On May 29, 1996, a 16 year old girl was found dead in her own home at Olathe, Kansas, by her younger sister. April Sima had been raped, strangled with a belt, and her throat had been cut.
A good suspect was found in another jurisdiction, a man accused of rape, but incredibly the district attorney refused to authorise a DNA test. Good suspect he may have been, but the following November, the killer struck again, murdering Rebecca Carlson in her own home. The victim was 21 years old. This confirmed the worst fears of the police, they were looking for a potential serial killer.
A tip was phoned in that led to James Watson. Watson, a married man, admitted he knew both girls but denied having sex with either of them. Clearly the evidence was overwhelming; Watson appears never to have heard of DNA. Or fingerprints for that matter!
Watson offered to plead no contest to all charges to avoid the death penalty, a deal that was accepted after consulting with the families of the victims. He was sentenced to eighty years in prison. He appears to have had no motive for committing these terrible crimes, and showed little if any emotion during the entire process.
There are reconstructions of sorts, and we hear inter alia from Shannon Curtis, who found her sister's body, and April's still grieving mother.