Late Iowa man linked to 1980s killings in Indiana, Kentucky

Apr 5, 2022, 9:00 AM | Updated: 9:03 pm

Kim Gilbert Wright, daughter of Jeanne Gilbert, speaks after the Indiana State announced the identi...

Kim Gilbert Wright, daughter of Jeanne Gilbert, speaks after the Indiana State announced the identity of the suspect in the "Days Inn" cold case murders during a press conference in Indianapolis, Tuesday, April 5, 2022. Jeanne Gilbert was one of three women killed from 1987 to 1989. Police identified the suspect as Harry Edward Greenwell more than 30 years after three women were killed and another assaulted using investigative genealogy. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

(AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana State Police said Tuesday that they used genealogical data and crime scene evidence to link an Iowa man who died in 2013 to the killings of three female motel clerks and sexual assault of a fourth in Indiana and Kentucky from 1987 through 1990.

Harry Edward Greenwell, who died at age 68 in New Albin, Iowa, in January 2013, was the so-called “I-65 killer,” State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield said during a news conference in Indianapolis. The killings earned that moniker because they happened at motels near Interstate 65.

“Greenwell had an extensive criminal history and had been in and out of prison several times, even escaping from jail on two separate occasions,” he said. “He was known to travel frequently in the Midwest.”

Greenwell was born in Kentucky and died in Iowa of cancer, according to his obituary.

Fifield said evidence linked Greenwell to the Feb. 21, 1987, killing of Vicki Heath, 41, who was sexually assaulted and fatally shot while working a night shift at a Super 8 Hotel in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. It also linked him to the March 3, 1989, killings of Margaret “Peggy” Gill and Jeanne Gilbert.

Gilbert, 34, was slain while working the night shift at a Days Inn in Remington, Indiana, while Gill, 24, was killed while working at a Days Inn in Merrillville, Indiana. Both were sexually assaulted and fatally shot.

Fifield said investigators also linked Greenwell to the Jan. 2, 1990, sexual assault of a 21-year-old female clerk at a Days Inn in Columbus, Indiana.

“This victim was able to escape her attacker and survive. She was later able to give an excellent physical description of the suspect and details of the crime,” he said. “She is the only known victim to have survived the vicious, brutal attacks of this killer.”

Fifield said the state police crime lab matched ballistic evidence in the Gill and Gilbert slayings, and later matched DNA evidence linking the Heath and Gilbert killings to the Columbus attack.

He said one of the primary factors linking the four crimes was their proximity to Interstate 65, which runs from Gary, Indiana, to Mobile, Alabama.

Fifield said investigative genealogy, the use of DNA analysis in combination with traditional genealogy research and historical records, “generated a significant and important lead” in the four cases.

“Further investigation and kinship lab testing by the Indiana State Police lab of crime scene samples positive identified the suspect. The match was 99.9999% positive. It is this scientific breakthrough that ultimately led to the identification of the I-65 killer, Harry Edward Greenwell,” Fifield said.

He said investigators continue reaching out to other police departments in the Midwest because there is a “distinct possibility” that Greenwell committed other unsolved killings, rapes, robberies or assaults.

Fifield was joined at the news conference by members of the FBI, the Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and Columbus, Indiana, police departments, and relatives of some of the victims.

Gilbert’s daughter, Kimberly Gilbert Wright, said her family was very grateful for law enforcement’s efforts to identify her mother’s killer and helping bring some type of closure to her family and the other victims’ relatives.

“She’s still in my family’s hearts,” she said of her mother. “We talk about her as if she hasn’t gone. My brother and I were fortunate enough to have spent the last seven months of her life living with her and experiencing the joy that she could bring to every day of our life.”

___

This story was updated to correct the spelling of Sgt. Glen Fifield’s first name and that Gill’s first name was Margaret, and not Mary.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)...

Associated Press

Donald Trump stored, showed off and refused to return classified documents, indictment says

An indictment charging former President Donald Trump with mishandling classified documents has been unsealed.

2 days ago

FILE - A bottle of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey is displayed next to a Bad Spaniels dog toy in A...

Associated Press

Ruff day in court: Supreme Court sides with Jack Daniel’s in dispute with makers of dog toy

The Supreme Court on Thursday gave whiskey maker Jack Daniel's reason to raise a glass, handing the company a new chance to win a trademark dispute with the makers of the Bad Spaniels dog toy.

3 days ago

(Pixabay Photo)...

Associated Press

6 arrested in alleged scheme to fraudulently collect millions in COVID aid meant for renters

Six people from Washington, Arizona and Texas have been arrested and accused of fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars of COVID-19 aid from an assistance program meant for renters, federal prosecutors said.

3 days ago

FILE - Protesters stand outside of the Senate chamber at the Indiana Statehouse on Feb. 22, 2023, i...

Associated Press

LGBTQ+ Americans are under attack, Human Rights Campaign declares in state of emergency warning

The Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. on Tuesday.

5 days ago

FILE - People wait in line outside the Supreme Court in Washington to listen to oral arguments in a...

Associated Press

Supreme Court opened the door to states’ voting restrictions. Now a new ruling could widen them.

Within hours of a U.S. Supreme Court decision dismantling a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, Texas lawmakers announced plans to implement a strict voter ID law that had been blocked by a federal court. Lawmakers in Alabama said they would press forward with a similar law that had been on hold.

5 days ago

Gavel (Pexels Photo)...

Associated Press

Ex-teacher sentenced to prison for making death threat against Arizona legislator

A former Tucson middle school teacher was sentenced Tuesday to 2 ½ years in prison after pleading guilty to making a death threat against Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers.

5 days ago

Sponsored Articles

...

OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center

How to identify the symptoms of 3 common anxiety disorders

Living with an anxiety disorder can be debilitating and cause significant stress for those who suffer from the condition.

(Photo: OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center)...

OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center

Here’s what you need to know about OCD and where to find help

It's fair to say that most people know what obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders generally are, but there's a lot more information than meets the eye about a mental health diagnosis that affects about one in every 100 adults in the United States.

(Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona Photo)...

Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona

5 common causes for chronic neck pain

Neck pain can debilitate one’s daily routine, yet 80% of people experience it in their lives and 20%-50% deal with it annually.

Late Iowa man linked to 1980s killings in Indiana, Kentucky