Cold Case Files: DNA Speaks, releasing on August 17, 2023, is a new 10-part documentary series that is expected to shed light on cases that took decades to solve. With modern investigative technology like DNA mapping, authorities were ultimately able to nab those responsible for the crimes but were not charged with them at the time.
Disclaimer: This article contains information about r*pe and murder. Readers’ discretion is advised.
The first episode of Cold Case Files: DNA Speaks will narrate the tale of a deceased teenager named Nacole Smith. In 1995, Smith was r*ped and murdered by a man named Kelvin Arnold. However, it took 26 years to discover the culprit’s identity. Arnold even r*aped a 13-year-old, Betty Brown, in 2004.
By the time Kelvin Arnold was named in the case in December 2021, he had already passed away, having died in August 2021 in hospice care, as per The Cinemaholic. Arnold was 49 at the time of his death.
The official synopsis of the first episode of Cold Case Files: DNA Speaks is as follows:
“When 14-year-old Nacole Smith is brutally murdered in 1995 on a wooded path in Atlanta, the police and community rally around her mother as she seeks justice. It will take decades and a second brutal assault to finally reveal Nacole’s killer.”
Cold Case Files: DNA Speaks on Hulu – The assault and murder of Nacole Smith
On June 7, 1995, 14-year-old Nacole Smith was walking from home to her school when she realized that she didn’t have her assignment. She decided to return home, but this time used a different, lesser-taken route which was a shortcut.
As per The Cinemaholic, her lifeless body was later found on the trail by a security guard, who reportedly heard gunshots from that direction and went to check what had happened. The guard then alerted officials.
Police said that she was attacked on her way home. Autopsy reports suggested that she was assaulted, r*ped, and shot twice in the face. Blood-soaked clothes and evidence of the assault was also collected from the scene. A composite sketch was made based on a description provided by a maintenance man who had reportedly seen a man running from the direction of the crime.
However, due to a lack of solid leads, the case eventually came to a standstill.
In 2004, 9 years after the tragedy of Nacole Smith, 13-year-old Betty Brown was r*ped in Atlanta. Upon testing the r*pist’s DNA, Atlanta homicide detective Vince Velasquez realized that it matched the DNA evidence the police had recovered from Smith’s body in 1995. Velazquez thus became sure that the convict was roaming free.
However, his identity continued to remain a mystery. Velasquez eventually passed the case to another detective named Scott Demeester in 2017.
It took almost three more years of using genealogy to discover the identity of the man responsible for the two r*pes. His name was Kelvin Arnold.
Born in 1972, Arnold was an Atalanta local. He was 23 when he r*ped and killed Nacole Smith and 31 or 32 when he assaulted Betty Brown.
In an interview with A&E TV, Detective Vincent Velazquez spoke about the motive behind Arnold’s crimes:
“These are clearly s*xually motivated crimes—one’s a s*xual assault and homicide, the other is a s*xual assault and a threat. They’re both young girls, so there’s clearly a fascination with young girls who are 13, 14 years old. This is a s*xual deviant who is preying on young girls and using physical force.”
Despite being able to identify Arnold, he could never be charged with his crimes as officials discovered that he had died in August 2021 due to organ failure in Fulton County.
Cold Case Files: DNA Speaks synopsis
The official synopsis of Cold Case Files: DNA Speaks reads as follows:
“COLD CASE FILES: DNA SPEAKS is a new, 10-part documentary series focusing on murder cases that remained unsolved for decades and were ultimately cracked with DNA evidence. It explores these stunning scientific developments – as well as the unwavering dedication of families and investigators – that eventually brought the killers to justice.”
Cold Case Files: DNA Speaks stars Bill Kurtis and will premiere on August 17, 2023.
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Source: newstars.edu.vn