Patrick Wayne Gilham, 67, was arrested on February 17, 2022 for the February 20, 1987 murder of 30-year-old Roxanne Leigh Wood in Niles Township, Michigan. Wood had gone bowling that evening with her husband, Terry Wood, but they returned home separately. Roxanne arrived home first. When her husband came home about 45 minutes later, he found her body in the kitchen. She had been raped and stabbed repeatedly by an intruder. Her throat had been slit, which was likely the cause of death.
When the case was reopened in 2020, the only biological evidence that had been preserved were two vials of dried blood. The FGG investigation was conducted by Identifinders International. Identifinders states that this was a record-breaking investigation as it used the lowest-known amount of DNA to generate a usable profile for FGG – amounting to only a few cells belonging to the intruder – due to the DNA in the blood samples being highly degraded.
Gilham pled no contest to a charge of second-degree murder on March 18, 2022. Until that time, police did not release any details of the FGG investigation that led to his arrest. Gilham had been living in the area at the time of Wood’s murder. He is reported to have a lengthy criminal history, but it is not known at this time why his DNA profile was not in CODIS.
Roxeanne’s husband, Terry Wood, was long thought to be a suspect in the case. It was not possible for him to be cleared until a DNA profile was finally obtained from the degraded blood sample taken at the crime scene. Vargas stated to Tollefson that, “He was the target of the investigation. He was their subject. And in it devastated the family, it tore them apart, it ruined his life.”
Gilham was sentenced in Berrien County Court Criminal Division on March 19, 2022, to a minimum sentence of 23 years.
Sources:
Associated Press. “Indiana Man Arrested in Michigan Woman’s 1987 Slaying.” Clickondetroit.com, February 20, 2022. Accessed March 19, 2022. https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/michigan/2022/02/20/indiana-man-arrested-in-michigan-womans-1987-slaying/.
Identifinders International. “1987 Roxanne Wood Homicide Solved Using Forensic Genetic Genealogy Case Solved Based on Record Low Amount of DNA.” Identifinders International, 2022. Accessed March 19, 2022. https://identifinders.com/1987-roxanne-wood-homicide-solved-using-forensic-genetic-genealogy-case-solved-based-on-record-low-amount-of-dna/.
Johncox, Cassidy. “Indiana Man Sentenced in 1987 Berrien County Murder, Closing Cold Case.” Clickondetroit.com, March 19, 2022. Accessed March 19, 2022. https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/michigan/2022/03/19/indiana-man-sentenced-in-1987-murder-in-berrien-county-closing-cold-case/.
Tollefson, Byron. “Woman Who Helped Solve Roxanne Wood Case Shares Story.” Wood TV, March 19, 2022. Accessed March 19, 2022. https://www.woodtv.com/news/michigan/woman-who-helped-solve-roxanne-wood-case-shares-story/amp/.