Tracking a pregnant soldier’s killer
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/06/26/art.vert.megan.touma.jpg caption="Spc. Megan Lynn Touma, 23, was found dead Saturday morning, June 21, 2008, in a Fayetteville, N.C., motel room." width=292 height=320]
Lawrence Kobilinsky
Forensic Scientist, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Megan Lynn Touma may have been murdered by someone who knew her. A soldier who spent time with the pregnant 23-year old Army specialist in Germany, and who returned to the United States with her, has been declared a person of interest and been detained.
It is possible that if he killed her, he feared the police investigation and tried to mislead crime scene investigators and detectives by leaving a symbol drawn on a mirror in the motel room in lipstick. This "signature" was the same as the zodiac serial killer who struck fear into women in the late 1960's.
Through a letter to the media, the killer claimed that he had killed others before and that he would kill again. The police investigation has been aided by the Army Criminal Investigation Divison and led to the identification of the individual who has become a person of interest.
Detectives hypothesized that a serial killer would most likely not seek out and murder a pregnant woman and so police began to look for a possible motive to the killing. Of course, boyfriends, acquaintances, and even relatives, come to the top of the list of suspects.
Physical evidence found from the crime scene will be used to determine if the person of interest is indeed the killer.
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Filed under: Crime & Punishment |
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I listened to CNN mention they think the killerused the Zodiac symbol out of fear of being caught. I wonder if perhaps he or she used the symbol as an addition to insult to injury, or in this dreadful case, insult to murder.
How can anyone live with the fact that they murdered a pregnant women? How can they live with themselves at all?! I hope the dirt bag gets arrested.
My heart is broken, not only for the tragic death of Megan but of the death of her unborn child. May justice be served!
Has the cause of death been determined yet? I hope they catch the murderer quickly so Megan's family can at least have some peace on that score.
Annie Kate
Birmingham AL
I thought also that who ever killed her had to have known her. I mean she just came over here so she wouldn't have been around that long for a serial killer to notice and track her. I hope that they find this person of interest and get to the truth for her families sake.
Cindy..Ga.