one of the most extraordinary cases in lapd history. toto, were not in kansas anymore. a newlywed murdered months after her wedding. as she walked away, she gave me a big smile and and i lived in that smile for years. and all the time episode the killer was hiding in plain sight. no indication she was ever spoken to? no. then a new detective took a look at an old lead. he just said it s a match. a person no one would have ever suspected of murder. we were going to end this. was suddenly suspect number one. perfect murder. almost. hello. welcome to dateline . she was a new bride married just three months, then she was found murdered. what happened to her remained a mystery for decades partly because police told us the thief must have killed her during a break-in gone bad. they discovered it wasn t a murder, but a suspect whose trail right to their own front door. here is josh mankiewicz with the smoking gun. february 1st, 2009. the dete
they found vcr and a disc player that was stacked one on top of the other in the front door. as if somebody was about to steal them? yeah, giving the indication this was a burglary or a home invasion gone wrong. sherri s purse was missing, as was her new bmw, an engagement gift from john. there was no sign of the murder weapon, but detectives did recover two. 38 caliber slugs and something else that caught the detective s attention. on the inside of sherri s left arm, they found a bite mark. a crime scene analyst went ahead and she swabbed that for saliva that could pertain to the killer. saliva that contained dna from whoever bit sherri. remember, this was 1986, years before dna technology testing would arrive, which could link a suspect to a sample like this one. so, back then, the dna wasn t much help. but the swab was carefully package and bundled with all of the other evidence. for now, detectives didn t have
this was a burglary or a home invasion gone wrong. sherri s purse was missing, as was her new bmw, an engagement gift from john. there was no sign of the murder weapon, but detectives did recover two.38 caliber slugs and something else that caught the detective s attention. on the inside of sherri s left arm, they found a bite mark. a crime scene analyst went ahead and she swabbed that for saliva that could pertain to the killer. saliva that contained dna from whoever bit sherri. remember, this was 1986, years before dna technology testing would arrive, which could link a suspect to a sample like this one. so, back then, the dna wasn t much help. but the swab was carefully package and bundled with all of the other evidence. for now, detectives didn t have much else to work with. no eyewitnesses. no usable fingerprints. no clear motive,
missing, as with her new bmw, an engagement gift from john. there was noge sign of the murd weapon t but detectives did recover two 38 caliber slugs and something else that caught the detective s tension. on the inside of sherri err left arm then found a bite mark and she swabbed that for a is a line va that could obtain to the killer. reporter: saliva that contained dna for anyone who bit sherri. remember, this was 1986, years before dna technology testing could arrive which could link a suspect to a w sample like this one so back then the dna wasn t much nahelp. but the swab was carefully packaged c and bundled with allf the other evidence. for now, detectives didn t have much elseec to work with. no eyewitnesses. no usable fingerprints. no cleare motive, except for