CBS News
DNA testing led to new suspect in Montana girl’s 1996 murder. He was found dead hours after being questioned.
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.
Gatlin County Sheriff’s Office
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.
Former President Donald Trump meandered Saturday through a list of grievances against Vice President Kamala Harris and other issues during an event intended to link his Democratic opponent to illegal border crossings.
A day after Harris discussed immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, Trump spoke to a crowd in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, about immigration. He blamed Harris for migrants committing crimes after entering the U.S. illegally, alleging she was responsible for “erasing our border.”
“I will liberate Wisconsin from the mass migrant invasion,” he said. “We’re going to liberate the country.”
The Republican nominee also intensified his personal attacks against Harris, insulting her as “mentally impaired” and a “disaster.”
“Joe Biden became mentally impaired,” Trump said. “Kamala was born that way. She was born that way. And if you think about it, only a mentally disabled person could have allowed this to happen to our country. Anybody would know this.”
The personal attacks have been something of a trend for Trump since Harris entered the race. In July, Trump falsely questioned Harris’ racial identity during a panel with the National Association of Black Journalists.
“I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black,” Trump said at the time. “So I don’t know, is she Indian, or is she Black?”
When asked in an interview with CBS News last month if he believes the personal attacks will hurt him with voters, he responded, “No, I don’t think so.”
Trump, meanwhile, hopes frustration over illegal immigration will translate to votes in Wisconsin and other crucial swing states. The Republican nominee has denounced people who cross the U.S.-Mexico border as “poisoning the blood of the country” and vowed to stage the largest deportation operation in American history if elected. And polls show Americans believe Trump would do a better job than Harris on handling immigration.
Trump shifted from topic to topic so quickly that it was hard to keep track of what he meant at times. He talked about the two assassination attempts against him and blamed the U.S. Secret Service for not being able to hold a large outdoor rally instead of an event in a smaller indoor space. But he also offered asides about climate change, Harris’ father, how his beach body was better than President Biden’s, and a fly that was buzzing near him.
“I wonder where the fly came from,” he said. “Two years ago, I wouldn’t have had a fly up here. You’re changing rapidly. But we can’t take it any longer. We can’t take it any longer.”
Trump repeatedly brought up Harris’ Friday event in Douglas, Arizona, where she announced a push to further restrict asylum claims beyond Biden’s executive order announced earlier this year. Harris denounced Trump’s handling of the border while president and his opposing a bipartisan border package earlier this year, saying Trump “prefers to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.”
“I had to sit there and listen” to Harris last night Trump said, eliciting cheers. “And who puts it on? Fox News. They should not be allowed to put it on. It’s all lies. Everything she says is lies.”
Trump professed not to understand what Harris meant when she said he was responsible for taking children from their parents. Under his administration, border agents separated children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border in a policy that was condemned globally as inhumane and one that Trump himself ended under pressure from his own party.
Harris, at a rally in San Francisco, told supporters there were “two very different visions for our nation” and voters see it “every day on the campaign trail.”
“Donald Trump is the same old tired show,” she said. “The same tired playbook we have heard for years.”
She said Trump was “a very unserious man.”
“However the consequences of putting him back in the White House are extremely serious,” she said.
The Harris campaign Saturday again challenged Trump to a second debate, this time in the form of a football-themed television ad. Following his Wisconsin rally, Trump traveled to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to attend the Alabama-Georgia football game Saturday evening, and the Harris campaign premiered the ad during the game.
“Champions know its anytime, anyplace, but losers, they whine and waffle,” the ad’s narrator said.
Kendy Howard was found dead in her bathtub. While dispatched as a suicide, clues at the scene made Kootenai County authorities suspicious. Here’s a look at the case:
A 26-year marriage
Brian Wilkins
Dan and Kendy Howard had been married since 1994. By 2021, Dan Howard had gone from working as an Idaho State Trooper to working in the Alaskan oil fields for three weeks at a time.
Kendy seeks divorce
Brian Wilkins
On Jan. 28, 2021, just five days before she died, Kendy Howard picked Dan Howard up from the airport and told him she wanted a divorce. She described Dan’s reaction to a friend as having been “not good.”
Dan Howard’s call to 911
Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney
On the night of Feb. 2, 2021, at 10:43 p.m., Dan Howard called 911, screaming Kendy had shot herself. “She’s in the bathtub dead …”
The call was dispatched as a suicide.
Dan Howard at the scene
Kootenai County District Court
Kootenai County Sheriff’s Deputy Miranda Thomas was one of the first officers to arrive. Thomas said she witnessed Dan Howard screaming, crying and gagging.
Kendy Howard found in the bathtub
Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office
Caption: Kendy Howard was found dead, naked in the bathtub of her home, with a gunshot wound to her head. Kendy’s gun was submerged in the bathwater.
A packed duffle bag
Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office
Thomas noticed a duffle bag with what she said seemed to be women’s clothing packed inside.
A clue on the dryer
Kootenai County District Court
Kootenai County Sheriff’s Detective Jerry Northrup said that in the dryer he observed “bathmats and towels … and they were still somewhat warm,” which he said led him to question when the cycle had been started.
How did Kendy Howard really die?
Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office
Kendy Howard’s gun was found in the bathtub. Investigators said they would have expected to see a lot more blood in the bathtub if she had been alive when she was shot.
Kendy’s daughter accuses Dan Howard
CBS News
When Dan Howard called his stepdaughter Brooke Wilkins with the news of Kendy’s death, investigators said they could overhear Wi accuse Dan of killing her mother. Despite their suspicions, detectives said there was not enough evidence at the scene to arrest Dan.
Dan Howard arrested
Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office
It took two years for prosecutors to build their case. In July, 2023, Dan Howard was arrested and charged with Kendy Howard’s murder.
Dan Howard on trial
Pool
On March 4, 2024, the trial of Dan Howard began. The prosecution claimed Dan had killed Kendy by putting her in a carotid restraint hold – a maneuver he had learned in his law enforcement training. The defense maintained that Kendy’s death was a suicide. After 10 days of testimony, 62 witnesses, and just over eight hours of deliberations, a verdict was reached.
Dan Howard found guilty
On March 19, 2024, the jury found Dan Howard guilty of second-degree murder and domestic battery.
Life in prison
Pool
At Dan Howard’s sentencing hearing in May 2024, Judge Lamont Berecz told him, “You killed a mother. You killed a grandmother. You killed a sister … You snuffed that out because of your own pride, greed, and anger.” Dan Howard was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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