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Just one dose of Musinex Fastmax All-in-One relieves up to nine cold and flu symptoms, helping you get on with your day. Need cold and flu relief? Get Musinex Fastmax All-in-One and done relief. It's comeback season. Use this directed. Slow Burn Media, Evergreen Podcasts and Killer Podcasts presents Who Killed, a podcast that provides a voice for the voiceless. Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Who Killed the Presser of the Week. I am your host, Bill Huffman, and this is a slow burn media, Evergreen Podcasts and Killer Podcasts production. On this week's episode, we are going to be taking a look back at a case from back in Lexington, Kentucky, and this would be the cold case of Mary Davis, and that was a case that happened on May 30th, 1987, and investigators were able to use DNA that was collected at the time of the crime and were able to connect the DNA to a perpetrator. Now, this is all very interesting stuff because I just got off a interview with the hosts of so much crime, so little time, and we discussed what it is that keeps you going on these cold cases, like with the Amy Mahalova case, and it is cases like this, like Mary Davis, where it's older than Amy's case, and it is one that was solved. And again, we just got news about the Amy Mahalova update with new DNA. I don't know much more other than what was released to the media, but I do know that having talked to Special Agent Torzny and Chief Spetzle is that the technology is basically catching up to where they had hoped it would be, and now granted that was seven years ago, six years ago, plus when that occurred, but let's just be honest, this is a pretty good and significant update, and hopefully I will have somebody on next week to discuss this, and in the meantime, take a listen to this press conference again, this is what keeps me going, and what makes me invested in these cold cases, because all you have to do is stick to it, and hopefully the technology will catch up with the evidence that you have collected, and we see it just this week with what they've released from the Bay Village Police Department. So again, listen to this press conference. These are very insightful because they do come from the investigators, and you usually hear from the family members as well, so they do provide a lot of context for what you are experiencing, and what some of these other shows don't necessarily show, and this is the end result of a lot of hard work, and these guys deserve their kudos when the cases are solved. So you guys enjoy this week's presser of the week, Mary Davis. - All right, fantastic. Thank you for being here today. I know it's some cramped space here, but it's wonderful to have our media partners here to help spread this message of some really exciting news and some closure for a fine family. So I'd like to start off by introducing those who are up here with me. My name is Robbie Rummidge, R-A-B-B-Y-R-U-M-M-A-G-E. I'm the Chief of Police here at Lexington Police Department. We have Detective Matthew Finger, Special Agent Denny with the North Line State Bureau of Investigation, the District Attorney Gary Frank. Mary's family, we introduce yourself. - My name is Lisa Yates, L-I-S-A-Y-A-T-E-S. I'm Mary's sister, the 10th child. - My name is Lori Martin, L-O-R-I-M-A-R-T-I-N. I am Lisa's, I'm Mary's niece. My mother is Linda, her sister. - My name is Tracy Cleary, T-R-A-C-I-C-L-E-A-R-R. I'm her daughter. - And we have assisted Special Agent in Charge, Norman with the North Line State Bureau of Investigation. So, I'd like to open up with this, and that is, what is the purpose of today's press conference? And there's several things I wanna make sure we understand the purpose. One, and number one, is Mary's family. You know, to recognize what they've been through for 35 plus years, that's number one. Number two, to illustrate the point that you should never give up, is you should maintain hope. To bring resolution to a crime that this community has been speaking of for over 35 years. To recognize that these findings are a result of not one person, but the contributions of many countless people that includes many generations of election police officers and investigators. And also show that collaboration, collaboration, as we regularly do, is of paramount importance. And that's how you end up having results, such as this, with collaboration. So, some background on how we got here. This is about Mary Davis. Mary was reported missing on May the 30th, 1987. She was last seen down the street here at Lanier Hardware, where she worked. On May the 31st, 1987, a gruesome discovery of Mary's body took place behind the old Windixie, for those of you who are familiar with Lexington, in 802 East Center Street, here in the city of Lexington. As with all homicide investigations, this has been opened and assigned to someone for all these years. Most recently been assigned to Corpor Matthew Effinger. Investigators in 1987 collected a whole bunch of evidence. That at the time, really didn't serve a lot of purpose. But the wisdom and collecting things as an investigator is the reason why we're able to be here today. That evidence was not viable when assisting in the case until very, very recently. So, in reviewing the evidence and knowing how technology has evolved over time, our current investigators resubmitted some physical evidence to the North Carolina State Crime Lab. They provided us some feedbacks and findings. And based on that, our investigators reached out to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to find out what are the possibilities of us moving forward with this newest finding. So the SBI, in partnerships with Othrom, incorporated, undertook the complex process of utilizing the most recent advancements in DNA to provide evidence that led to identifying the offender in the murder of Mary Davis. That evidence was corroborated by information that's been gained throughout the years from other investigators. Lexington Police Department of Investigators and the SBI presented this information to District Attorney Gary Frank. Based on the evidence presented, Mr. Frank provided an official letter indicated that if alive today, the state would proceed with indictments for the offenses of first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping, and first-degree rape, charging a Russell Grant Wood with these crimes. The offender in this case, Russell Grant Wood, was a Lexington and died in 2013. So investigators initially notified Mary's family last Friday of these findings. And just yesterday, we had a debriefing with them to speak about how do we came to this point, to answer any questions we could in preparation to go in public. 'Cause this is a big newsworthy event. I'd like to read a statement from Othrom Labs, incorporated a key partner in all of this. A private entity that works closely with the SBI to help us undertake this. So from Othrom Incorporated, in 2022, 2022, DNA evidence from the case was sent to Othrom Incorporated, an Othrom scientist used forensic grade genome sequencing to develop a comprehensive genealogical profile for the unknown male suspect. Othrom built a comprehensive genealogy profile from the remaining DNA extract, and then Othrom's in-house genealogical team used the profile to produce investigative leads. Othrom then returned investigative leads to investigators as part of the follow-up investigations, investigators identified the suspect. That's how we got to where we at today. I'd like to turn it over to some members and representatives of Mary's family to provide you some thoughts. - Thank you. - Good afternoon. On behalf of the family of Mary Davis Mathis, I would like to extend our deepest and sincere appreciation to all of you at the Lexington Police Department for your work, your persistence in finding the person responsible for taking Mary from us. You've done a phenomenal job revisiting the case throughout the last 36 years and ensuring that Mary wasn't just a file on the shelf. Thank you all for caring so deeply and for all of the work that you have done to bring our family this closure. For the last 36 years, we have all wondered what kind of motive someone could have to commit such a heinous act of violence and have been all been left with many questions. Our family never gave up on our search for answers and we prayed that one day we would find the person who violently murdered our beloved Mary. We now have some answers and although that won't bring Mary back, it does give us a sense of closure. Mary was a light in the world and we were blessed to have her as long as we did. She was a loving mother, sister, aunt, wife and friend and we know that she is resting peacefully in the arms of our Lord and Savior. Psalm 55, 6 says, "O that I had wings like a dove, "I would fly away and be at rest." In the Christian faith, the white dove represents peace and unity with God. We would like to invite family and friends to join us for a celebration and memorial on the day that would have been Mary's 65th birthday. We will be releasing white doves this Sunday, February 12th at two o'clock at Forest Hill Memorial Park. Our family has requested that if any press does choose to attend, please respect our time together as family and refrain from approaching anyone with questions on that day. And the last thing I wanna leave everyone with, Tracy, Mary's daughter has a poem for her that she'd like to share. To my dear angel in heaven, I just want you to know how much you're in my thoughts and how much I love you so. Though you are in God's hands or God's care and that's how it should be, but when I get to heaven, he will give you back to me. Thank you all. - Thank you. (gavel bangs) - Thank you for sharing that. Thank you so much. A beautiful poem that was in a nice tribute. At this time, we can entertain some questions. I will say that I understand the interest in the technology of DNA. I'm not qualified to speak to that, just in full disclosure. I'll refer, I know Otherham Incorporated provided a statement. Most of those questions we will refer to them, although they were not able to have a representative here today. Yes, ma'am? - Do you know the relation of the offender to the victim? - They were, there's some question of that, but they were not, I don't think they were complete strangers. They were just associates. They were both lived in the nearby communities together. - Did you have a date of birth for the subject? - Not on me right now, no, I do not. We could probably follow up with that, no. Yes. - Was he previously accused of a crime? - Of A crime, any crimes? Typically, I would not speak to someone's criminal history because I wouldn't be appropriate. However, I would say there was, now that he's deceased, there was no troubling, there were, let me clarify that, there was no criminal history we were aware of. From before that point, and since then, yes ma'am? - Can you tell us what the physical piece of evidence one thing else and then to the state to help with it? - Don't we get any exact details on that? I will say this, that it was, it was items collected of physical evidence from her back in 1987, and it's been, been in hold of ever since, to this time now. Yes. - Have he been on anyone's radar, or was this a complete surprise? - Yeah, Mr. Wood, his name did not just fall out recently. We had had some information through all these years that we've, along with a lot of other information. We've looked at this many different times, through many sets of eyes. So, when I say that the DNA was corroborated about other evidence, it just all blended together and made perfect sense. So, it wasn't just a DNA. DNA was the magic piece that really needed to seal the deal. - So, his name had come up and-- - Yes, yes. - Thank you. - Yes ma'am, yes ma'am. - And we may never know this, but are there any he leads to a motive? - No, I mean, that would be nothing but conjecture and speculation, I would have no way of knowing that. And that's unfortunate, but there's no change in that, unfortunately. - What does it make you to submit the evidence at this time? - Because we know, what we've done here, and not to take away what our folks have done. This is something that we commonly do with older cases. We try to look at what's advancing in technology. And to this point, technology had it caught up to be able to handle what we had in this particular case. So, with any cases, that's the reason why they stay open. You never know what's going to be an advancement. So, the idea that a case is cold does not mean it's closed. So, that's why we've done it now. - So, you said it's been five years, it's been two years since we've gone back and look and submitted this evidence. So, we're gonna go ahead and do it again. - Well, a lot of us got to do, I said that piece about collaboration is knowing those who's in a real node at the North Carolina State Crime Lab, those with the SBI, those who are really on the forefront of knowing what's the newest technology. And having our conversation, they, hey, you know what? We've got this, we ought to submit and try it. And sometimes, this case is one of those, where the time for it to happen came to be. Any other questions? Yes, ma'am. - Just kind of talk about uneven level woods like for y'all to be able to provide closure at the campus in the future. - Very good question, thank you. I can say, I can speak for all the officers that have been involved since 1987. And that is number one, we seek justice in what we do. We seek justice for the family. You know, in this case, there would not be a lengthy prosecution, but that's very important to us. You know, I am planning on, we are planning on putting together a debrief in situation for a lot of retirees that were involved in this. 'Cause this is what I know about our officers and officers in this profession. We take these things with us. There's officers that worked here and they retired, never knowing who committed this crime, who never knowing who committed other crimes. And they're watching. And for them, this is a very important time for them too. And we're going to debrief them. 'Cause it's on a human level. You're talking about a horrendous crime that should never occur. And it's on us to do our job to investigate, to bring it to a successful conclusion. And when you can't do that, you carry that with you. You carry the frustration with you. And I'm glad to say that we've ordered a little of our retirees know and will be set in future meetings with them. Thank you for that. Yes, ma'am. - Have you said advancements in DNA technology led to any more closures with solving of co-paces here recently? - Not for the Lexington Police Department, no. But again, remember, never give up hope. You know, we have other cases we're going to look at as is other law enforcement agencies. You know, this is something that's we're evolving. And we know that for every victim, you've got countless members of the family. And really the community at large who want answers. So it's, we're going to keep advancing and evolving with the technology. Wherever that may take us. (ominous music) Any other questions? Yes, ma'am. - How recently did you guys submit that evidence? - That was mid to late last year. I think it was around the summertime, is that right? Around the summertime of 2022. One more question. I got any more questions? One more. All right, thank you. I know that Ms. Brittany Lance, our public relations director has got some, if they hadn't handed out already some press releases for more information. Just if you have any other follow-up questions, I would ask that you go through her. Thank you for your time. - Thank you guys so much for tuning into this week's presser of the week. I will be back with a brand new episode next week to discuss the Amy Mahalovic update. And hopefully we will have a little bit more information to provide the audience. Now again, this is pretty interesting stuff and we can only hope that it just gets better and better as it goes along. So that is the way it is. And you can follow me on Twitter at Bill Huffman 3 or you can follow me on Instagram at slowburnmedia. That's slow SLO_burnmedia. And I do produce new episodes every week as well as crime capsule that goes out on Thursdays for Evergreen podcasts. So check them out. And again, thank you so much for tuning in. And I will talk to you soon. 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