welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top ten
cold cases that were finally solved he
then tied their hands behind their backs
and forced three of them into the back
seat of the car before we begin we
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content for this list we’re ranking the
most long-standing or infamous cold
cases which years later we’re finally
solved by authorities will be omitting
serial killers and terrorists from this
list and are also going to hold off on
including recent research into the
disappearance of Amelia Earhart as her
case still isn’t 100% confirmed to be
solved Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred
Noonan disappeared over the Pacific in
1937 while trying to circle the world
neither they nor their aircraft were
ever found
number 10 Jessica Lynne Keene Jessica
Lynne Keene was a promising young
student and cheerleader whose life was
cut short in the spring of 1991 at first
investigators suspected Keens then
boyfriend a young man who Keens mother
believed was a negative influence on her
daughter’s life her grades started
dropping under she had skipped school a
couple times to be with Sean 17 years
later an accused sexual predator named
Marvin Smith was arrested by officials
thanks to DNA evidence linking him to
Keens rape and murder Smith had been out
on bail when he abducted Jessica
assaulted her and eventually beat her to
death with a tombstone when she
attempted to escape through a cemetery I
can feel her heartbeat running for the
cemetery I could feel the deep breathing
she was probably doing would she not
behind the tombstone number nine Minnie
and Edward Maori Christmas is supposed
to be a time of peace and goodwill
towards our neighbors but this
tragically wasn’t the case for many and
Edie Mallory whose bodies were
discovered back on Christmas Eve 1985
you know almost everybody was trying to
think the best but figuring that the
worst was about to come the couple had
been shot and then moved to a secluded
area in the woods initially police had
their suspicions placed firmly on a pair
of brothers Rick and Jon Ripa who they
surmised had abducted the Maori pnes
from their home at gunpoint had driven
to the local bank and made them withdraw
money
John RIF had died before he could be
brought to justice but authorities
eventually arrested Rick riffin in 2012
over 30 years after the initial crime
Grandma and Grandpa are live in my heart
and in my fondest memories but without
them here the family hasn’t been
together again
number 8 Diane Maxwell advances in
forensic technology have done wonders
for solving crimes previously thought to
have gone cold one such case was that of
Diane Maxwell a telephone operator who
was taken from her workplace parking lot
raped strangled and stabbed to death by
an unknown assailant and he found this
young girl lying on her back with her
hands tied behind her back and he asked
her if she’d been assaulted she said yes
this occurred back in 1969 yet it wasn’t
until 2000 three years after the case
was reopened that a latent print
technician for the FBI was able to match
fingerprints taken from Maxwell’s
vehicle the prints matched those of
James ray Davis a convicted felon who
had just left prison nine days prior to
Diane’s murder James ray Davis spent the
majority of his adult life incarcerated
auto theft forgery assaults
Davis confessed and was sentenced to
life in prison for his crimes
number seven Richard Phillips and Milton
Curtis he was a little bit irritated and
it was almost like you’re here for that
that happened so long ago
I can’t believe you’re here bothering me
with that Gerald Mason had become an
average family man when he was convicted
in 2003 for the 1957 murder of two
California police officers Mason was
actually leaving the scene of another
crime back when he was stopped for
running a red light by officers Richard
Phillips and Milton Curtis Mason had
attacked a pair of couples at a local
Lovers Lane robbing them and raping one
of the teenage girls in a panic he then
shot both officers to death out of fear
that his earlier crime would be
discovered fingerprint evidence and a
scar on Mason’s back from a bullet fired
by Phillips eventually put him away for
two consecutive life sentences he traded
the lives of two on-duty police officers
to avoid capture number 6 Roy McCaleb
christened Wilson is now 71 years old
she admitted to killing Roy’s McCaleb 28
years ago carolyn Creason Wilson was a
convicted bigamist who stuck to the same
story for almost 30 years that a crazed
barefoot man broke into the home she
shared with her husband Roy McCaleb and
shot him to death this was in 1985 but
it wasn’t until 2013 that Wilson now
suffering from the early stages of
dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
confessed to the killing Wilson who had
been married a total of seven times only
received six months for the murder but
forma Caleb’s remaining family there was
at least a semblance of closure for
their lost loved ones but some of her
friends oh she couldn’t do that but she
said I did it now and that’s what we
were they wanted to hear number five
Susan Schwarz the cards feature victims
of open murder cases along with a police
tip line our next cold case was actually
solved by a set of playing cards olive
blazing with the facts and figures
behind some of the most long-standing
unsolved murders these cold-case cards
led to a trip that closed the 1979
murder of Susan Schwarz who was shot
while taking a shower in her home
gregory johnson was arrested in 2011 for
Schwartz’s murder with the motive being
that he felt Schwartz a friend of
Johnson’s abused wife was interfering in
his marriage Johnson’s wife perhaps out
of fear
secret but it eventually caught up to
him and he received a sentence of 24
years in prison was everything that
there never been a a girl in the Swartz
side of the family and I got him a twin
one she came along she was she was the
greatest thing that was imaginable
number four John lists family the
popular television program America’s
Most Wanted has been responsible for
bringing many criminals to justice over
the years one of these men was John list
a notorious New Jersey murderer who
slaughtered his wife mother and children
in their home and lived on the lam from
1971 to 1989 America’s Most Wanted asked
Frank bender to add 18 years to the face
of John list
it was the recreation of the murders on
America’s Most Wanted that played a
vital role in eventually bringing lists
who had moved to Virginia and since
remarried to justice he received five
consecutive life sentences for
first-degree murder and died of
complications from pneumonia while in
prison I truly believe if it wasn’t for
Frank bender John list would still be at
large but finally we brought John West
to justice number three
Dalbert opposed Ian it took over 70
years for the murder of seven-year-old
Dalbert opposed Ian to be solved the
young boy’s body was found floating in
the San Diego Bay back in 1933 with
multiple body parts missing the media at
the time attributed the crime to quote a
sex maniac an opinion echoed by a local
forensic pathologist police were
inclined to believe testimony from one
of opponent’s friends who claimed that
he accidentally drowned the San Diego
cold-case squad made an official ruling
in 2005 saying that opposed Ian’s wounds
were caused by oceanic crustaceans and
fish and were not premeditated it was
after all a horrible and tragic accident
number two Amanda berry Michelle Knight
and Georgina DeJesus the most recent
cold case on our list originally
occurred back in the early 2000s when
Ariel Castro kidnapped three
women and held them prisoner in his Ohio
home for over a decade
during this time all three women were
viciously beaten tortured and sexually
assaulted by Castro until finally Amanda
Berry was able to make contact with the
outside world Castro was arraigned on
nearly a thousand separate counts
including rape kidnapping felonious
assault and more he received a life
sentence but hung himself in prison only
a month into serving his time Knight has
told police she was pregnant
at least five times but was starved and
punched until she eventually miscarry
number one
Etan Patz Etan Patz was six years old in
1979 when he disappeared while walking
to his school bus in Manhattan’s Soho
Bates was declared legally dead in 2001
after all leads into his disappearance
failed to land an indictment the case
was reopened in 2010 but a tonn’s family
would have to wait until spring of 2012
to hear that a drew hernandez who had
worked at a local bodega in a town’s
Hernandez stated that he strangled the
child and tossed his body in the garbage
this confession was backed up by certain
members of Hernandez’s family and he was
sentenced to life in prison on April 18
2017 the pates family has waited a long
time but we finally have found some
measure of justice for our wonderful
little boy a ton do you agree with our
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