A Carson City cold case detective hopes DNA will help solve a decades-old double murder. The case was reopened in September of 2018 after the discovery of similarities between the northern Nevada crime and the rapes and murders committed by the so-called Golden State Killer.
It’s been nearly 35 years since Jean and Ray Amspacker were found dead in Carson City’s former Westerner Motel.
"They were strangled. They were bound and strangled and laying side by side," said Ed Heddy, a former investigator in Carson City and Las Vegas who is now volunteering to look into this cold case.
The married couple had been managing the motel for several weeks when their bodies were discovered on the morning of June 17, 1984.
The victims’ hands were tied behind their back with shoelaces and the killer had strangled the Amspackers with a pillow case.
"They strangled them by taking the pillow case off the pillow, ripped it in half, and then strangled them," said Heddy.
Heddy says he worked as a major crimes investigator for the Carson City Sheriff’s Office when the gruesome discovery was made.
Inside the room where the victims were found face down on the floor, there were no signs of a struggle. Photos of the crime scene show the bed was made and the room was tidy. However, money had been taken from the cash drawer in the front office.
Over the years, Heddy says investigators looked into several people of interest. But, a suspect was never identified and the investigation was met with dead ends.
Heddy, now retired, decided to take on this case after hearing about the arrest of the alleged Golden State Killer. He says there are similarities between the California murders and the Carson City double murder he could not ignore, including how the Golden State Killer tied up their victims.
