Patrick Gilham, 67, is the guy who murdered Roxanne Wood in her home 35 years ago. In April of this year, Patrick Gilham was sentenced to a minimum of 23 years in prison. Terry Wood, Roxanne Wood’s husband, discovered her body on the kitchen floor of their home in 1987. Terry discovered Roxanne drenched in blood, her throat cut, according to police.
Terry has spent the last 35 years as one of the suspects in his wife’s murder.
Although Niles and Michigan State Police officers ruled Roxanne’s death a homicide, no one was arrested because there was insufficient evidence.
Investigators used a minuscule DNA sample the size of a human cell to identify the culprit.
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Patrick Gilham, the man who murdered Roxanne Wood, has been arrested
Patrick Gilham, 67, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder on February 17, 2022, 35 years after Roxanne Wood’s death.
He was accused of breaking into an occupied residence.
Patrick Gilhma pled not guilty to second-degree murder on April 25, 2022, and was sentenced to a minimum of twenty-three years in jail for Roxanne Wood’s murder.
According to officials, the matter was examined for decades and was reopened by Michigan State Police officers in 2001 and 2020.
Students from Western Michigan University’s Cold Case Program eventually assisted those investigators in discovering Gilham on their first case together.
Among the mounds of evidence gathered and organized by the students were many case files and digital Post-it notes.
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Patrick Gilham was extensively monitored for DNA
After being identified as a suspect, Gilham was subjected to intense surveillance and interrogation by undercover state police troopers.
During that time, he abandoned cigarettes, which were collected by detectives.
The DNA from the cigarette was then used by the police to identify that the DNA found at the crime scene belonged to Gilham, according to Michigan State Police Detective First Lt. Charles Christensen.
He was questioned for five hours after being arrested in February, only a few days before the 35th anniversary of the murder.
Police asked Patrick why his DNA was found at the scene throughout the five hours of questioning.
However, the accused continually stated that he had no idea and had forgotten everything.
According to Identifiers International, Roxanne’s case was a watershed moment in the use of FGG (Forensic Genetic Genealogy).
They identified Wood’s assailant using a three-decade-old DNA sample (low-level and extensively degraded).
Colleen Fitzpatrick, the organization’s president, described it as their greatest technological challenge.
He went on to say that it demonstrates that we should never give up hope and thanked the Michigan State Police for believing in them.
The Sun said that genetics expert Gabriella Vargas was the one who identified Gilhma as a suspect by using the gnat’s eyebrow of DNA.
She created a DNA profile that detailed the assailant’s race and ancestors.
Vargar’s discovery was uploaded to an internet DNA database, allowing her to match with prospective relatives.
The specialist eventually built the killer’s family tree and discovered Gilham’s parents. Vargas speculated that one of their three sons might have murdered Roxanne.
Before discovering Gilham’s record, the detectives meticulously researched the Gilham family’s three sons.
The murderer had a criminal record and had previously served time in prison for illegal and erratic behavior.
