fletchermarple: Who Killed Jaclyn Dowaliby?The morning of September 10, 1988, Jaclyn Dowaliby (7) wa

fletchermarple: Who Killed Jaclyn Dowaliby?The morning of September 10, 1988, Jaclyn Dowaliby (7) was reported missing. Her parents, Cynthia and David (who had adopted her when he’d married Cynthia), said they had woken up that day to find her gone, along with her bedspread. David reported finding the front door open that morning, even though he was sure he had locked it the night before. Police also found a broken window, that was unlocked too, in the basement.Four days later, Jaclyn’s body was found among some brushes in an empty site behind an apartment complex, only three miles away from the Dowaliby home in Midlothian, Illinois. Her body was wrapped in a quilt, and she had a clothes line rope wrapped twice around her neck. Because of decomposition, the medical examiner was unable to determine if she had been sexually assaulted, but stated the cause of death as ligature strangulation. There were no signs of bruising nor marks to show she had been bound or gagged in any way. It was impossible to determine if she’d died in that location. There were also some white cotton panties close to her body that were clean except for one pubic hair they couldn’t determine where it came from.The investigation soon focused on the parents. Jaclyn’s biological father, Jim Guess, was in prison at the time so he was cleared. But investigators were suspicious of Cynthia and David. How come they hadn’t heard an intruder breaking in and taken their daughter? They also decided that the basement window had been broken from the inside (a fact that was later disputed). And there was a witness in the apartment complex where Jaclyn’s body was found that testified he’d seen a man in a car outside in the early hours of September 10. He said the man had a prominent nose, and when showed pictures he identified the man as David. The witness later said he only chose David’s picture because it was the one with the biggest nose of the bunch, and that the man he’d seen might have been the apartment’s handyman.Cynthia and David were arrested and charged in November 1988, and were tried together. However, before the jury decided on their guilt, the judge acquitted Cynthia for insufficient evidence. David was found guilty and sentenced to 45 years in prison, but after 18 months behind bars, his sentence was overturned for lack of evidence and he went free.The case was reopened in May 2016, but according to the Dowaliby’s attorneys, police hasn’t really investigated any leads. One other potential suspect in Jaclyn’s murder was Jim Guess’ brother Timothy, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. His alibi for the night of the abduction was disputed by witnesses and in an interview he claimed that he had a spirit inside him that made him invisible. He was also able to describe the Dowaliby’s home and Jaclyn’s room in detail, even though he’d never been there. But he was never charged with anything and he died years ago. There’s a new investigative podcast about this case called The Shattered Window, done by the always great @congenitaldisease. Go listen! It’s truly a heartbreaking story. -- source link
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