked anyone for the last weeks. We got a few to thank here, So thank you to Emily Beth Melville, Katrina Jones, Bethany Tarnowski, Holly i'se sorry, I got a list of scrolling through here, Leanne Bednard's and Aaron McCook and Pat Slick. Thank you very much for signing up over in Patreon.

Speaker 2

Nice.

Speaker 1

They got an additional like three episodes in a row after Halloween, Yeah, which is amazing.

Speaker 2

It went on a little longer for them.

Speaker 1

Speaking of going on, I think we've gone on long enough. Are you ready for this case?

Speaker 2

I think so?

Speaker 1

Thanks?

Speaker 2

Yeah, I mean I love it. I love it when like cases get solved like this. Well, so it would be so awesome if it didn't take fifty years. But still it's just like.

Speaker 1

Yes, well, it's like one of those situations where people almost give up hope that it's ever going to be solved. Yeah, and then something comes to light and it's just incredible. It makes it all that much sweeter that justice has served, you know.

Speaker 2

Yeah, because the because like the person was that close to getting away with it really.

Speaker 1

Exactly, and they probably thought they had gotten away with it.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

But anyways, we got a story to talk about today, and this is a story of Nancy Marie benelec So. Nancy was a smart, hard working woman who brought energy and warmth wherever she went. She was born in nineteen forty two and she grew up living in Grass Valley, California. She attended Hennessy School and later Nevada Union High School. Nancy was driven and stood out from a young age.

She had a full life with full of active activities in her young years, marked by a range of interests and talents and all across the board, really just experiencing everything she could. In her younger years, she was an avid athlete who shined in both softball and was a song leader, showcasing her energy and team spirit. Not only that she was quite a slim, slim girl, but she also could out eat a lot of people.

Speaker 2

Apparently.

Speaker 1

Yeah, just like devouring tacos. Apparently like out eating her dad and stuff. Oh yeah. She also loved time, spending time bowling at the Gold Bowl in Grass Valley, where she had a fun, competing and socializing atmosphere to go along with it. Now, according to her sister, despite her frame, oh sorry, I already mentioned this part, I got it to it early that she had quite the appetite.

Speaker 2

Now.

Speaker 1

After high school, Nancy pursued her passion for beauty and style and attended beauty school. She spent a couple of years working in the Beauty Corral, a popular spot located at the intersection of Neil and South Auburn Street, but where she built Sorry, this is where she built connections with clients and honed her skills. But her sense of adventure led her to a trip to Hawaii with a friend, where she worked as a hairstylist and embraced the island life,

before eventually returning to California to continue her journey. So she's doing her thing, you know, with all this like styling and beauty and all that, takes it abroad, still doing great with it, and then returns home. But eventually her career path would take a turning point. She turned away from the beauty industry and her new job was now as a court reporter, and it was a perfect fit for her sharp mind and attention to detail. Nancy was really good at what she did and was respected

by everyone she worked with. So, to put it lightly, Nancy was pretty much good at anything she did.

Speaker 2

Yeah, it kind of sounds like that, so she's like.

Speaker 1

You, Wow, I know, I'm not like that.

Speaker 2

I feel like you're pretty much good at anything you do as well.

Speaker 1

I'm all right, I'm a jack of all trades type. I can be good ish, decent ish at most things. But I think she was like good at it all.

Speaker 2

So that's yeah. I mean, yeah, that impresses me because I feel like I'm the opposite. So well done.

Speaker 1

It's difficult to be someone like that, but she Yeah. Now, Outside of work, Nancy was known for being friendly and full of life. She loved being around people and made friends quite easily. Her laughter and stories always made social gatherings more fun, and her friends loved how she could make any moment feel special. To put it simply, if you were to sum up Nancy as a person, she was proud and had a way of making those around

her feel comfortable and appreciate it. Nancy's life was going perfect. In fact, she had recently even gotten engaged to her boyfriend by the name of Ferris Salome, and their relationship was filled with excitement and plans for the future as well. Now, Ferris was a County Chief's assistant public defender, and it would have been through their paths crossing at work that they would have met. And just like I mentioned, she had no problems making friends and making those around her

feel appreciated. I'm sure it was quick and easy seduction that she got Ferris, you know.

Speaker 2

Oh yeah. And of course they were probably planning their wedding right most.

Speaker 1

Likely will being engaged and really were now, Nancy looked forward to this new chapter with joy and hope, balancing her work life and her personal life with enthusiasm basically, But one day, Nancy and Ferris had plans to quote that evening, they're going out for dinner. Like many other times, they had before. It was October twenty fifth, nineteen seventy when when she would return sorry to her apartment, and this is where she lived alone. It was at the

Tahitan Apartments located on Bell Street. Now, Nancy's apartment reflected who she was. Was organized, it was welcoming and filled with little touches that showcased her personality. And after an amazing evening with her fiance, Nancy crawled into bed and went to sleep approximately at eleven thirty pm, which I mean, props to her for having a night out like this,

because she did work the next morning. Oh yeah, I'm the kind of person where I'm like, I want to be in bed at nine o'clock if I need to work tomorrow.

Speaker 2

Oh man, well depends, I guess. Well, she probably had early starts too, writ so she.

Speaker 1

Probably did, but in this case, it wasn't too early, So I mean, I can understand a bit. She was scheduled to be at work by nine am.

Speaker 2

Well, and she's young, Ben, you don't have that anymore.

Speaker 1

That's true. Youth is not on my side anymore. Although I did get id buying alcohol.

Speaker 2

The other day, You did, you were pretty pumped. I what did I say, did they look at you?

Speaker 1

Yes, which, thanks for that.

Speaker 2

Well, just mean because of your beard and stuff like. You don't get id'd very often, that's for sure.

Speaker 1

It was on Halloween and I was wearing a skeleton Onzie. Yes, so I probably looked pretty juvenile.

Speaker 2

Yeah, that made sense to me. After you explain that, I was like, oh, okay, okay.

Speaker 1

Still made me feel good. But yeah. Nancy was scheduled to work at nine am, but she she never showed. The clock ticked away, the minutes passed, and Nancy was nowhere to be seen. It was extremely unlike her to be late for work like this, and she never missed a court date. A coworker and friend by the name of Jolene Moncrief was looking to find out what was going on, and she called Nancy's house but there was

no answer. Puzzled and concerned, Jolene phoned her son, Jack Moncreef, to see if she could swing by Nancy's place to check on her. Right. Like I mentioned, Joel and Nancy were already kind of like friends as well as coworkers, so I'm pretty sure Jack was already acquainted with who Nancy was because of that. Yeah, So Jack agreed and he made his way over. He approached the door and rang her buzzer on the apartment, but there was no answer.

He rang it again, still no answer. Unsure of what to do, Jack managed to find the apartment manager by the name of Lyndon Anderson, and with his help, over the concern of Nancy's safety, he grabbed a key and they opened the apartment door.

Speaker 2

Okay they did, Hey, they did.

Speaker 1

Inside the silent apartment, they discovered a brutal and bloody scene. She was found laying on the floor in her underwear with blood everywhere.

Speaker 2

Shit.

Speaker 1

It was clear immediately that sometime in the night Nancy was murdered.

Speaker 2

What the hell because she was like tucked into bed. Yeah, so how does that even happen?

Speaker 1

I don't know.

Speaker 2

Oh my gosh. Also, that poor mom sending her son, Hey, yeah, didn't realize. I'm sure what she was sending her son to witness in just terrible.

Speaker 1

Yeah, thanks to the PTSD mom, so the situation.

Speaker 2

My goodness. Yeah.

Speaker 1

Now, the police were of course called immediately to the scene, and the Sacramento Sheriff Department began their investigation. Among the horrific scene was as it was being processed, Nancy's autopsy found that she had been violently attacked and she was stabbed over thirty.

Speaker 2

Times, So someone probably that knew her intentially non okay, Well.

Speaker 1

Her body was in such bad shape. The stab wounds left her head barely holding on to her body, leaving itly decapitated.

Speaker 2

Oh yeah, that seems like that person just like hated her.

Speaker 1

Yeah. Almost seems like there's anger or something. Yeah. Now, they also found a significant amount of defensive wounds on Nancy, as her hands and arms had significant cuts and lacerations all across them.

Speaker 2

So she fought back.

Speaker 1

She fought back. In fact, honestly, police believed that the killer may have seriously underestimated Nancy because it's even not only did she did this massive struggle occur and she fought back, dealing these defensive wounds, but it seemed like at one point Nancy was able to turn the knife on the assailant on the attacker while fighting back because there was a significant amount of blood everywhere, but the attacker's blood was also everywhere.

Speaker 2

Okay, yeah, okay, so Nancy she had she had some game here.

Speaker 1

Then she did. She was not letting it go good. But also like heartbreaking, it is now the investigation into her murder. Put, of course, Nancy's fiance at the time, Ferris Somali. I sorry, for whatever reason, autocorrect has it here as Slammy. That's not right. Oh no, but Ferris put Ferris in the hot seat as suspect number one. Of course, as we all know from any other cases at this point, as you're just saying, of course, a significant other or family members are always the first to

be suspected. Now, upon questioning Ferris, he told them of their evening out together. He said that the two of them had gone out for dinner and he had dropped her off at her apartment, but he did stay there for a bit before leaving at around eleven thirty at night to go back to his own apartment. So Nancy, last we know, was headed to bed at eleven thirty. This, of course made Ferris the last one to see Nancy

alive before the attack. Now he was able to give them some insight on how the attacker could have gained entry into her apartment. So apparently it wasn't unusual for Nancy to leave her back glass sliding door open on the apartment balcony. No, no, no, you hate.

Speaker 2

This, I do because it's just like, frick.

Speaker 1

Well, I think you have PTSD from that bedroom strangler case, don't you.

Speaker 2

I do. It's just like so simple, just like lock your door.

Speaker 1

Well, I mean, this is the seventies, there's a lot more trusted in the public at the time, and she generally did so leaving the glass door open, not just willy nilly for airfloor or whatever. She did so for her cat, so it could come and go outside as it pleased.

Speaker 2

Okay, I know, like back then, I don't think people would have probably thought twice about that night.

Speaker 1

And she did live on the second floor of the story of that party. So yeah, Now, while the investigation already pointed towards this door as a means of access because there was a bloody trail heading out there leading into the apartment parking lot from the assailant, it was still useful information to know that it was you know, normal for her to leave the door open. But despite this, yeah, like I said, helpful information. Now, in the seventies, DNA

analysis was not a thing yet. We have a lot of the assailant's blood, but DNA analysis wouldn't be a thing into the late eighties. So for now, all the law enforcement could do with that blood was get a blood type. Though it wasn't much, it was useful enough to help rule out some individuals as suspects, like Nancy's fiance, Okrris Good Good, so he is in the clear now. Police tried to find other means of evidence as well.

They dusted the door that he would have went through or gained access however you want to say it, and many other areas in the apartment for fingerprints, but unfortunately, they were not able to get anything. What they did find, though, was a piece of tape left behind at the scene.

It appeared as this this was used to wrap the attacker's fingertips, which means they were likely trying to prevent finger prints being left behind at the scene, so they took tape and wrapped up their fingertips before entering.

Speaker 2

Hey, that's new, feel like I've ever heard that before.

Speaker 1

No, it's definitely an improv sort of thing, but it does show premeditation because they knew they were going to be breaking in and don't want to leave fingerprints, they took measures before entering. Right now, one of Nancy's neighbors named Alice Silva had reported hearing screams at around one point thirty am, though it was said not to have lasted long and almost sound like that of a baby scream. Police do believe that these were most likely the screams

of Nancy in her final moments. While great information, it once again did not provide authorities with any leads. So with no real suspect to hand, investigators had to take a step back and really try to follow the evidence that they had. The murder weapon was nowhere to be found, which wasn't helpful, but the belongings and valuables of Nancy

hadn't been touched. They were still in the apartment. Her engagement ring, for example, was still in her finger, so it clearly wasn't a robbery gone wrong, otherwise there would be something on miss right. Absolutely, yeah, it was likely targeted, and if this was a premeditated attack, then there should be a connection somewhere. They began to look at Nancy's life to try and draw any sort of lines between

her and a potential suspect. They thought maybe it could be a retaliation from an individual or disgruntled person from court, taking out their anger from either from her or from Ferris onto her, right, right. She didn't really have any personal connections in court, but being a defendant, Ferris might right, so, and then to get to him, they may have gone

to her. So they began making lists and names of suspects, and they had interviewed over five hundred potential suspects within the first month alone.

Speaker 2

Holy shit.

Speaker 1

However, nothing came of any of them.

Speaker 2

Oh man, that is so much time, hey, that they're spending on that.

Speaker 1

Oh yeah, they invested a lot into this case.

Speaker 2

But I also know, like, I'm just like, who the hell would do this to Nancy? Because she just sounded such like he's just such an awesome person.

Speaker 1

You're not wrong she was.

Speaker 2

Yeah, So at first I was like, oh, man, the fiance, But I'm thinking, you know, he got ruled out. But if it was him, they would have probably been able to figure it.

Speaker 1

Out, most likely, but they definitely ruled him out. Now. November seventh, police released a sketch to the public. Along with the sketch was a written description that read quote. The department described a man as five feet nine inches tall and weighing about one hundred and seventy pounds. He has about twenty five years old and has dark brown hair worn in what is described as a Glen Campbell cut. Residents of the area said they had seen a man

answering this description prowling in the neighborhood. He was in a dark green Volkswagen and wore a long sleeved yellow shirt and yellow slacks. And to go along with that description, as I mentioned, there was a police sketch.

Speaker 2

I almost was wondering if it was a female because just because of the struggle, right, and then thinking that Nancy maybe wasn't as strong as she was, and I'm like, well, maybe she would have an easier time taking on another female, right, But it was a male for sure.

Speaker 1

Well we'll touch on male female later. I don't want to give sh it away just yet.

Speaker 2

Oh yeah, Okay, this is just they don't know for sure, but this is just who they're thinking.

Speaker 1

Yeah, okay, so this individual people have seen prowling the neighborhood.

Speaker 2

Okay, Yeah.

Speaker 1

Now, this sketch and description would be the foundation for the public to go on regarding this case and would ultimately be used for years to come, but like every other detail they have, would not play a factor in any leads at all. Now, there were some other murders that had occurred in the area recently, with two victims being Judith Hakari and Carol Beth Hillburn. This left investigation.

The investigation opened to the possibility of links between these cases, meaning that they had a serial killer on the loose. Whatever the scenario was, investigators were hard at work trying to put all the pieces of the mystery together, and despite their efforts, years would pass by with no breakthrough in the case. It wouldn't be until two thousand and four when the next significant moment in the case would occur.

See In two thousand and four, investigators decided to input that blood DNA that they collected that evidence from the crime scene into codis the Combined DNA Index system. That's you know where they put all the found criminals and stuff, right. We often talk about the DNA database, and that's that database. So this database is used to link and identify suspects

between as based on genetic profiles. The decision to revisit the evidence was part of a broader push to solve the cold case during this advancements in forensic science, because, as I mentioned in the seventies, this didn't exist at all, and I believe it wouldn't be until nineteen eighty six when DNA profiling actually became a thing, and it would be in its infancy for like another decade, even into

the nineties. You're like looking at barely being able to do much, right, But now into two thousands, they're creating this database.

Speaker 2

Okay.

Speaker 1

So when the DNA profile from Nancy's case was entered into CODIS, the hope was that it would match an existing profile in this database, either linking it to a known offender or matching it to DNA from other unsolved cases, and they could actually link up different murders even though they don't have a suspect yet.

Speaker 2

Right.

Speaker 1

However, when they did this, there was nothing.

Speaker 2

Oh here, I was like shit, Yeah.

Speaker 1

Nope, there was nothing. There was no match. There was nothing found in the system, which means the suspects profile did not correspond to any individual already recorded in CODIS. Okay, so they had a completely new DNA profile yeah put in.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

It was disappointing. However, it still gave investigators hope because it ensured that if the perpetrator's DNA profile were to be added to the database later, it would be matched automatically reoffended, or if they found DNA evidence linking them some other way and it gets put in from another case boom.

Speaker 2

So it's still very helpful that it is getting put in.

Speaker 1

There, one hundred percent. But it would be a year later, in two thousand and five, that homicide detective Mickey Linx joined the investigation team and began her search for Nancy's killer. And this is a significant moment because a number of years would pass once again and before any new developments occurred, but Detective Links would retire. However, she had developed a personal connection with this case and continued to closely follow it, even to the point of helping investigate it on a

volunteer basis. In twenty nineteen, she's retired, but she's like, no, I'm solving this fucking case. And the reason this is so fucking important is because people did not let this go.

Speaker 2

Yeah, no kidding.

Speaker 1

You have people like Detective Links who are still pushing all the way up into their retirement to still solve this case.

Speaker 2

Well, it seems like a lot of detectives and police officers they have like that one case. You know, yes, for sure, they just can't. It just is on their mind, right, and so I think for her especially, this was one of them.

Speaker 1

Yeah. No, she was one hundred percent probably like that and determined to help the family seek answers and figure out what happened to Nancy. And if it weren't for detectives and officers like detective Link, the connection probably never would have been made. Yeah, okay, because by now, well sorry this is a little bit off topic, but by now Nancy's fiance, Ferris, had passed away in twenty fourteen of leukemia at the age of eighty four. He unfortunately

would never learn who was responsible for Nancy's death. However, because of these investigators pushing and pushing, the truth would come to light. Now in twenty nineteen, the team working to try and find the killer all these years later decided they did not want to wait around any longer for the DNA of the killer to suddenly find a match in the system, for the system to do the work. Right, We're not doing that, which is why this is so

important these individuals, because they made that last push. They figured if they hadn't had the match by now in the system, the chances were it.

Speaker 2

Was never going to happen, right, Because the person could be like deceased or whatever.

Speaker 1

Yes, we're too old or disabled to even do it, like you know. Yeah, so if it hadn't happened by now, it's not going to. So they decided they're going to do a genetic genealogy test. So, if you're unaware, genetic genealogy involves using DNA from crime scenes and comparing it to publicly available genetic information in genealogical databases. Now, these databases are often used by individuals seeking to learn more

about their ancestry or connect with distant relatives. So basically it links family DNA through heritage.

Speaker 2

Oh shit, so when you go on.

Speaker 1

Something like ancestry dot.

Speaker 2

Rum, Yeah, I was just going to say that it's one of them.

Speaker 1

Right, Yeah, that's the same information that police are accessing. So if your cousin is a fucking murderer and they have his DNA but he thinks he gets away with it, and you go on ancestry dot com and put your DNA in, they may be able to link that DNA through you and find that that your cousin the fucking murderer.

Speaker 2

Wow. Hey yeah, see I've never been too keen on those things, but I like I'm pretty sure my sister has done it. So I'm like, well, I'm just doomed.

Speaker 1

My don't murder anyone.

Speaker 2

My stuff is already kind of in their stuff.

Speaker 1

So the detectives constructed a family tree based on those matches and narrowed down individuals who could be possible suspects. Through this method of identifying distant relatives, they were able to identify several relatives related and it took a couple of years to do all this, but they finally in twenty twenty two had confirmed a match on the DNA.

Speaker 2

Oh my goodness, the.

Speaker 1

Match belonged to a Richard John Davis. Now, Richard was a longtime Sacramento resident and would have been twenty seven years old at the time of Nancy's murder. But the thing was in nineteen seventy, the year Nancy was murdered. Richard lived in the apartment building right across the street from Nancy and would have had a complete and unobstructed view into her apartment through her balcony.

Speaker 2

Oh gosh, okay, yeah, did they know each other or just that just that? Oh man, Okay, that makes it like worse. Yeah.

Speaker 1

Investigators believe Richard may have been watching Nancy for a while and potentially stalking her as well.

Speaker 2

Holy, So it wasn't that someone just hated her.

Speaker 1

Oh gosh, we had someone obsessed with her?

Speaker 2

Yes, Oh okay, I was not expecting that.

Speaker 1

No, which almost makes it worse.

Speaker 2

Yeah.

Speaker 1

Now, Richard didn't have a violent criminal history, but did have several DUIs, which is common with individuals who suffered from alcoholism, and Richard certainly did because though this case was now solved, Richard had died in nineteen ninety seven at the age of fifty four from complications of alcoholism.

Speaker 2

Well, I imagine too, what he did to Nancy would just haunt him, you would think, for the rest of his life.

Speaker 1

Hopefully that's hope anyway, anyone with a fucking conscience, yes, but an individual who's capable of doing this probably doesn't have one and probably doesn't care anyways.

Speaker 2

Well, I'm just wondering if he did this to other people, If it was just Nancy though, and he's like, oh I fucked up. Maybe that made him drink more.

Speaker 1

Maybe it's possible. But I mean, as far as the DNA profiling and everything goes, I don't believe his His DNA's been linked to any other crimes, not to say he hasn't committed and not left behind the DNA, right, but as far as I'm aware, this is the only crime he has been linked to, of course, out other than his DUIs. Yeah, which is a crime. It's just not a fucking murder, you know.

Speaker 2

Well, yeah, yeah it's not. It's bad, but not quite to think it's not this bad. Yeah, it can kill people still though, right, definitely it can.

Speaker 1

Now fifty two years after Richard had killed Nancy in her apartment, the case was finally closed. It was solved. They knew who did it. However, what we will never know is what exactly happened on that fateful night in Nancy's apartment. Investigators believe that, as I mentioned, Richard was watching her through her balcony in her apartment. In doing so, he would have been familiar with her habit of leaving the sliding door open slightly for her cat to come

and go freely. One night, for whatever reason, he decided he was going to take advantage of this and make his way into her apartment. Under the cover of darkness, Richard climbed up to the second floor balcony where Nancy lived and silently entered as she slept and after Ferris had left for the night. From there, the attack ensued. Police never released whether Nancy was sexually assaulted, but it's likely she was sleeping in her underwear when the attack occurred,

which is why that's how she was dressed. From there, she was able to put up enough of a fight that Richard fled the scene after killing her in order to care for his own wounds. If you ask me, he intended to sexually assault her one hundred percent, But Nancy put up a fight and never gave him the fucking chance to.

Speaker 2

So, Okay, so you're almost thinking he didn't even necessarily intend to or intend to kill her.

Speaker 1

I mean I think he did. Like I think he came into the apartment thinking he was going to sexually assault her at knife point or whatever, right, or maybe he was going to kill her, And maybe there's a necrophilia aspect to it. I don't know, But he came in to attack her with the intent of a sexual act to occur.

Speaker 2

Well, yeah, if he was obsessed with her right and stopping her and stuff.

Speaker 1

Now, maybe her fighting back is what angered him, and he and her injuring him angered him even more, and that took him to take out anger on her dead body. And then he's getting tired. He's bleeding like that can cause person to black out very easily, right, and from there he can't stick around anymore, and he's got.

Speaker 2

A jet And meanwhile, the next day he's just watching, probably again from his fucking apartment, her body being found in shit.

Speaker 1

Now, Richard actually was originally interviewed within one of those within those five hundred people.

Speaker 2

Oh oh my gosh.

Speaker 1

Really yes, but there was never a connection made.

Speaker 2

Oh dang, so they even had him.

Speaker 1

Well, they were just they were interviewing like people in the apartment complex and the one next door. Did you see anything? Yeah, like it was most likely a random interview.

Speaker 2

Well yeah, exactly, but they were actually talking to the killer. They were yep, oh okay, huh wow. That's this is terrifying, I know, the fact that he just was watching her and shit, yep wow.

Speaker 1

But that's the story of Nancy Marie Benelek fifty two years later.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I mean, thank goodness. But also it does kind of seem like a bummer too that. I mean, the attacker wasn't a lot is still not alive. And then I'm wondering how much of Nancy's family is even alive, you know. So it's it almost seems like it's quite a burden too for this fucker's family, right they now just like know that I don't know if he had kids or whatever, that he's just a fucking nasty piece of shit.

Speaker 1

I do know that Nancy had a sister and a brother in law, and they're the ones who kind of spoke a bit about who Nancy was and okay, and they were actually present during the press conference when they announced Okay, this was solved. He's been confirmed in the as the killer.

Speaker 2

Okay, Well that's good for them then that they had that right, that.

Speaker 1

They have that closure. Yeaheah for sure. So yeah, when I found this case, I was like, fuck, yeah, fifty two years. If it wasn't for those investigators who made that last push of let's not wait, let's be proactive, we still wouldn't know.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I mean yeah, it's kind of it's interesting too that all this stuff is out there now where you can submit your own DNA and stuff, right, like we can talk about that for so long.

Speaker 1

Oh yeah, No, there's there's many levels to that because people also suspect like the government being involved and monitoring.

Speaker 2

Yeah, I've heard that before.

Speaker 1

There's lots of different things that people can converse about and theorize regarding it. But the one thing we do know is that whether there are negative side effects you doing it, there are positive ones, and we just we know it right here.

Speaker 2

First, Well, yeah, if you have nothing to worry about, right, Like, and I say that earlier, I was like, I'm not submitting it. I don't have anything to worry about. But I mean too, if you had a cousin that's a complete, like nasty motherfucker, you would want them to find this person too, right, Yeah, So sure, there you go. I don't know, maybe it has some benefits too.

Speaker 1

Yeah, okay, okay, Well, thank you for being here. Hopefully enjoyed that. Hopefully you are back on track with us. After Halloween week, we want to know about specifically, are your Halloeen decorations still up?

Speaker 2

Are your Christmas decorations?

Speaker 1

Are your Christmas decorations now up? We want to know which side you're on. Are you on the team Halloween? Are you on team Christmas? I do know here in Canada we have novemberance Novemberance Day Remembrance Day here in November. So many people argue that you shouldn't put Christmas decorations up until after that to give you know, veterans that

time of respect. Yeah, but regardless, we want to know where your head's at, So shoot us a message, let us know we'd love to hear it, and until next time, stay wicked,

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