On June 5, 1986, Eugene Police and Eugene Fire Medics responded to an apartment at 255 High Street regarding deceased person Gladys May Hensley, age 62, who was located during a welfare check by an apartment employee after she had not been seen for several days. The investigation revealed that the death of Hensley was a murder and that it was likely that she was killed in the early hours of June 4, 1986. Police were unable to locate the involved suspect, however, similarities in the murder and evidence at the scene connected the suspect with two additional murders, one that occurred in the same month and the other in February 1988.
Several persons of interest were developed and thoroughly investigated over the years and were excluded through DNA comparison. All three cases lacked any strong leads. In 2016, a new technology came to market, from Parabon NanoLabs, allowing the inference of physical characteristics of individuals based on DNA information. This service, Snapshot Phenotyping, was employed in this case and in September 2017 Eugene Police Investigators received the results.
The detailed Snapshot Report was released by EPD in 2018 and detectives were hopeful it would generate new leads in the cases. The Eugene Police Department’s Violent Crimes Unit established a dedicated tip line for the cases. More than 100 tips were received and followed up on by VCU detectives but all of the names provided were eliminated as suspects.
In May 2018, Parabon Nano Labs began offering genetic genealogy. This service was employed by VCU detectives shortly thereafter. Ultimately, four potential suspects were identified.
After extensive follow-up, and the analysis of additional evidence, the suspect was identified as John Charles Bolsinger, who had died by suicide in 1988.
Still, VCU detectives were able to establish a timeline for Bolsinger. He was arrested for murder in Salt Lake City in 1980 and ultimately served a 5-year prison sentence before being paroled to Springfield, Oregon on March 7, 1986.
Approximately three months later, Hensley was discovered murder. Two weeks later, Janice Dickinson was discovered murdered. Dickinson, a 33-year-old white female, was found murdered behind a car dealership. She was naked and had been sexually assaulted. Her death was attributed to brutal homicidal violence.
Bolsinger was again arrested for burglary by the Springfield Police Department on Sept. 26, 1986. He was ultimately convicted and sentenced to five years in prison, where he remained Dec. 8, 1987. On Dec. 11, 1987, he enrolled at Lane Community College for the 1988 Winter Term. On Feb. 28, 1988, Geraldine Toohey was discovered murdered in her residence on Franklin Boulevard. This case was investigated by the Oregon State Police and was highly publicized. On March 5, 1988, the Oregon State Police released a sketch of the suspect in hopes of generating leads. On March 23, 1988, John Bolsinger was discovered deceased at his apartment.
The Eugene Police Department and the Oregon State Police are pleased to finally bring closure to the family members of Gladys, Janice, and Geraldine, as well as our community. Both agencies remain committed to constantly evaluating unsolved cases and utilizing emerging technologies to bring closure to other families of crime victims.
This resolution would not have been possible without the dedication of numerous police officers, detectives, crime scene investigators, and crime lab analysts over the last 35 years.
Republished courtesy of Eugene Police Department. Photo credit: EPD.