'Divine intervention': 100-year-old Bible helped police solve brutal cold case murder of 90-year-old farmer



The brutal murder of a 90-year-old farmer from Minnesota was solved thanks in part to a Bible.

The body of Earl Olander was found in his rural San Francisco Township home on April 11, 2015. The house was ransacked and Olander was found with his hands and his feet bound by tape.

Chris Wagner – the former lead investigator for the Carver County Sheriff's Office – told ABC's "20/20," "You could tell that the suspects had spent a significant amount of time in the house going through all the drawers and cupboards. Money has always been in a lot of crimes that you're looking into."

The only evidence investigators had were three different shoe prints. Forensic scientists with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension were able to determine exactly what brand of shoes the home invaders were wearing. The forensic scientists said the home intruders wore Crocs, Adidas, and Avia shoes. However, that evidence was not enough to find the suspects.

The case went cold.

\u201c\u201cDivine Intervention\u201d - the all-new #ABC2020 premieres Friday at 9/8c on @ABC. https://t.co/ZGewROXCaQ\u201d
— 20/20 (@20/20) 1668084360

Then, investigators received an important phone call on May 9, 2015. Barry Kyles from St. Paul notified police that he had found a Bible inside an apartment that he was paid to clean. The Bible had a $1,000 savings bond with Olander's name on it. Kyles did an internet search for Earl Olander and found out that there was a reward for information about his murder.

The tip was said to be "divine intervention." It was a Norwegian Bible that was more than 100 years old and had previously been in possession of the Olander family.

Police discovered that Edson Benitez had lived in the apartment. When questioned about the Bible, Benitez told authorities that a friend who moved to Mexico gave it to him. However, detectives pressed Benitez when the story didn't add up. He admitted that the Bible was stolen, and fingered his friend Reinol Vergara.

Vergara was a painter who worked at Olander's house and found out that the elderly man was wealthy.

Benitez said he waited in a vehicle outside of Olander's home as Vergara infiltrated the house. He went in with a black duffel bag that allegedly contained duct tape and a gun, according to police.

"Twenty minutes later, Benitez said Vergara returned to the car and asked him to come inside and help look for the money," ABC News reported. "Benitez said when he got inside, he saw a man with his face covered with a blanket and hands and feet tied with duct tape. The man was struggling on the ground when Vergara struck the man with the gun, Benitez told investigators."

Benitez said Vergara told the old man, "You're going to die."

Cell phone records tied the two men to the burglary and murder. Investigators found that the shoeprints matched the shoes of the two men.

Vergara and Benitez were both charged with four counts of murder. The men pleaded guilty to one of those charges and were sentenced to 37 years in prison in 2016.

The murder investigation is the subject of a "20/20" segment airing on Friday.

“We decided to focus on this story for a number of reasons, but what initially stood out to us was how many people loved Earl," "20/20" executive producer Janice Johnston told the Chaska Herald. "We spoke to his friends, his neighbors, his church community, and all of them echoed the same sentiment. When we found out that the key to solving his murder lay in a Bible miles away from the crime scene, we knew we had to delve deeper into this story and share it with our viewers."

Maria Awes – an award-winning investigative journalist – said, "Living in the community, knowing the beginning, the middle and the end of that case and how it was solved, what was involved — it stands out. In a landscape of true crime, it stands out in many ways because of the parallels between the victim Earl Olander’s spirituality and how the case ultimately is cracked.”

"To me, there are no coincidences. There are only 'God-incidences,'" Olander's neighbor, Bill Boecker, told "20/20."

\u201cWith no DNA or fingerprints at the scene, investigators working to solve Earl Olander\u2019s murder had only one piece of evidence to work with: shoe prints. \n\n@JohnQABC examines the case - Friday at 9/8c on #ABC2020 "Divine Intervention." https://t.co/pjStAgZskM\u201d
— 20/20 (@20/20) 1668102420

Missing 'Baby Holly' found 41 years after her parents were murdered, but law enforcement has questions about a cult of robe-wearing women



A baby vanished along with her parents in 1980. The parents were murdered, and their bodies were discovered in a wooded area in 1981. Now, 42 years after her disappearance, "Baby Holly" has been found in another state. However, there are still many unanswered questions surrounding the mystery.

Tina Gail Linn Clouse, Harold Dean Clouse Jr., and their newborn daughter moved in 1980 to Texas from New Smyrna Beach, Florida. To make the trip, Harold borrowed a sedan owned by his mother – Donna Casasanta.

Once the family set up their new life in a suburb outside of Dallas, Harold would send letters from their home in Lewisville. Suddenly, the letters stopped in October 1980.

Casasanta was deeply worried about her son and his missing family.

A few months after her son's disappearance, Casasanta received an anonymous phone call from a woman who claimed to have found the couple's car in Los Angeles, California.

The Houston Chronicle reported, "Three women dressed in white robes drove it back to Florida. They met at the Daytona Speedtrack late at night. The leader of the trio, 'Sister Susan,' told Casasanta that Dean had joined a cult, renounced his worldly possessions, and wanted nothing to do with his family or his past."

The women asked for money in exchange for the 1978 AMC Concord.

In 1981, the remains of Tina, 17, and Harold, 21, were found in a wooded area in Houston.

Investigators believe the couple was murdered – Harold was beaten to death and Tina was strangled to death. All that was left at the crime scene was a pair of green gym shorts and a bloody towel. There was no sign of Baby Holly.

Law enforcement officials believe that the couple was likely murdered between December 1980 and January 1981.

At the time, investigators did not know the identities of the bodies.

Then in 2021, the remains of the couple underwent genetic genealogy tests. The results found a DNA match to Harold's relatives in Kentucky – who then put them in touch with Casasanta’s daughter, Debbie Brooks. More than 40 years after their murder, the bodies were finally identified and the cold case was heating up.

"I totally lost it,” Casasanta said in January. "I kept praying for God to show me what happened and where he died, but I don't know why anyone would want to hurt my son and wife."

However, Baby Holly was still missing after 40 years.

On Thursday afternoon, the Texas Attorney General's Office held a news conference to give more details on the case and ask for the public's assistance in solving the murders.

First Assistant Attorney General Brent Webster revealed that two members of a nomadic religious group brought Baby Holly to a church in Arizona. The women were dressed in white robes and did not wear shoes.

Webster said the religious members believed in the separation of men and women, only practiced a vegetarian lifestyle, and did not wear leather goods.

The church gave Holly to a family for adoption. The family that raised Holly are not suspects in the murders, according to authorities.

On Tuesday, the Texas Attorney General's office announced they had tracked down Holly Marie Clouse – now 42 years old and living in Oklahoma.

"I am extremely proud of the exceptional work done by my office's newly formed Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit," Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a press release. "My office diligently worked across state lines to uncover the mystery surrounding Holly's disappearance. We were successful in our efforts to locate her and reunite her with her biological family."

Casasanta said, "I prayed for more than 40 years for answers and the Lord has revealed some of it ... we have found Holly."

Casasanta said finding out Holly is alive was a "birthday present from heaven" since she found out on her slain son's birthday.

"Thank you to all of the investigators for working so hard to find Holly," the relieved grandmother expressed her gratitude. "I prayed for them day after day and that they would find Holly and she would be alright."

Holly's aunt – Cheryl Clouse – finally met her niece, and called it "such a blessing to be reassured that she is alright and has had a good life."

Despite the heartwarming reunion, there are several questions that remain.

Who killed Tina Gail Linn Clouse and Harold Dean Clouse Jr.?

Did the couple join a cult, and did it have anything to do with their murders?

Who were the three women in white robes who allegedly drove the car from California to Florida, and do they know anything about the murder of the couple?

Anyone with information about their deaths is asked to contact the Texas Attorney General’s Cold Case and Missing Persons Unit at coldcaseunit@oag.texas.gov.

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How a utility bill helped solve sexual assault cold cases from 1980s that led to serial rapist being sentenced to 650 years in prison



An Indiana man convicted in a series of home invasions and sexual assaults in the 1980s was finally sentenced to a total of 650 years in prison for his crimes. A utility bill helped law enforcement apprehend the man who terrorized women in Shelby County some 30 years ago.

Steven Ray Hessler sentenced to 650 years in prison

Steven Ray Hessler, 59, was found guilty on March 3 of 19 felony charges for crimes against 10 victims between 1982 and 1985.

Following an eight-day trial in Shelby Circuit Court, Hessler was convicted on two counts of rape, six counts of unlawful deviate conduct, seven counts of burglary resulting in bodily injury, three counts of criminal deviate conduct, and one count of robbery, according to WXIN.

Shelby Circuit Court Judge Trent Metzler described Hessler's crimes as "monstrous" and "horrific." The judge gave Hessler the maximum of 50 years on each count, all of which were Class A felonies, WRTV reported.

How a utility bill broke open the cold case

Hessler was arrested at his home in Greensburg in August 2020 after investigators linked him to the cold case crimes through DNA evidence.

In 2019, the Shelby County Sheriff's Department decided to renew interest in the cold case after learning of advances in forensic technology. "A detective asked prosecutors if they would pay for samples to be sent to a company that uses the same sort of DNA testing that resulted in the capture of "the Golden State Killer," according to the Associated Press.

The prosecutors agreed and sent a DNA sample left in the victim's garage from the last reported assault on Aug. 17, 1985. Investigators also sent a licked utility bill that they had intercepted in the mail to Parabon NanoLabs. The DNA on the sample and the utility bill matched.

"Police said there was a one trillion-to-one chance the DNA found at the scene belonged to anyone but Hessler," the Indianapolis Star reported. "A subsequent test by Indiana State Police of DNA from Hessler's arrest confirmed the match."

Police found other evidence linking Hessler to the crimes, including pictures stolen from one of the victims was found in his possession. Law enforcement also determined that he searched for some of the victims on his computer.

The 'monstrous' crimes committed by the 'Coward Sadist'

In the middle of the night, Hessler – wearing a ski mask or tights to conceal his face – would break into the houses of women who were often home alone and force them to perform sexual acts while threatening harm if they did not do as he said, according to police. Hessler would bind, rape, and sexually torture his victims at gunpoint and knifepoint, investigators said. He also stole money and valuables from his victims.

"In a few cases, men who were in the home were made to watch or participate," according to the Indianapolis Star. "The man would sometimes lecture his victims about the lack of security in their homes, according to police. Before he left, some victims reported he would unplug phones and take their money."

Hessler allegedly took photos of the victims to blackmail them not to inform the authorities and said if they told the police, he would come back and kill them.

Several of the victims testified during the sentencing hearing about the trauma they experienced from the heinous attacks. Some expressed fears that Hessler would return to kill them or their children.

Shelby County Prosecutor Brad Landwerlen issued a statement:

Steven Ray Hessler is one of the most evil, dangerous, sadistic predators that I’ve had the pleasure of prosecuting in my 30+ year career. He derived great pleasure from his unnecessarily brutal methods of terrorizing and sexually torturing his victims. I promised the victims early-on that my goal would be that he go to prison the rest of his life, and all involved are very happy that we have achieved that goal.

Landwerlen dubbed Hessler the "Coward Sadist."

"He's a sadist because he loves getting pleasure from hurting other people," Landwerlen said. "He's a coward because he would only do it when he was armed."

In his closing arguments, defense attorney Bryan Cook said, "It's a hot mess of a case the state has."

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