‘On the Case with Paula Zahn: A Face with No Name’ on Investigation Discovery describes how 27-year-old Gina Gruenwald was discovered brutally killed in Denver, Colorado, in late August 2004. Even though the detectives discovered forensic evidence linking the offender to the crime, they had to wait almost ten years before they were successful. We’ve got your back whether you’re curious to learn more about the case, the killer’s identity, or where they are right now. So let’s get started, shall we?
How Did Gina Gruenwald Die?
On November 9, 1976, Annie Gruenwald gave birth to Gina Gail Gruenwald in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in Tulsa County. In addition to playing softball in college at Oklahoma State University and becoming a second mother to her younger siblings, Sarah Campbell and Emily Collier, Gina was a standout athlete in high school. They talked about how Gina would always get them whatever they wanted, and Emily said, “She spoilt us for sure.” Following graduation, Gina relocated to Denver in Denver County, Colorado, where she cohabitated with her friends in an apartment.
She was the hardest worker I had ever known, according to Gina’s friend and flatmate Melissa Sullivent. “Gina was the most loyal person you would ever meet,” Melissa Sullivent recounted. She was a fairly wonderful friend and had no fear of anything. Gina did not appear to have “one bad bone in her body,” according to her friend Brandy Harris, making everyone like her. So it came as a shock when a man going for his morning newspaper on August 21, 2004, at 6:00 am, found the 27-year-old’s lifeless body in the breezeway between two residences.
The person noticed a sizable amount of blood and dialled 911 right away. When the emergency responders got there, they discovered the woman’s body laying face up with at least one neck wound of the stab variety. The forensic pathologist saw that she hadn’t been dead for long and calculated a time range using her body temperature that was roughly between 2:30 and 5:30 am. The stab wound to her neck was the official cause of death, and the autopsy confirmed that she had suffered serious injuries to both her carotid artery and jugular vein.
Who Killed Gina Gruenwald?
Gina was fully dressed, but her jeans were undone, and her shirt was partially lifted while her belt was off, according to police sources. Although the autopsy revealed she had not been raped, the evidence pointed towards sexual assault. Additionally, the medical examiner discovered a bite mark on her left wrist as well as significant bruises throughout the front and left side of the face. Once it was determined that the injury was suspicious, forensic specialists thoroughly swabbed the area and gathered material for DNA testing.
The murder weapon, a blood-spattered knife, was discovered alongside the victim’s body, and there were also blood stains on the breezeway’s left wall. The area in front of the house had been disturbed, and there were shoe prints in the mud that might have been the site of the altercation. Additionally, it appeared as though the murderer had searched her pockets, as she had money outside her left pocket, a lipstick outside her right pocket, and blood traces inside both of them. The findings suggested Gina may have been the victim of a robbery and attempted sexual assault.
The police concentrated on identifying the victim while the forensic specialists ran the DNA profile. They observed that she had no pocketbook, ID, or credit cards with her. When Melissa reported her friend and roommate, Gina, missing, they made progress in their inquiry after around 14 hours. According to her account, the 27-year-old was last seen a few miles from the scene of the crime. Based on her description, she and another acquaintance, Brandy Harris, were dispatched to the coroner’s office to identify the Jane Doe.
Gina was positively identified by her distraught friends, and when the police questioned them, they learned that she and Brandy had been out drinking and dancing on August 20. Around 2:00 in the morning, Brandy informed the police she wanted to finish the night, but Gina insisted on going to an after-party a few streets from the Denver club they had been at. Around 2:00 am, she alleged, she last saw Gina leaving with two unidentified women. Brandy claimed that Gina had taken a drive with her two female acquaintances after leaving her car at the pub.
Her handbag and phone were discovered by the police when they searched her car, indicating that she never left the party and was slain in the interim. After the murder narrative was reported by the media, the two young women voluntarily stepped forward. They claimed Gina was unsure of the place, and although driving in the right direction, they were unable to locate the party. Despite their discomfort leaving Gina alone at that hour of the night, the women claim Gina demanded they drop her off there.
Although the two women were first accused by the authorities, they were exonerated after DNA testing revealed that a male donor was responsible for the bite mark on Gina’s hand. A black duffel bag was also discovered nearby by the authorities, some 15 feet from the body. When they examined it, the authorities discovered a shirt, a do-rag, a razor, and two time-stamped receipts from a nearby dollar store and Walgreens. The officers looked through the security footage from both establishments to search for the offender after the clothing items and the razor matched the DNA from the bite mark.
The police were able to reconstruct a partially clear image of the culprit from Walgreens surveillance tape, whereas the dollar store only provided a blurry image. The police shared the image, but it took them close to seven years before they made a breakthrough. Billy Jene Wilson, 42, was identified by CODIS as the person whose DNA matched that taken from the crime site in April 2011. After he was detained more than 1,000 miles away in San Francisco on an unrelated felony accusation, his DNA was added to the federal database.
Where is Billy Wilson Now?
In the weeks preceding Gina’s murder, Billy, according to police sources, had travelled to Denver for a drug rehab programme to address his alcohol and drug abuse issues. On August 21, 2004, he encountered Gina while living on the streets after straying from the programme. Despite his claims that he killed the woman accidentally, the prosecution presented proof that showed he and Gina had fought. They said Billy attempted to rob and attack Gina sexually and killed her when she defended herself.
The medical examiner said that the woman’s cut between her left thumb and index finger and bruised knuckles on her right hand indicated that she may have resisted and attempted to grab the knife. On July 19, 2012, the jury ultimately took the side of the prosecution and determined Billy guilty of attempted sexual assault, felony murder, and second-degree murder. The 54-year-old is being held in the Sterling Correctional Facility after being given a life sentence without the possibility of release in August 2012.
