'The Genetic Detective': CeCe Moore cracks mother-daughter murder case from 1998 using genetic genealogy
In the latest installation of ABC's 'The Genetic Detective', genealogist CeCe Moore, helps solve a 20-year-old cold case. The murder of a mother and daughter, Sherri and Megan Shere, in 1998 went unsolved until 2018 when genetic genealogy helped identify the killer. However, things took an interesting turn with the new revelations.
The double homicide of Sherri and Megan Sherer
On March 28, 1998, 38-year-old Sherri Scherer and 12-year-old Megan Scherer were found dead in their home at Portageville, Missouri. Their bodies were discovered strewn across the living room by Tony Scherer, Sherri's husband and son, Steven. Sherri had died of a gunshot to the back of her head and was left lying face down, bound and gagged. Her daughter, Megan had also succumbed to a gunshot to the head but she had also been sexually assaulted.
Her hands were bound by an extension cord. Tony had immediately called 911. Steven, who was 15 at the time believed the killer could not have been at their home for more than 30 minutes. Steven had called the residence at around 6:20 pm, but by the time they got back home at 7 pm, he was greeted with the horrific sight of his mother and sister lying dead in their living room. During the police investigation that ensued, investigators retrieved a swab of DNA from some residue on Megan's breasts and a hair fiber in her hand. However, there had been so signs of forced entry and no useable fingerprints. There wasn't enough evidence to determine a potential lead.
Dyersburg mother
Just a few hours after the Scherer double-homicide, a man driving a maroon van pulled into the driveway of a home with a mother and children in Dyersburg, Tennessee. He pulled a gun on them and demanded to be let inside. As she tried to slam the door shut on him, the assailant shot her on the shoulder and she sustained a non-critical injury. Authorities who arrived at the scene and examined the case suspected that he was the culprit behind the Scherer murders, given that his attacks were of a similar nature.
After a ballistics test, it was found that the weapon used on the Dyersburg mother had been the same as in the Scherer murders. Her memory of the assailant helped create a partial composite sketch and the police now had the killer's face to work with and look out for. Forensic experts were able to develop a partial profile for the killer from the evidence that had been retrieved at the Scherer crime scene, however, some key DNA markers were missing and authorities were unable to get a substantial lead.
DNA reevaluated
In the 1990s, DNA technology was still in its infancy, and generally, forensic testing required a large sample to work with. So, initial testing on the swabs collected from the Scherer's home didn't provide them new leads. The team of investigators had done really good work with collecting whatever evidence possible from the Scherer murders, but it had taken them a while to realize that the DNA sample was indeed viable. The swab was preserved and soon it proved that the decision to take the swab was an extremely significant one.
The case was only reopened in 2006 when the advancement in DNA technology had given them their first major break since 1998. The killer's identity was still a mystery, but his DNA was found to be recorded in the law enforcement's national DNA database, CODIS. The tracing process took them back to 1990 and 1997, where DNA uploaded to the database from a Greenville murder and Memphis rape case, respectively, matched with the swab of DNA retrieved from Megan's body.
Related Incidents
The DNA matched with the evidence found at an April 1990 crime scene in Greenville, South Carolina. 28-year-old Genevieve Zitricki was found dead in her home after she had failed to report to work. She had been beaten, strangulated and sexually assaulted. Her body had been sprawled out in the bathtub, which was probably in the killer's effort to wash off evidence.
CODIS concluded that the DNA also matched with the evidence retrieved from a young 14-year-old girl, who had been raped in March 1997, in Memphis, Tennessee. Police said that the attacker had knocked on the door of the home, pulled out a gun, and pushed his way inside. He allegedly also brought everything he needed to get away with his crime. The girl had helped the police to produce a composite sketch of her rapist but in vain.
Cece Moore's Investigation
When New Madrid County police continuously hit a dead end, they approached Parabon Labs, based in Reston-Virginia that specializes in genetic genealogy, in 2018. The lab checked for the nature and quality of the DNA sample, before sending it over for genotyping and then uploaded it onto GED Match, a genealogical website. Once they obtained a match-list, the case was handed over to CeCe Moore.
Cases such as these are very important to Cece because she feels like it is her responsibility, a huge one at that, to get to the bottom of the case in order to ensure that the killer will not be able to commit such crimes again. When she puts her mind to it, she indulges herself entirely when she starts on a particular case and dedicates all of her time to it until she is provided with a result. Genetic genealogy determines your relations with people based on the amount of DNA you share with them.
While hunting for the killer via genetic genealogy, Cece found that the suspect shared a fair amount of DNA with two matches, who also shared DNA with each other. She flicked through marriage and death certificates as well as social security numbers to find any details of the suspect's family and traced it back to the Brashers in the 1880s. As the family expanded the family tree got bigger and there were too many people for her to be able to narrow it down to one person.
"DNA doesn't lie, but you have to fugue out what it's telling you", said Cece, just as she hit the jackpot. She had found out who the killer was, and after a sweep through social media, she found the killer's daughter who had posted a picture of her father online. To Cece's shock and delight, the photograph matched the two composite sketches from before and some more research had her pulling out several criminal records brandishing his name in bold. The suspect was indeed a serial offender, and Cece decided to design a timeline of the other incidents that matched him to back her claim of the suspect being the killer they had been looking for, for over 20 years.
Suspect identified
The man identified as the killer was Robert Eugene Brashers, an Arkansas native. The State Highway Patrol also confirmed that Brashers had a long criminal history including charge of attempted murder, rape, burglary, impersonating an officer, and unlawful possession of a weapon. However, he had killed himself in 1999 during a police standoff at a motel in Missouri.
He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound after he was approached by police with regard to a stolen license plate investigation. So investigators first sampled DNA obtained from Brashers' relatives, then proceeded to exhume his body to retrieve DNA. It was a match with the evidence found at the crime scenes. Cece spoke with Brashers' daughter who had no hostility towards her for branding her father a killer. She was disgusted by her father's actions and resented him for killing himself. She said she hated that a "part of my blood, is the blood of a serial killer." CeCe also spoke with Steven Scherer and hoped that he finally had some peace and resolution regarding his mother and sister's death.
'The Genetic Detective' airs on Tuesdays at 10 pm on ABC.