The murder of Roxanne Wood
Niles, Berrien County, Michigan · 1987
Overview
Roxanne Leigh Wood, a 30-year-old woman, was found murdered in the kitchen of her home in Niles Township, Berrien County, Michigan, in February 1987, after a night out bowling. She had been sexually assaulted and her throat had been cut, and the killer left a small amount of his DNA at the scene. The case went cold for 35 years, with Roxanne's husband Terry Wood remaining the primary suspect despite no evidence against him. In 2020 the Michigan State Police, partnering with Western Michigan University's Cold Case Program, sent the badly degraded evidence to Identifinders International, where forensic scientists built a usable DNA profile from what was called a record-low amount of genetic material. Investigative genetic genealogist Gabriella Vargas traced that profile through public genealogy databases and, in a matter of days, narrowed the suspects to three brothers, pointing to Patrick Wayne Gilham of South Bend, Indiana. Undercover troopers covertly collected Gilham's DNA from a discarded cigarette, confirming the match. Gilham, who had a prior conviction for a 1979 sexual assault in Indiana, was arrested in February 2022, pleaded no contest to second-degree murder, and was sentenced to 23 to 50 years in prison.
How it was solved
When Roxanne Wood was killed in 1987, the offender left biological evidence at the scene, but the technology of the era could not turn it into a name, and no CODIS match ever surfaced. The case was reopened by the Michigan State Police Fifth District Cold Case Team, and in 2020 the MSP partnered for the first time with Western Michigan University's Cold Case Program, whose students under director Dr. Ashlyn Kuersten cataloged the roughly 3,000-page case file and logged hundreds of hours organizing it. The surviving evidence amounted to little more than two tubes of dried blood that were highly degraded. The MSP Forensic Laboratory in Grand Rapids worked with Identifinders International LLC of California, whose president, forensic scientist Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick, specialized in extracting genetic profiles from minimal material; she described the sample as a gnat's eyebrow of DNA, about 3 percent of what is normally used. Investigative genetic genealogist Gabriella Vargas uploaded the resulting profile to the GEDmatch database and built an extensive family tree, tracing ancestry back generations and narrowing the field to three brothers. The work pointed to Patrick Wayne Gilham of South Bend, Indiana. MSP undercover units surveilled Gilham, and Trooper Ryan Codde collected a discarded cigarette butt at a laundromat; a first sample did not produce a usable result, but a second cigarette yielded a DNA match to the crime-scene evidence. Detectives interviewed Gilham twice, including a July 2021 interview in which he denied knowing Roxanne and requested an attorney. He was arrested in South Bend in February 2022 on a Berrien County open-murder warrant, pleaded no contest to second-degree murder on March 18, 2022, and was sentenced on April 25, 2022.
Sources
- State Police Announce Suspect in Roxanne Wood Case Pleaded No Contest
“Patrick Wayne Gilham, 67, of South Bend, Indiana has pleaded no contest to Second Degree Murder for the 1987 murder of Roxanne Wood. The investigation began on February 20, 1987, in Niles Township, MI.”
- Roxanne Wood murder: How a DNA detective helped solve an unsolvable Michigan cold case in four days
“Roxanne Wood, 30, was found in her Niles, Michigan home with her throat slashed after a sexual assault; her husband Terry found her about 45 minutes after she left a bowling alley. A discarded cigarette collected by undercover Trooper Ryan Codde confirmed the DNA match.”
- Roxanne Wood murder: Genetic genealogist Gabriella Vargas helps solve a case that had a gnat's eyebrow of DNA
“Gabriella Vargas built a family tree using GEDmatch, narrowed the suspects to three brothers, and cracked the case in four days; Colleen Fitzpatrick said there was a gnat's eyebrow of DNA, about 3 percent of what we normally use.”
- Roxanne Wood murder case timeline
“Roxanne Wood was killed in the early morning hours of February 20, 1987; the case went cold for decades, was reopened in 2020, a suspect was identified in 2021, and Gilham was arrested February 17, 2022.”
- 1987 Roxanne Wood Homicide Solved Using Forensic Genetic Genealogy
“The only sample was two tubes of dried, highly degraded blood with a record low amount of DNA; Colleen Fitzpatrick said this case was the toughest technical challenge we have faced, but it shows that we should never give up hope.”
- Genealogist: Four days to solve 1987 murder
“Genetic genealogist Gabriella Vargas helped identify Patrick Gilham; investigators interviewed Gilham in July 2021, when he denied knowing Roxanne Wood and requested an attorney, and arrested him in February 2022.”
- Patrick Gilham Sentenced For Roxanne Wood's Cold Case Murder
“Gilham was convicted of breaking into Maureen Farag's Gary, Indiana home and assaulting her; he served seven years for the sexual assault and was released on parole six months before Roxanne Wood's murder.”
- Suspect in Niles Twp. cold case pleads no contest to second-degree murder
“Patrick Wayne Gilham pleaded no contest to second-degree murder on March 18, 2022, in the 1987 killing of Roxanne Wood, agreeing to a minimum sentence of 23 years.”
- Michigan cold case solved 35 years after Roxanne Wood found dead in Niles home with throat cut
“Gilham was sentenced April 25, 2022 to 23 to 50 years in prison; Western Michigan University students cataloged the 3,000-page case and logged about 1,200 hours over eight months.”
- Indiana man agrees to deal in 35-year-old cold case murder of woman whose throat was slit in her own kitchen
“Berrien County Assistant Prosecutor Jerry Vigansky said this sentence agreement effectively keeps Mr. Gilham in prison for the rest of his life and will allow the family to have some closure.”