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Patrick Mullins
April 22, 2024
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A man’s empty boat is found miles away from his home. And when his body surfaces over a week later,
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On December 14, 1995, Tracy Beslanowitch told her boyfriend, Chris, that she was going to grab some food at a local Circle K near Salt Lake City, Utah. She never returned home.
Around 11:00 p.m., Chris started to worry about his girlfriend because it was out of character for her to be gone the whole night. Instead of calling the police, Chris knocks on the neighbor’s door and even takes a trip down to Circle K to look for Tracy.
The following morning at 8:40 a.m., nearly 45 miles away from Salt Lake City, a rancher and son found the nude, deceased body of a young female. The rancher immediately calls the local Sheriff.
Police investigators and crime scene technicians began the initial investigation of the crime scene. Police collected several bloody rocks found around the body which they suspected might be the murder weapon. Not too far from the victim’s body, police found a pair of socks neatly folded on a rock. Besides the socks and the bloody rocks, no other physical or forensic evidence was found at the crime scene. She was officially a Jane Doe.
Photo Source: 332 Forensics (website)
The victim had 2 distinct tattoos on her body, including a heart on her left breast. Police sketched out the tattoos to provide to the news media in hopes of being able to identify Jane Doe. Tracy’s boyfriend, Chris saw the news and immediately called the police. He told police he believed his girlfriend was Jane Doe.
Police obtained a phone number for Tracy’s father. However, after a short conversation, police learned that Jane Doe was not Tracy, but most likely was his step-daughter Krystal Beslanowitch. The father informed police that Krystal had a history of using her step-sister, Tracy’s identity. Jane Doe was not Tracy, she was Krystal Beslanowitch.
Photo Source: Desert (website)
Krystal’s boyfriend, Chris, rose to the top of the police’s suspect list. Police believed Chris deliberately lied about Krystal’s true identity. If he was lying about Krystal’s real name, what else could he be lying about?
Chris was at the top of the suspect list, but he lacked the motive and the means to murder Krystal. Krystal was the breadwinner in the relationship and Chris financially dependent on her. Also, Chris didn’t even have a car. How was he supposed to murder Krystal nearly 45 miles away?
Three days later, police learn about a local taxi driver, Herb Fry. who was infatuated with Krystal. Herb Fry told several people that “if he can’t have her (Krystal), nobody can.” Herb Fry instantly became suspect #2. However, there was ZERO forensic evidence linking either Chris or Herb to the murder of Krystal Beslanowitch.
By 2008, forensic scientists were able to swab the rocks found around Krystal’s body down by the river. The female DNA profile matched Krystal, but there was an unknown, partial man DNA profile found on the rocks. The partial DNA profile did not match Krystal’s boyfriend, Chris, or Herb Fry. Police were back at square one.
By the year 2013, there was a new DNA extraction tool known as the M-Vac System. The M-Vac is basically a sterile, small, wet vacuum. The system sprays a collection solution onto a surface while at the same time vacuums the surface. It creates like a “mini hurricane” that loosens up the DNA material that is transferred to a collection bottle, where the DNA material can be concentrated into a filter. The M-Vac is pretty much the world’s greatest vacuum.
Photo Source: MVac Blog (website)
Forensic scientists decided to use the M-Vac on the granite rocks found at the murder scene. They were FINALLY able to pull a full-DNA profile! Investigators ran the profile through CODIS and got a hit – Joseph Michael Simpson.
Photo Source: 332 Forensics (website)
On September 29, 2016, all these years after the murder, a jury found Simpson guilty of the murder of Krystal Beslanowitch. Until the DNA connection was made using the M-Vac technology, Simpson was never linked or suspected in the murder. It’s quite likely that without the M-vac in this case, Simpson would still be a free man. And Krystal’s family would still be without justice in her murder.
Photo Source: Hit News Center (website)
Episode Sources:
Desert.com Article
Prezi.com Article
323 Forensics Website
Murder Decoded: Murder on the Rocks television show
M-Vac Systems, Inc. Website
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