Police have cracked a cold case dating back more than 30 years thanks to incredible advances in DNA technology and forensics, helping them to identify not only what happened to the murder victim – but also who killed her.
US teen Traci Hammerberg, 18, was found dead on December 15, 1984, in the village of Saukville, Wisconsin. She was found partially dressed at the time, but with a lack of DNA technology police were unable to test for any traces of who killed her.
However, Sheriff Jim Johnson from Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office held a press conference to confirm they’d made the breakthrough this week using forensic genetic genealogy. He began by describing how Traci was babysitting at the time, before walking to a food store. There she met with friends before telling a bartender she was heading to a party.
Describing how they headed to the party, Johnson explained that Traci was initially offered a lift home but turned it down. Instead, she began to walk home around midnight – a route that he said “wasn’t uncommon” for her, with her regularly getting lifts or hitchhiking. Her body was found hours later, with autopsy results finding at the time that she’d been sexually assaulted and strangled. She was also “repeatedly struck” across her head with an object.
Blood tests at the time could only exclude suspects as being contributors to her rape and murder, rather than identifying the real killer. However with major advances in DNA technology, Philip Cross was eventually identified as a suspect.
Cross died of a drug overdose in 2012, meaning the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office were able to obtain a DNA card. After new tests, the State Crime Lab in Madison confirmed his DNA matched that found under Hammerberg’s fingernails at the time, as well as traces of semen found on her body.
Johnson admitted after making the discovery they had mixed feelings, after starting to work the case from 2005. However, despite ups and downs throughout, he insisted: “We never gave up on Traci.”
He went on to claim 21-year-old Cross had been working a shift from 4pm to midnight that night, so likely came across Traci on her way home. He said after interviewing people who knew him, many described him as a drug and alcohol abuser who had a short fuse and could be abusive.
He had a chequered past before Traci’s death, as Johnson explained he was previously accused of strangling a woman with his belt while she was giving him a ride home in 1991. While he admitted he was involved, he allegedly gave a different account of the incident at the time. He was also accused several times of domestic abuse.
“While many of us may not have known Traci, we wanted justice for her and her family,” Johnson said. “We became her voice when she could no longer speak.”
The press conference, which was filmed live on the Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook page, sparked a huge outpouring of messages from viewers with one writing: “Amazing technology. And hard work,” while another added: “Thank you for identifying him. It’s too bad he lived free so long.”
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