Vicki Heath, Jeanne Gilbert and Margaret “Peggy” Gill. Credit: ISP
Through the use of genetic genealogy, well-preserved evidence, and the unending cooperation of the sole surviving victim, the Indiana State Police (ISP) have now linked an Iowa man to the murder of three motel clerks and the sexual assault of a fourth in Indiana and Kentucky from 1987 through 1990.
In a press conference Tuesday, investigators named Harry Edward Greenwell as the “I-65 killer,” also known as the “Days Inn killer.” Greenwell died in January 2013, aged 68. During the announcement, ISP chose not to show Greenwell’s mugshot as to not “glamorize” him or his crimes, with a visibly choked up Doug Carter, ISP superintendent, refusing to even say Greenwell’s name.
Vicki Heath was Greenwell’s first victim. On Feb. 21, 1987, Health’s body was found near a trash bin at the back of the Super 8 Motel in Elizabethtown, Kentucky where she had been working. She was assaulted and shot twice in the head, and the hotel was burglarized.
Two years later, on March 3, 1989, Margaret “Peggy” Gill and Jeanne Gilbert suffered the same fate. Gilbert was sexually assaulted and shot while working the night shift at a Days Inn in Remington, Indiana. Later that night, 50 miles down I-65, Gill was sexually assaulted and shot at a Days Inn in Merrillville, Indiana.
Police were immediately able to match ballistic evidence in the Gill and Gilbert slayings. Later, they were able to match DNA evidence linking both the Heath and Gilbert killings to the Jan. 2, 1990, sexual assault of a 21-year-old female clerk at a Days Inn in Columbus, Indiana.
This unnamed victim was able to escape the attacker and survive. She then provided law enforcement with an excellent physical description of the suspect and details of the crime.
“To the surviving victim of [Greenwell], I want to say thank you for having the courage and ability in the aftermath of a vicious and brutal attack to provide assistance to law enforcement,” said FBI Special Agent Herbert Stapleton. “That was critical in being able to solve this case, and was truly a turning point in this investigation. Thank you for your continuing help over the years. You never gave up, and I hope today’s announcement shows this team of law enforcement agencies never gave up, either.”
The more recent turning point in the investigation came when ISP detectives requested assistance from the FBI’s Gang Response Investigative Team (GRIT) in 2019. In concert with evidence that was well preserved from the four crime scenes, including clothing, fibers, hair, ballistics and DNA, GRIT used investigative genetic genealogy to generate a lead.
“Further investigation and kinship lab testing by ISP of crime samples positively identified the suspect. The match was 99.9999% positive. This is the scientific method that ultimately led to the identification of the I-65 killer,” said Sgt. Glen Fifield of the Indiana State Police.
Although these four cases are now considered closed, Fifeld said investigators are continuing to reach out to police departments in the Midwest to see if any other cases can be matched to Greenwell.
“Investigators have long-believed there is a distinct possibility there have been murders, rapes, robberies and assaults that have not yet been connected to the investigation. Investigators are actively working with other departments in the Midwest to determine if Greenwell was the perpetrator of other violent crimes yet to be solved,” said Fifeld.
As part of the investigation, police created a timeline of events of Greenwell’s movements through the years using public records, newspaper clippings, interviews, self-reporting and more, including historical Department of Corrections records.
Greenwell has an extensive criminal background. In 1963, he was sentenced to two years in the reformatory and five years probation for an armed robbery in Kentucky. Two years later, police arrested him on a sodomy charge. He was paroled in 1969 from the Kentucky State Penitentiary. Then, Greenwell served a prison sentence in Iowa for burglary. Police said he escaped and was re-captured, twice. The prison released him in 1983. Five years later, Vicki Heath was murdered.
While Fifeld said he has no specifics on other cases that may be linked to Greenwell, he did confirm investigators are looking into the sexual assault and murder of a woman in Rochester, Minnesota.
“We are anticipating that this revelation today may generate new leads on other cases,” Fifeld said.