Ohio woman’s 1981 murder solved with advanced DNA technology; fugitive suspect killed in shootout
A man has been identified as the killer of an 18-year-old Ohio woman who was shot and killed last month while authorities were trying to file an indictment on federal firearms charges, police announced Monday. It has been pending for 43 years.
Mansfield Police Chief Jason Bammann said local waitress Debra Lee Miller was beaten to death by an oven grate in her apartment on April 29, 1981. Cold cases have been reopened in 2021 to account for advances in DNA technology and forensic investigation techniques.
“They’re looking at the case through a whole new lens, as if it happened yesterday,” Barman told a meeting. press conference. “What they found was shocking.”
The chief said evidence left in the room identified a “reliable DNA profile” of James Vanest, Miller’s 26-year-old upstairs neighbor at the time. Vannest was questioned but was never identified as a suspect during the initial investigation, which became mired in accusations of potential police misconduct.
Miller was one of several people involved in several suspicious deaths in the Mansfield area in the 1980s that may have been linked to Mansfield police.
In 1989, a special investigation ordered by the mayor concluded that there was no evidence that any police officers were involved in the deaths, but the report cast doubt on the sexual relationship between the officers and homicide victim Miller and the police investigation of a certain Questions were raised about the manner in which these murders were committed. Reports indicate that Miller wrote in her diary that she had sex with several Mansfield police officers.
Mansfield Police Department (AP)
The local police chief retired in January 1990 after complaints about alleged irregularities in the Mansfield patrol officer’s investigation into the death of his ex-wife.
Miller’s case was reopened several times in the years that followed. This time, Richland County Prosecutor Jodie Schumacher said the DNA evidence against Vannest was strong enough and her office was preparing to file a murder case against him and present it to a grand jury .
But the case never came to light.
Police found Vannest living in Canton, about 100 miles (160.93 kilometers) east of Mansfield, in November 2021 and re-interviewed him about Miller’s killing. Barman said he admitted to lying to investigators when he was first interviewed in 1981, and this time investigators detected him trying to create an alibi to explain the presence of his DNA in Miller’s apartment.
Mansfield Police Detective Terry Butler sought a second interview in the spring of 2024, but Vanest refused to speak and requested an attorney. He then sold his house in Canton, purchased a pickup truck and trailer and fled to West Virginia, authorities said. He left several firearms at his home in Canton and had two more firearms stopped in West Virginia. He was arrested on state charges and released on bail.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives took over his case and later charged him with federal firearms charges. U.S. Marshals and the Canton SWAT team attempted to serve the indictment on Nov. 18 at a hotel where Vannest was holed up.
“It is our understanding that when encountered by marshals and the Canton Regional SWAT team, Mr. Vannest pointed a gun at them and locked himself inside the hotel,” Barman said. “After a brief gunfight, a Canton The SWAT team member was shot in the arm and Mr. Vannest was shot and killed.”
The officer who was shot was Patrick Lewis of the North Canton Police Department. Talk to CBS affiliate WOIO after the incident.
“After about 30 seconds to a minute of trying to find him, I heard a gunshot and felt immediate pain in my right arm,” Lewis told the station. “It was very chaotic. There was still gunshots. So when I saw the arm bleeding, I knew I had to put a tourniquet on.”
The chief said the department considers the case closed and hopes identifying Miller’s killer will bring some closure to her family.
Butler said his great-uncle was one of the first officers on the scene when Miller was killed in 1981. He said he was lucky to have the opportunity to solve a homicide that occurred when he was 10 years old. He said people should know, “We’re not going to give up, we’re going to keep digging.”
