Teen’s Murder Suspect Identified in 1996 Case, Commits Suicide Hours After Questioning

A person of interest was pinpointed through genetic material in the 1996 unsolved homicide of a 15-year-old female in Montana. However, the suspected perpetrator will not face legal proceedings due to his self-inflicted death shortly after being interrogated by law enforcement, officials disclosed.

On Sept. 21, 1996, 15-year-old Danielle “Danni” Houchins was sexually assaulted and asphyxiated in shallow water at the Gallatin River, as per the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office.

The incident remained unresolved for numerous years.

A partial genetic profile from a strand discovered on Houchins’ remains was entered into CODIS — the nationwide law enforcement DNA database — with no hits, the sheriff’s office revealed Thursday.

The genetic material was subsequently transferred to Parabon NanoLabs to attempt to unravel the crime through genetic genealogy, according to officials and Parabon.

Genetic genealogy involves identifying an unidentified suspect’s DNA left at a crime scene utilizing relatives who voluntarily provide DNA samples to a genetic database. Law enforcement can then construct a significantly broader family tree compared to using databases like CODIS alone.

“In a noteworthy development last month, DNA evidence obtained at the time of Houchins’ demise was linked to 55-year-old Paul Hutchinson of Dillon, Montana,” the sheriff’s office stated.

Hutchinson, who served at the Montana Bureau of Land Management for 22 years, possessed no criminal record and was wedded with two offspring, per the sheriff’s office.

During the night of July 23, detectives conversed with Hutchinson for close to two hours, officials mentioned.

Throughout the questioning, Hutchinson “exhibited extreme agitation … perspired heavily, scratched his face, and bit his hand,” the sheriff’s office stated.

Early the subsequent day, Hutchinson reached out to authorities, expressed a need for assistance, and then abruptly ended the call, the sheriff’s office reported. Responders discovered him deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the roadside, the sheriff’s office conveyed.

Following the suicide, officials verified that the “genetic evidence perfectly matched Paul Hutchinson,” Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer disclosed during a press briefing on Thursday.

In 1996, Hutchinson was enrolled at Montana State University, according to the sheriff’s office. Investigators indicated that Houchins and Hutchinson likely had no previous acquaintance. The sheriff characterized it as an “opportunistic” offense committed by a “malevolent individual.”