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Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

FINALLY, JUSTICE for Girl, 9, Raped & Murdered Just Yards from Home

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline

News, True Crime

4.28.1K Ratings

🗓️ 19 September 2023

⏱️ 40 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Nine-year-old Debbie Randall is abducted while walking home from the laundromat, just yards from her family's apartment.

Sixteen days later, her brutalized body is found dumped eight miles away. Despite law enforcement's best efforts, the seemingly random killer has been unidentified for nearly 50 years. Investigators discover a small rag inside Randall's vaginal cavity and initial testing reveals a partial DNA sample. The sample is sent through CODIS, but no one in the prison system, not even executed prisoners, is a match. 

As DNA testing improves, investigators use genetic genealogy to find the killer. William Rose, 24 at the time of the murders, committed suicide just two years after Randall's murder. Randall's brother says he believes the weight of what Rose did to Debbie led Rose to take his own life.

Joining Nancy Grace Today: 

  • Melvin Randall - Brother of Debbie Lynn Randall 
  • Flynn D. Broady Jr. - Cobb County District Attorney
  • Dr. Angela Arnold – Psychiatrist, Atlanta GA. Expert in the Treatment of Pregnant/Postpartum Women, Former Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics, and Gynecology: at Emory University, Former Medical Director of The Psychiatric Ob-Gyn Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital
  • Morris Nix – Former Detective, Cobb County Cold Case Unit 
  • Joe Scott Morgan – Professor of Forensics: Jacksonville State University, Author, "Blood Beneath My Feet," and Host: "Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan;" Twitter: @JoScottForensic 
  • Toby Wolson - Forensic Consultant Specializing in DNA, Serology, and Bloodstain Pattern Analysis
  • Jessica Noll - Investigative Journalist, Co-Host, and Producer of the “The Investigators” Podcast 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Music

0:06.0

Crime stories with Nancy Grace

0:14.0

An absolutely precious little 9-year-old girl

0:20.0

was missing. Literally yards away from her home, from the laundromat.

0:30.0

A frantic search ensues. Volunteers find Debbie's body.

0:40.0

She has been horribly, horribly sex assaulted.

0:48.0

She's dead. Years past the case goes cold in the last days.

0:58.0

An amazing twist in the case of a beautiful little girl, Debbie Lynn Randall.

1:08.0

I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Series XM111.

1:16.0

First of all, take a listen to the elected district attorney in Cobb County, Flynn D. Brody Jr.

1:24.0

Today we are here to provide an answer and perhaps some semblance of closure to the family of Debbie Lynn Randall,

1:32.0

whose young life and bright smile ended 51 years ago, gone too soon at the age of 9 years old.

1:40.0

On January 13, 1972, Debbie Lynn Randall, a third grade student at Pine Forest Elementary School, was walking home from the laundromat

1:50.0

when she was abducted, raped and killed. The laundromat was only a half lock away from her home.

1:58.0

She was found 16 days later after an extensive search from the community, which over 4,000 members participated.

2:06.0

She was assaulted and strangled to death.

2:09.0

Yes, she was assaulted. Yes, this little girl was strangled to death with me and all star panel, including the elected district attorney,

2:19.0

D.A. Brody Jr. and the detective who stuck by this case and never gave up.

2:28.0

I mean, I consider now to be a friend, Morris Nick.

2:32.0

I remember when he first approached me about this case and begged, begged, begged to bring awareness to Debbie's case.

2:41.0

He stuck with it from the get-go and he is here with us today.

2:48.0

First, I want to go to Joseph Scott Morgan, renowned professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon,

...

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