Nearly three decades after 15-year-old Danielle "Danni" Houchins was found dead near a fishing access site in Montana, authorities say DNA has finally led them to her killer — a married father of two who died by suicide just hours after he was interviewed by investigators about the cold case.
The Gatlin County Sheriff's Office said Thursday that advanced DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy recently led authorities to identify Houchins' killer as 55-year-old Paul Hutchinson.
On September 21, 1996 at about 11:00 a.m., Houchins left her home in Belgrade, Montana and when she never returned, her family called the police. Her mother found Houchins' truck at a popular fishing access site on the Gallatin River, and later that night, Houchins' body was found face down in shallow water, the sheriff's office said.
DNA evidence was collected at the scene and numerous suspects were interviewed over the years, but no arrests were made and the case went cold.
Finally, authorities renewed efforts to solve the case, and in 2021, when Dan Springer became Gallatin County's sheriff, he brought in two outside experts from California to assist -- private investigator Tom Elfmont, a retired Los Angeles Police Department officer, and Sergeant Court Depweg, who specializes in using DNA technology to solve homicides.
Four hairs that were collected from Houchins' body at the crime scene were used to create a partial DNA profile, the sheriff's office said. That profile was ultimately sent to a lab in Virginia, where genealogists used DNA databases to identify Hutchinson as a possible suspect.
On July 23, 2024, Elfmont and Depweg interviewed Hutchinson, who lived about 100 miles away from the crime, in Dillon, Montana.
"During the nearly two-hour interview, Hutchinson, who had lived in Bozeman at the time of Houchins' death, displayed extreme nervousness," the sheriff's office said. "Investigators noted he sweated profusely, scratched his face, and chewed on his hand. When shown a photo of Houchins, Hutchinson slumped in his chair and exhibited signs of being uncomfortable. Upon release, his behavior was observed to be erratic. "
Early the next morning, officials say, Hutchinson called the Beaverhead County Sheriff's Office, saying he needed assistance before hanging up. He was found on the side of the road, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the sheriff's office said.
Investigators have determined that Houchins and Hutchinson didn't know each other, describing the murder as a "crime of opportunity." They believed Hutchinson, who at the time was a student at Montana State University, randomly encountered Houchins before raping her and suffocating her in shallow water.
Authorities say Hutchinson graduated with a degree in fisheries wildlife biology and then worked for the Montana Bureau of Land Management for 22 years. He had no criminal history and was married with two adult children.
"This case exemplifies our relentless pursuit of justice. We never gave up on finding the truth for Danni and her family, exhausting all means necessary to bring closure to this heartbreaking chapter," Sheriff Springer said. "The investigation remained open because we knew Danni was murdered and someday, we were going to have the tools available to solve this case."
Houchins' younger sister, Stephanie Mollet, spoke alongside the sheriff at a news conference Thursday.
"Even though this man will not face a jury of his peers, I have no doubt he was the one who forcefully and violently sexually assaulted my sister, then held her head down in a marsh until she choked to death on mud," Mollet said. "When the time came to face up and account for his violence, he instead chose to end his life. He knew of his guilt and couldn't face my family or his family and the pain he caused."
The announcement by officials in Montana comes just days after a cold case murder in Hawaii was finally cracked with DNA testing. That suspect also died by suicide before he could be arrested.
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