LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A decades-long mystery has been solved.
On Wednesday, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department announced they have found the suspect who killed a woman in the valley in 1991.
In May 1991, Las Vegas police received reports of a suspicious death in the 1000 block of W Monroe Ave, inside an apartment. That's near H St. and Owens Ave. A friend and relative told police they were there to see 30-year-old Sherrie Bridgewater and she was dead. Due to how her body was positioned, homicide detectives took over the investigation. Police said she had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
Lt. Jason Johannson said advances in DNA technology led detectives to re-examine the case. In 2013, the sexual assault kit from Bridgewater was submitted for DNA examination
"Through that DNA examination, we were able to develop a suspect profile of the person who we believed murdered Sherrie Bridgewater but at that time, we were not able to put a name behind the DNA profile," Johannson said. "When we put that in in 2013, we received a hit in CODIS, which is the DNA database, which linked us to a second unsolved murder in Westminster, Colorado from December of 1975."
In that case, Teree Becker was found dead in a field and during the autopsy, it was determined that she was also sexually assaulted and strangled.
Johannson said the technology was still behind and it wasn't until 2018 that the two agencies submitted this case for genetic genealogy. A DNA sample from the suspect was sent to Parabon NanoLabs and Solves By DNA in Denver, Colorado.
In 2022, police were able to identify the suspect as Thomas Martin Elliott.
Investigators said Elliott died by suicide in Las Vegas in November 1991. In order to be sure Elliott was their suspect, Johannson said the agencies collaborated to exhume Elliott to obtain a DNA sample in October 2023.
"We were able to obtain tissue and bone samples from him, which were then submitted to another lab known as Bode Technology, where they were able to extract a DNA sample and it was compared to both cases and confirmed 100% that Thomas Martin Elliott is the suspect in both cases and we can say both cases are now closed."
Johannson laid the timeline of what they know about Elliott.
- 1975 - Elliott murders Becker
- Late 1970s - Elliott is arrested on burglary charges
- Transported to Carson City, Nevada Department of Corrections where he served his time for the Colorado case
- 1981 - Elliott is released from prison
- 1981 - Elliott sexually assaults 13-year-old girl in Carson City
- 1991- Elliott is paroled and released from prison
- 1991 - Elliott murders Bridgewater
- 1991 - Elliott dies by suicide
Johannson said they're still going back through old cases to see if Elliott could be connected and that investigators don't believe he is connected to any other cases. He said he does wish that police were able to solve the cases before Bridgewater's parents died.
"Unfortunately, her mother and father passed away. If you go back over the case file, you can see that her dad was very interested in making sure his daughter's case was solved. I wish that I could say we had a chance to solve it while he was alive," Johannson said. "We did, my investigator that worked this case, did have an opportunity to communicate with both of her sons. She was 30 years old at the time of her murder and both of her sons are still alive. We were able to communicate with them."
