Breakthrough DNA evidence of Johnia Berry contributed to cracking your cold case

The case of a brutal murder on a doctoral student of the University of Tennessee had become cold, and after the leading investigator died in a car accident, it seemed like it was never cracked.

However, the authorities received a breakthrough in the case a few years later due to the blood -soaked crime scene, a few years later.

In the early morning hours of December 6, 2004, 21-year-old Johnia Berry was more than 20 times in the face, head, neck, back, chest and legs and stabbed so hard that the murder weapon, a steak knife, was bent and broken.

The incident took place around 4 a.m., and her roommate Jason Aymami managed to escape with his life after the brutal attack aroused him and he appeared out of his bedroom.

After he was also stabbed by the attacked people, Aymami fled his house and chose 911 from a supermarket nearby.

When the emergency services reached Berry's home in the Tri-Cities region, she was found in the entrance to her apartment near death.

Tragically, Berry died on the way to the hospital – just before she completed a master at East Tennessee State University.

The case was recently placed in the spotlight by ABC's 20/20 Especially that was broadcast on Friday (May 16) with the title “Blood on the Toor”.

Amylynn Delgado of the Sheriff by Knox County told the television station: “What noticed me the most about the weapon is how damaged it was.

“It was a small steak knife, but the handle was broken. The blade was bent … it was very violent, only the strength to break the grip.”

Due to the mere aggression behind the killing, the investigators were firmly convinced that Berry must have known her murderer, and her attention went on her fiance.

“We really mainly focused on their closest circle,” said Delgado. However, her partner had a clear alibi and his telephone recordings secured it – he was 700 miles away in Michigan at the time of the murder.

The only thing she had on Berry's twisted murderer was that Aymami had seen him personally and described him as 5,8 “tall and with a weight of £ 150.

A sketch was made by a forensic artist and was then part of a Billboard campaign to follow it in May 2005 with a reward for all information that led to an arrest -which was increased to $ 60,000 by the end of the year.

After more than 300 interviews and around 80 DNA samples, the cops were not closer to the case – and they still didn't even have a motif.

Then the tragedy met again, this time in the form of the senior investigator, deputy chief Keith Lyon, in a car accident in May 2006.

Berry's mother Joan told 20/20: “We called every day.

“There was a feeling that Detective and the Sheriff's office did not do enough when they worked on it every day. There were only no answers.”

It was only in April 2007, almost three years after Berry's death, did Detectives had a breakthrough in the case – thanks to the Billboard campaign.

The police had an indication that Taylor Lee Olson agreed to the sketch, which was 21 years old at the time. He had a story in which he had committed minor crimes.

The only problem was that he was much larger than Amyami's description – he was a scaling 6'3 “, and his DNA was not recorded.

In July of this year, however, Olson was arrested for somewhat independent connection and voluntarily submitted his DNA.

Thanks to his DNA, detectives were finally able to place him at the crime scene of the crime, and on September 21st he was custody in the West Town Mall.

According to officials, Olson initially denied that he was involved in Berry's death before he later broke, and admitted to entering her apartment through the back door – what he found was unlocked.

He said he was looking for the car key during the theft who went wrong. He was charged with seven charges, including the murder of Aymami, difficult burglary and the murder of the first degree.

Before his process could begin, Olson died in police custody in the police in March 2008.