MURDERED: Michella Welch & Jennifer Bastian
When a 13-year-old Tacoma girl disappears on a bike ride in her local park, the community rallies to find any trace of her. But investigators can’t ignore similarities to a murder of another girl in another park nearby. Is the same killer responsible?
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Episode Info:
Episode Source Material
- In My DNA: My Career Investigating Your Worst Nightmares (print edition), by Lindsey Wade.
- Cold Case Files: Taken in Tacoma (season 3, episode 6) via Netflix.
- Dateline: Evil was Watching (season 27, episode 27) via Peacock.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Solving cold cases just ‘a matter of time’ by Stacia Glenn via Newspapers.com. (1)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Solving cold cases just ‘a matter of time’ by Stacia Glenn via Newspapers.com. (2)
- The Daily Herald (Everett, WA): Girl’s murder casts pall over park where kids play by Associated Press via Newspapers.com.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Dogs pick up a slight trace of lost child by Bill Ripple via Newspapers.com. (1)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Dogs pick up a slight trace of lost child by Bill Ripple via Newspapers.com. (2)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Search for girl focuses on park by Elaine Porterfield and Bill Ripple via Newspapers.com.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Friends team up in all-out search for 13-year-old by Lila Fujimoto via Newspapers.com.
- The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, WA): Tacoma police link man with vanished girl by Associated Press via Newspapers.com.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Police: Jennifer Bastian, Michella Welch killed by different people in 1986 by Stacia Glenn.
- Tacoma Police Department (Tacoma, WA): Jennifer Bastian Timeline.
- Kitsap Sun (Bremerton, WA): 135 search Pt. Defiance for missing Tacoma girl by The Associated Press and The Sun Staff via Newspapers.com.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Police provide sketch of man in Bastian case by Nancy Butterfield via Newspapers.com. (1)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Police provide sketch of man in Bastian case by Nancy Butterfield via Newspapers.com. (2)
- Longview Daily News (Longview, WA): Police have lead on missing girl via Newspapers.com.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Police following leads on Bastian girl case via Newspapers.com.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): ‘Prints’ may point to Bastian murderer by Dan Voelpel via Newspapers.com. (1)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): ‘Prints’ may point to Bastian murderer by Dan Voelpel via Newspapers.com. (2)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Cyclist no longer suspect in Point Defiance killing by Dan Voelpel via Newspapers.com. (1)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Cyclist no longer suspect in Point Defiance killing by Dan Voelpel via Newspapers.com. (2)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Tacoma schoolgirl slain by Jim Erickson via Newspapers.com.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Grief travels from dream to nightmare by Dan Voelpel via Newspapers.com. (1)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Grief travels from dream to nightmare by Dan Voelpel via Newspapers.com. (2)
- Longview Daily News (Longview, WA): Tacoma girl killed via Newspapers.com.
- Kitsap Sun (Bremerton, WA): Tacoma police seeking killer of 12-year-old girl by JoAnne Marez via Newspapers.com.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Police: Jennifer Bastian, Michella Welch killed by different people in 1986 by Stacia Glenn.
- Tacoma Police Department (Tacoma, WA): Michella Welch Timeline.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Police ask public’s aid in hunt for girl’s killer by Bill Ripple via Newspapers.com.
- Kitsap Sun (Bremerton, WA): 135 search Pt. Defiance for missing Tacoma girl by The Associated Press and The Sun Staff via Newspapers.com.
- Kitsap Sun (Bremerton, WA): Police want to interview man in sketch via Newspapers.com.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Police seek man seen in Puget Park via Newspapers.com.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Police fear for girl missing on bike ride by Bill Ripple via Newspapers.com. (1)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Police fear for girl missing on bike ride by Bill Ripple via Newspapers.com. (2)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Search for girl widens to B.C. by Dan Voelpel via Newspapers.com. (1)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Search for girl widens to B.C. by Dan Voelpel via Newspapers.com. (2)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Bastians’ summer gone painfully awry by Elaine Porterfield via Newspapers.com. (1)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Bastians’ summer gone painfully awry by Elaine Porterfield via Newspapers.com. (2)
- Kitsap Sun (Bremerton, WA): Man sought in Canada in case of missing girl by Associated Press via Newspapers.com.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Body in park likely Bastian by Elaine Porterfield and Susan Gordon via Newspapers.com. (1)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Body in park likely Bastian by Elaine Porterfield and Susan Gordon via Newspapers.com. (2)
- Spokane Chronicle (Spokane, WA): Missing girl’s body may have been found by Associated Press via Newspapers.com.
- The Olympian (Olympia, WA): Autopsy due tonight via Newspapers.com.
- The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA): Police teams scour Tacoma park after body discovered in bushes by Associated Press via Newspapers.com.
- On the Case With Paula Zahn: In Defiance of Evil (season 19, episode 2) via Max.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): ‘He can’t hurt anybody’: Jennifer Bastian’s mother sees man accused of killing her daughter by Stacia Glenn and Sean Robinson.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Park body identified as Bastian by Joseph Turner via Newspapers.com.
- Spokane Chronicle (Spokane. WA): Police task force investigates deaths via Newspapers.com.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): 10 years later, girls’ murders still baffling by Elaine Porterfield via Newspapers.com. (1)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): 10 years later, girls’ murders still baffling by Elaine Porterfield via Newspapers.com. (2)
- Longview Daily News (Longview, WA): Detectives still working to solve 10-year-old case by Associated Press via Newspapers.com.
- Pierce County (Tacoma, WA): Man charged with 1986 Murder of Michella Welch.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): A year later, Michella’s killer still free by Dan Voelpel via Newspapers.com. (1)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): A year later, Michella’s killer still free by Dan Voelpel via Newspapers.com. (2)
- The Daily Herald (Everett, WA): Tacoma girl’s year-ago murder remains unsolved by Associated Press via Newspapers.com.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): ‘Prints’ may point to Bastian murderer by Dan Voelpel via Newspapers.com. (1)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): ‘Prints’ may point to Bastian murderer by Dan Voelpel via Newspapers.com. (2)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Cyclist no longer suspect in Point Defiance killing by Dan Voelpel via Newspapers.com. (1)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Cyclist no longer suspect in Point Defiance killing by Dan Voelpel via Newspapers.com. (2)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Black van no longer factor in Bastian investigation by Bill Ripple via Newspapers.com.
- Spokane Chronicle (Spokane, WA): Black van ruled out in probe of slaying via Newspapers.com.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Tacoma girls’ slayings not tied to others, police insist by Michael Gilbert via Newspapers.com. (1)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Tacoma girls’ slayings not tied to others, police insist by Michael Gilbert via Newspapers.com. (2)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Police link 1986 deaths of 2 girls to same killer by Michael Gilbert via Newspapers.com. (1)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Police link 1986 deaths of 2 girls to same killer by Michael Gilbert via Newspapers.com. (2)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): All blue binders: Homicide detective retires with all cases solved by Stacia Glenn.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Police collect tips on 2 area girls killed in 1986 by Stacia Glenn via Newspapers.com. (1)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Police collect tips on 2 area girls killed in 1986 by Stacia Glenn via Newspapers.com. (2)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): All blue binders: Homicide detective retires with all cases solved by Stacia Glenn.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Killer was abnormal, knew North end by Stacia Glenn via Newspapers.com.
- KOMO News (Seattle, WA): Tacoma police hope new profile will crack cold case murders by Kara Kostanich.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Police collect tips on 2 area girls killed in 1986 by Stacia Glenn via Newspapers.com. (1)
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Police collect tips on 2 area girls killed in 1986 by Stacia Glenn via Newspapers.com. (2)
- KIRO 7 (Seattle, WA): New tips collected in 1986 murders of Tacoma girls.
- Fox 13 Seattle (Seattle, WA): Detectives profile suspect in 1986 murders of 2 young girls by Vickie Ilmer.
- Fox 13 Seattle (Seattle, WA): Tacoma police think same killer murdered two young girls by Vickie Ilmer.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Tacoma police release composite images of suspects in 1986 slayings by Stacia Glenn.
- KOMO News (Seattle, WA): High-tech DNA analysis yields sketches of Tacoma girls’ 1986 killers.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): ‘After all this time, justice is Jenni’s’: Bastian’s mom speaks about arrest in daughter’s death by Stacia Glenn.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Suspected killer of Tacoma girl who disappeared in 1986 has been arrested by Stacia Glenn.
- KOMO News (Seattle, WA): Police: Suspect detained in 1986 murder of Tacoma girl.
- The Seattle Times (Seattle, WA): Suspect arrested in 1986 death of Tacoma girl, police say.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): It was the DNA: Man charged with killing Jennifer Bastian voluntarily gave police his by Stacia Glenn and Sean Robinson.
- Fox 13 Seattle (Seattle, WA): Robert Washburn charged with murder in 1986 death of Tacoma’s Jennifer Bastian.
- KOMO News (Seattle, WA): Suspect in Tacoma girl’s 1986 murder pleads not guilty by The Associated Press.
- Pierce County (Tacoma, WA): Man charged with 1986 Murder of Michella Welch.
- KOMO News (Seattle, WA): Court file: DNA on restaurant napkin led to suspect in 1986 killing of Tacoma girl.
- Fox 13 Seattle (Seattle, WA): Cops: Old-fashioned police work, sophisticated technology solved 32-year-old Tacoma murder by Hana Kim.
- Fox 13 Seattle (Seattle, WA): Tacoma police used DNA, ancestry services to solve 1986 murder of Tacoma girl by Hana Kim.
- KOMO News (Seattle, WA): Family comes face to face with man accused in 1986 killing Tacoma girl by Patrick Quinn.
- The Washington Post (Washington, D.C.) A 12-year-old’s murder went unsolved for decades. Police just used a napkin to find a suspect by Lindsey Bever.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): Man who killed 12-year-old Michella Welch in a Tacoma park in 1986 has been sentenced by Stacia Glenn.
- The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): The man who killed Jennifer Bastian in 1986 in Tacoma has been sentenced by Alexis Krell.
- KOMO News (Seattle, WA): Man gets 26-plus years in prison for 1986 murder of Tacoma girl.
- KOMO News (Seattle, WA): ‘I’m so sorry,’ Gary Hartman apologizes after conviction in 1986 death of Michella Welch by Keith Eldridge and Danny Stritch.
- Office of the Inspector General: Audit Report 06-32 (Combined DNA Index System Operational and Laboratory Vulnerabilities.
- The Olympian: Piecing Together the Portrait of a Serial Killer by Stacey Mulick.
- Strongyloides stercoralis: A Neglected but Fatal Parasite by Viravarn Luvira, Tanaya Siripoon, Danabhand Phiboonbanakit, Kollawat Somsri, Dorn Watthanakulpanich, and Paron Dekumyoy (Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases).
- The News Tribune: Who was Robert Washburn in the 1980s? Police Have Few Details on Suspect in Bastian Case, by Stacia Glenn and Sean Robinson.
- Murder of Michella Welch (Tacoma Police Department).
- The News Tribune: 3 Decades After Michella Welch’s Death, a Picture Starts to Emerge of Suspected Killer, by Stacia Glenn and Alexis Krell.
- Police1: DNA’s Delayed Justice: The Fight to Fill the Gaps in CODIS, by Lindsey Wade.
- Katie Sepich Enhanced DNA Collection Act, S. 3805 (2010).
- AK Stat 44.41.035 (2023).
- Pennsylvania House Republican Caucus: Hogan, Tomlinson, and Farry Unveil Legislation to Expand DNA Samples in PA Criminal Justice System.
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