I-65 killer - live: New photo of Harry Edward Greenwell released as victim’s daughter reacts to breakthrough
The killer stalked a major highway running through Indiana and Kentucky
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Police in Indiana discovered the identity of a serial killer who stalked the state’s highways 30 years ago searching for victims.
Officials with the Indiana State Police as well as the FBI and the Elizabethtown, Kentucky police department held a press conference Tuesday at 11am to identify the “I-65 Killer,” who was also called the “Days Inn Killer.” Representatives of the agencies named Harry Edward Greenwell to be the killer, claiming they used “investigative genealogy” to confirm the man’s identity.
The daughter of Jeanne Gilbert, one of the victims, spoke during the press conference about her mother and her hopes that those affected have found some justice. Police also released a photo of the killer from a previous, unrelated crime.
The killer was active in 1987 and 198 in Indiana and Kentucky, during which time he raped and killed three women at motels along Interstate 65. Similar crimes occurred in Minnesota and Illinois but have not been officially linked to the I-65 Killer.
All of the women who were attacked worked as clerks in those hotels.
In 1990 a woman working at a Days Inn in Columbus, Indiana was sexually assaulted and stabbed, but she managed to escape her attacker. She provided police with details of her attacker, describing him as about 6 feet tall with greasy, grey hair and a beard spotted with grey flecks. She claimed he had been wearing a flannel shirt, blue jeans, and that he had lime green eyes.
The FBI has been searching for the killer since his spree in the late 80’s.
ICYMI: Photo of I-65 Killer released
Indiana State Police released a photo of the I-65 Killer, Harry Edward Greenwell, during a press conference on Tuesday.
The photo appears to be from a previous booking picture from an unrelated crime. The man appears younger in the photo than he was described by victims who survived his attacks.
ICYMI: Daughter of victim killed by I-65 Killer speaks out
Kim Gilbert Wright, the daughter of Jeanne Gilbert, spoke at a press conference on Tuesday shortly after the identity of the I-65 Killer was revealed. Ms Wright’s mother, Jeanne, was murdered by the man in 1989.
“I’d like to believe that whatever each of us defines as justice, or what each of us might define as closure, that we’re all now able to share the healing process knowing the long known attacker has now been brought out of the dark, into the light,” she said during the press conference.
ICYMI: Watch the press conference where the I-65 Killer is identified
On Tuesday members of the FBI, the Indiana State Police, and the Elizabethtown Police Department identified the I-65 Killer.
Watch the press conference where the killer was identified below.
Who was the I-65 Killer?
On Tuesday, the I-65 Killer was identified as Harry Edward Greenwell.
The Independent’s Joe Sommerlad and Megan Sheets dive into the killer and the victims in their story below...
Everything we know about ‘I-65 serial killer’ Harry Edward Greenwell
Mystery murderer raped and shot three female motel clerks between Indiana and Kentucky in late 1980s
ICYMI: The I-65 Killer is identified
Police and members of the FBI announced Tuesday that they identified the I-65 Killer as Harry Edward Greenwell.
The Independent’s Sheila Flynn delves into the revelation in her story below...
I-65 serial killer revealed decades after murder and rape spree using DNA technology
The I-65, or Days Inn Killer, is believed to have raped and murdered at least three women in the 1980s
Details from the I-65 Killer’s obituary
Harry Edward Greenwell, who was identified Tuesday as the I-65 Killer, died in 2013 from cancer, according to authorities.
His death certificate was found in Iowa, as well as an obituary that painted the man as a kind and gregarious person, unaware of his dark history.
The obituary called him “a man with many friends who loved his straight-up attitude, and his willingness to help anyone,” and claimed he enjoyed gardening and selling his vegetables at a local farmers market.
It goes on to say he liked to travel, write, read, and watch college sports.
Prior to the revelation that he was a serial killer in the later 80’s and early 90’s, the man had been charged with several crimes and escaped prison on at least two occasions.
How the I-65 Killer’s family helped identify the killer
Harry Edward Greenwell, who has been identified as the I-65 Killer, was ultimately identified thanks to advances in DNA analysis and forensic investigation technologies.
Using what police called ‘investigative genealogy,” investigators were able to take Mr Greenwell’s DNA - which had been entered into FBI databases - from earlier run-ins with the law to determine his identity. In order to pinpoint that he was the one involved in the murders, investigators had to fill out his DNA profile using information from his family members.
A similar method was used in the identification of the Golden State Killer in 2018.
Photo of I-65 Killer released
Indiana State Police released a photo of the I-65 Killer, Harry Edward Greenwell, during a press conference on Tuesday.
The photo appears to be from a previous booking picture from an unrelated crime. The man appears younger in the photo than he was described by victims who survived his attacks.
Daughter of Jeanne Gilbert, one of the women killed by the I-65 Killer, speaks out after murderer identified
Kim Gilbert Wright, the daughter of Jeanne Gilbert, spoke at a press conference on Tuesday shortly after the identity of the I-65 Killer was revealed. Ms Wright’s mother, Jeanne, was murdered by the man in 1989.
“I’d like to believe that whatever each of us defines as justice, or what each of us might define as closure, that we’re all now able to share the healing process knowing the long known attacker has now been brought out of the dark, into the light,” she said during the press conference.
Indiana State Police say some detectives spent literal ‘generations’ working on the I-65 Killer case
Indiana State Superintendent Doug Carter told reporters on Tuesday that some of the detectives in the department had been tracking the murderer who would later be identified as Harry Edward Greenwell for “literally generations.”
“There are detectives in this room that have been involved in this for some form or another for literally generations. They’re owed a debt of gratitude we can never possibly repay,” he said. “I hope today might bring a little bit of solace to know that the animal who did this is no longer on this Earth.”