Suspect Arrested in 9 Milwaukee Killings

[Jute]

Suspect Arrested in 9 Milwaukee Killings

MILWAUKEE (Sept. 7) – Milwaukee police have arrested a man in connection to slayings of nine women dating back to 1986.

Police Chief Edward Flynn said Monday that 49-year-old Walter E. Ellis of Milwaukee was arrested Saturday. Prosecutors said he faces two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and more charges are expected.
Police said Ellis' DNA was found on the bodies of nine women who were killed between 1986 and 2007. Investigators believe eight were prostitutes and one was a runaway. They ranged in age from 16 to 41.

Online court records show that Ellis pleaded no contest in 1998 to a reduced charge of second-degree reckless injury. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

Flynn didn't know whether Ellis had an attorney.

2009-09-07 12:15:11

http://news.aol.com/article/suspect-arrested-in-milwaukee-serial/658134

[Jute]

Suspect Arrested in 9 Milwaukee Killings

MILWAUKEE (Sept. 7) – Milwaukee police have arrested a man in connection to slayings of nine women dating back to 1986.
Police Chief Edward Flynn said Monday that 49-year-old Walter E. Ellis of Milwaukee was arrested Saturday. Prosecutors said he faces two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and more charges are expected.

VIEW PHOTO (http://news.aol.com/article/suspect-arrested-in-milwaukee-serial/658134?icid=main|compaq-laptop|dl1|link2|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Fartic le%2Fsuspect-arrested-in-milwaukee-serial%2F658134)
Milwaukee police have arrested a 49-year-old suspect in connection with the slayings of nine women, most of them suspected prostitutes, in a bloody murder spree that dates back to 1986. Authorities said Monday that Walter E. Ellis' DNA was found on the victims' bodies. Above, a combination photo shows five of the slain women.

Police said Ellis' DNA was found on the bodies of nine women who were killed between 1986 and 2007. Investigators believe eight were prostitutes and one was a runaway. They ranged in age from 16 to 41.

Online court records show that Ellis pleaded no contest in 1998 to a reduced charge of second-degree reckless injury. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

Flynn didn't know whether Ellis had an attorney

http://news.aol.com/article/suspect-arrested-in-milwaukee-serial/658134?icid=main|compaq-laptop|dl1|link2|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Fartic le%2Fsuspect-arrested-in-milwaukee-serial%2F658134


He was in prison in the middle of the time frame. :shock:

[awakening2lite]

It would be interesting to learn what led LE to Ellis.

[lost indie]

it would be interesting to learn what led le to ellis.

dna?

[packy]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-milwaukee-killer-0908sep08,0,5489031.story

Excerpts

Walter Ellis, 49, was taken into custody after a struggle at a motel Saturday, days after police served a search warrant to obtain a DNA sample, Police Chief Edward Flynn said. Ellis was charged with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide, and more charges will be filed within the next few days, Milwaukee County District Atty. John Chisholm said.


According to the criminal complaint, detectives searched Ellis' home Aug. 29 and seized a toothbrush and razors that a female roommate said belonged to Ellis. Investigators at the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory matched DNA from the toothbrush with samples taken from two victims, the complaint said

[Roamer]

If he's truly the one (and it sounds like he is), I'm very glad they caught him.

[LiveLaughLuv]

If he's truly the one (and it sounds like he is), I'm very glad they caught him.


Yep, 23 years is a long stretch.

Hoping he is linked by DNA for all those victims...

[awakening2lite]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-milwaukee-killer-0908sep08,0,5489031.story

Excerpts

Walter Ellis, 49, was taken into custody after a struggle at a motel Saturday, days after police served a search warrant to obtain a DNA sample, Police Chief Edward Flynn said. Ellis was charged with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide, and more charges will be filed within the next few days, Milwaukee County District Atty. John Chisholm said.


According to the criminal complaint, detectives searched Ellis' home Aug. 29 and seized a toothbrush and razors that a female roommate said belonged to Ellis. Investigators at the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory matched DNA from the toothbrush with samples taken from two victims, the complaint said


I wonder what led LE to get the search warrant for the dna on him.

[packy]

They don't really seem to tell how but it would be interesting to know. Did they find the match first but then need more samples? Or did someone point a finger at him?

Article mentions his ex girlfriend's remarks.

http://www.wisn.com/news/20773024/detail.html

"This search was about shoe leather and science," Flynn said.

[packy]

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/57661132.html

Authorities announced the link to a suspected serial killer in May after tests revealed DNA from the same person had been left at six homicide scenes dating from 1986 to 2007.

A task force of local, state and federal law enforcement officials dedicated to investigating the linked homicides received 193 tips in its first three months of operation, Flynn said last month. Some suspects were interviewed and ruled out, he said.

Investigators had run the DNA profile found on the murdered women against DNA databases nationally but did not get any hits. That meant the suspect was not in prison and had not provided law enforcement with a genetic sample in any state. Since 2000, Wisconsin has required all felons to provide DNA.

Investigators began to focus on Ellis after his name surfaced in connection with a number of unsolved homicides, Flynn said.

"Good police work and good police science have led us to Walter Ellis," Flynn said Monday. (Much more at link)

[awakening2lite]

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/57661132.html

Authorities announced the link to a suspected serial killer in May after tests revealed DNA from the same person had been left at six homicide scenes dating from 1986 to 2007.

A task force of local, state and federal law enforcement officials dedicated to investigating the linked homicides received 193 tips in its first three months of operation, Flynn said last month. Some suspects were interviewed and ruled out, he said.

Investigators had run the DNA profile found on the murdered women against DNA databases nationally but did not get any hits. That meant the suspect was not in prison and had not provided law enforcement with a genetic sample in any state. Since 2000, Wisconsin has required all felons to provide DNA.

Investigators began to focus on Ellis after his name surfaced in connection with a number of unsolved homicides, Flynn said.

"Good police work and good police science have led us to Walter Ellis," Flynn said Monday. (Much more at link)


Ah ha, there's the answer! Thanks Packy! Good police work...no doubt about it!

[Jute]

Suspect Arrested in 9 Milwaukee Killings

MILWAUKEE (Sept. 7) – Milwaukee police have arrested a man in connection to slayings of nine women dating back to 1986.
Police Chief Edward Flynn said Monday that 49-year-old Walter E. Ellis of Milwaukee was arrested Saturday. Prosecutors said he faces two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and more charges are expected.

Online court records show that Ellis pleaded no contest in 1998 to a reduced charge of second-degree reckless injury. He was sentenced to five years in prison.

Flynn didn't know whether Ellis had an attorney

http://news.aol.com/article/suspect-...erial%2F658134

<snipped>[/url]


He was in prison in the middle of the time frame. :shock:

http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/57661132.html

Authorities announced the link to a suspected serial killer in May after tests revealed DNA from the same person had been left at six homicide scenes dating from 1986 to 2007.

A task force of local, state and federal law enforcement officials dedicated to investigating the linked homicides received 193 tips in its first three months of operation, Flynn said last month. Some suspects were interviewed and ruled out, he said.

Investigators had run the DNA profile found on the murdered women against DNA databases nationally but did not get any hits. That meant the suspect was not in prison and had not provided law enforcement with a genetic sample in any state. Since 2000, Wisconsin has required all felons to provide DNA.

Investigators began to focus on Ellis after his name surfaced in connection with a number of unsolved homicides, Flynn said.

"Good police work and good police science have led us to Walter Ellis," Flynn said Monday. (Much more at link)

He was sentenced to 5 years in 1998, the law regarding collecting DNA from all felons took effect in 2000; how did they miss getting his? Maybe he served a very short sentence. :mad:

[Roamer]

http://www.wisn.com/cnn-news/20839180/detail.html

MILWAUKEE -- The Milwaukee man accused of being a serial killer was charged Thursday in five more women's deaths.


Images: Accused Serial Killer's Victims (javascript:popUp('/slideshow/news/20814452/detail.html','width=1024,height=750,top=0,left=0,s crollbars');)

http://helpfindthemissing.org/sh/images/ibs_icon/hearst/video.gifWalter Ellis Charged With Five More Deaths (http://helpfindthemissing.org/video/20841854/index.html)


Walter Ellis was charged earlier in the week with first-degree intentional homicide in the deaths of Joyce Mims and Quithreaun Stokes.


On Thursday, Ellis was charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the deaths of Sheila Farrior and Florence McCormick in 1995 and Irene Smith in November 1992.


He was also charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Deborah Harris and Tanya Miller who were found dead within a day of each other in October of 1986.


Ellis has not yet been charged with the deaths of Jessica Payne and Carron Kilpatrick.


The 49-year-old is suspected of killing eight women and a teenage girl between 1986 and 2007.

[Faith]

Did Missing DNA Thwart Hunt For Serial Killer?

September 11, 2009

Police in Milwaukee say they have caught up with a serial killer who terrorized the city for more than two decades.

Authorities filed charges Thursday against 49-year-old Walter E. Ellis in the killings of at least nine women. While police are proud of their work in the case, some in Milwaukee are asking why the alleged killer's DNA sample went missing and why a different man may have been wrongly convicted and imprisoned.

http://media.npr.org/assets/news/2009/09/11/serialkiller.jpg?t=1252695631&s=2

Prostitutes Targeted

In October 1986, Milwaukee police found two prostitutes strangled to death just one day apart. Six years later, another prostitute was killed; over two decades, 20 prostitutes were found strangled.

It wasn't until May, however, that police confirmed suspicions that a serial killer had been on the loose. Ellis' name kept popping up in crime reports, so police went to his home, got a DNA sample from his toothbrush and arrested him Saturday at a hotel.

"We're announcing today the culmination of the labors of many people, in many agencies, today with the arrest of a person we've linked to the homicides of nine women over a 21-year period," Police Chief Ed Flynn said Monday.

Ellis has been charged in the murders of seven women so far, and that number could grow as investigators review the cases of another 20 strangled prostitutes.

Allegations Of Neglect

Why did it take so long to find a suspect? Flynn says prostitute homicides are hard to solve. He says his detectives recently began reviewing the women's murders.

"We looked at every sexual assault investigation over the course of 23 years," he said. "There were 16,000 of them. They looked at 6,000 prostitution-related arrests over that period of time. They submitted hundreds of names for DNA profiles for people that were in the system."

Flynn says though the cases might have gone cold, they were never put on the back burner, as some critics are charging.

LaVerne McCoy, who retired from the Milwaukee Police Department in January, says the prostitute murders were not a high priority.

She says the victims may have been seen as a "disposable portion of society, that who gives a crap about them?"

One of the women was 37-year-old Sheila Farrior, who was killed in 1995.

Her father, Sandy Farrior, lives in a small house less than a mile from where his daughter's body was found.

"[The police] don't have a very good track record," he says. "They lose things. They make mistakes."

Misplaced DNA

Police say they could have arrested Ellis sooner if his DNA had been on file.

A sample was taken in 2001 when he was in prison for a different felony, but nobody can find it, and officials say that may have cost at least one woman her life.

Stan Stojkovic, who teaches criminal justice at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, says he is not surprised by the missing DNA.

"If you look at these kinds of murders and cases that involve multiple victims over multiple years, it is not unusual to find lack of coordination among law enforcement agencies, loss of evidence, poor investigative techniques, poor evidence collection," he says.

Although missteps may be common in these kinds of cases, one man says he was the victim of bad police work.

Chaunte Ott, who spent 13 years in prison for murder, is suing Milwaukee for wrongful conviction.

Ott was released in January after DNA testing connected the victim to a different man: Walter Ellis.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112757239

[Faith]

Audit: Wisc. database missing DNA of 12K felons

By DINESH RAMDE (AP) – 2 hours ago

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/media/ALeqM5jgraQJw0YZ6cNVyjF24o502Qw_vw?size=s2

MILWAUKEE — Mandatory DNA profiles of at least 12,000 Wisconsin felons are missing from a statewide database, according to an audit released Wednesday. The audit was conducted after officials discovered no DNA was on file for a convicted felon now suspected in a string of Milwaukee killings.

Investigators have since found that a sample was submitted in Walter E. Ellis' name, but the DNA and fingerprint belonged to a different inmate, said Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen.

"A sample appears to have been collected by (the Wisconsin Department of) Corrections from the wrong person," Van Hollen said in a statement.

The other inmate may have lied about his identity when submitting the sample, but it's unlikely that's what happened in the case of the others that are missing, said Gary Hamblin, who is administrator of the Division of Law Enforcement Services and conducted the audit.

"For those 12,000 people convicted of a felony, our records indicate a DNA sample has not been collected," he said.

About 70 percent of those people are believed to be in custody or still under state supervision and it should be easy to gather samples from them, Hamblin said. It will take more analysis to determine how to target the other 30 percent, he said.

The database has between 120,000 and 130,000 profiles, Hamblin said. Some of the missing ones may be from people convicted of felonies but sentenced to probation, meaning they never reported to prison to have a sample taken, he added.

The Corrections Department is responsible for collecting samples. Hamblin's audit suggested state Department of Justice officials also should have noted Ellis did not have a complete DNA profile.

"The Department of Corrections will work with the Department of Justice to make sure they have adequate procedures in place to notify us of a problem with a specimen they receive from us," said Rick Raemisch, secretary of the Corrections department.

Ellis, 49, was named a suspect earlier this month in the slayings of at least seven women between 1986 and 2007.

Authorities have said they might have focused on Ellis sooner if his DNA were in the state database, as it should have been if a sample were taken when he served an earlier prison term. Ellis pleaded no contest in 1998 to second-degree reckless injury.

The state crime lab did receive a sample in 2001 that had Ellis' name on it, Van Hollen said. When it was put in the database, the system matched it to a previous sample under a different inmate's name, so it registered as a duplicate and no profile was entered for Ellis, he said.

"In its simplest terms, this is a case where a DNA sample was collected from one inmate who claimed to be a different inmate," the audit said.

In hindsight, Van Hollen said, the state crime lab should have notified Corrections officials of the duplication.

Ellis plans to plead not guilty to five counts of first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of first-degree murder, his attorney, Russell Jones, said Wednesday.

"At this point I haven't seen the evidence, so I can't comment on the defense other than 'he didn't do it,'" Jones said.

Milwaukee police in May announced DNA samples taken from at least seven homicide victims linked back to a single unidentified DNA profile. Authorities arrested Ellis earlier this month after executing a search warrant at his home and saying that profile matched a sample taken from his toothbrush. Police haven't made clear how they originally targeted Ellis as a suspect.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iihF7ie9lIMYVjpGYgMaKTUyYjgQD9AON2JG1

[Faith]

Gaps in DNA databanks have led to tragedy

By TODD RICHMOND (AP) – 9 hours ago

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/media/ALeqM5iQxdhUpOIzCjVVg5jTcpQy8-gNXA?size=s2
In a Sept. 9, 2009 file photo Milwuakee County Sheriff deputies lead into Walter E. Ellis for a court appearance in Milwaukee. During what police say was a 20-year killing spree in Milwaukee, Walter Ellis left his DNA behind all along the way but authorities did not have it on file

MADISON, Wis. — During what police say was a 20-year killing spree in Milwaukee, Walter Ellis left his DNA behind all along the way — everywhere but the one place where it might have saved a life.

Ellis should have given a DNA sample to the state crime databank during a prison stint in the early part of this decade, but he had another inmate pose as him, authorities say. As a result, when analysts tried to identify DNA in bodily fluids from one of the slayings back in 2003, no matches turned up.

Investigators didn't connect Ellis to the crimes until this fall, when they seized genetic material from his toothbrush. By then, it was too late for the woman police say was Ellis' seventh and final victim.

"If they would have got his DNA when they were supposed to get it, maybe my cousin would still be here," said Sarah Stokes, whose cousin, 28-year-old prostitute Ouithrean Stokes, was found beaten and strangled in an abandoned rooming house in 2007.

An Associated Press review found tens of thousands of DNA samples are missing from state databanks across the country because they were never taken or were lost. The missing evidence — combined with big backlogs at the nation's crime labs that result in DNA samples sitting on shelves for years without being analyzed and entered into the databanks — is preventing investigators from cracking untold numbers of cases. And some of those gaps have had tragic consequences.

"If you got missing samples, some of those people are out there raping your wives and abducting and murdering your children this week," said former Charlottesville, Va., police Capt. J.E. Harding, who helped uncover missing samples in that state during a search for a serial rapist.

Crime lab supervisors, state police and prison officials blame the failure to collect samples on new and confusing laws and a lack of coordination among the many different law enforcement agencies and institutions responsible for taking DNA.

"I would just about guarantee you every state has an issue with this," said Lisa Hurst, who tracks DNA convictions for Gordon Thomas Honeywell, an organization that lobbies on public safety and biotechnology issues.

The AP review found 27 states either failed to collect some DNA samples or are unable to say whether they took one from every offender who owes one.

The case against Ellis, who is set to go trial this spring, prompted an audit in Wisconsin that found 12,000 convict samples are missing. The AP review further found that Illinois failed to get DNA from about 50,000 offenders, Colorado from 2,000, and Virginia from about 8,400.

Exactly how many samples are missing across the country is unknown. The National Institute of Justice estimated in 2003 that offenders owed up to 1 million uncollected samples and as many as 300,000 samples may be waiting for processing. The backlog grew to about 450,000 by 2008. The institute had no updated estimate of uncollected samples.

At least 13 states are dealing with more samples than they can handle. Kansas, for example, has nearly 40,000 on its crime lab shelves, waiting for upload.

Police in Columbus, Ohio, say Robert N. Patton Jr. committed 37 rapes over a decade and a half. As with Ellis in Milwaukee, he could have been stopped earlier.

Patton had submitted his DNA in 2001 while behind bars for burglary, but it was not entered into the database until 2004, two days before he climbed through an apartment window and raped Diana Cunningham. Police say he attacked 13 women in all after supplying his DNA.

If Patton's genetic material "had been processed in a timely fashion, he never would have gotten to me or gotten to any of the others," said Cunningham, now 25. "It's scary how many more people are going to be victimized because their attackers aren't going to be caught. And it would be so easy for them to be caught if they could make the matches."

Patton is now serving a 68-year prison sentence.

State databanks contain hundreds of thousands of samples. The FBI's national database, built with states' uploads, held 7.4 million as of September.

Over the past 15 years, tough-on-crime legislators expanded laws to require DNA from more offenders. First it was sex offenders. Today, 47 states demand DNA from every convicted felon. Twenty-one take it from anyone arrested for homicide or a sex crime, according to Gordon Thomas Honeywell.

Generally, prison officials collect DNA from inmates as they enter the institution, often by swabbing the prisoner's mouth. Local police, sheriff's departments or probation officers are also supposed to take samples. That means a profusion of collection points.

But the laws are so fluid that the agencies responsible for collecting DNA struggle to track which offenders owe samples, authorities say. The New Mexico lab has taken to sending wall charts to sheriff's departments to help them keep things straight.

Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle has blamed his state's missing DNA, in part, on confusion over the laws during the early days and no clear idea of who was in charge.

Roughly half the states have some cross-check between their labs and prison systems to ensure everyone who owes a sample has given it, the AP found. For example, Michigan DNA administrators and state prison officials compare information annually. Virginia requires that it be done quarterly. But half the states have no such procedures.

Robyn Quinn, Delaware's DNA database administrator, said she is sure her state is missing DNA, but has no idea how much, citing lack of communication between her office and the Corrections Department.

"The other end is a black hole for me. We have no way of getting into their system to see who is supposed to be collected," she said. "I am waiting for something to hit the fan, if you will."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ivGnoKW8S6YEwg1ErNFygXEAdjkwD9CJ17V80