A New Hope The Silicon Valley Beat

Nearly 25 years after Saba was killed, a lead on this decades-old cold case emerges.
But with this new hope comes an almost "too good to be true" feeling for one detectives.
"Who in their right mind would admit to killing someone?" he wonders.
But, he has a lead to follow, a case to build. It just comes down to one thing -- whether or not the man whose DNA is under the victim's fingernails admits to what he's done or, some believe more likely, provides the perfect seed of doubt to bring down the entire investigation.
This is the third episode of our special edition podcast series, Silicon Valley Beat: Major Crimes.
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[[Disclaimer: The Silicon Valley Beat, Major Crimes, is a podcast that deep-dives into major cases investigated by the Mountain View Police Department. Because this podcast covers investigations including critical incidents and homicides, what we discuss here may contain material that is not suitable for all listeners. Names and other sensitive information may be changed to protect the identity of the innocent.]]
On last week’s episode we talked about -- DNA, the ultimate tool to use to pursue investigative leads in a case. In 1985, in a remarkable adaptation well ahead of its time, a Santa Clara County coroner clipped fingernails that could, one day, hold the secrets to Saba’s killer. The investigation hit snags though, and soon turned cold. But when a new lead shows up more than two decades later, we have to ask ourselves -- are cold cases ever really cold?
This is the Silicon Valley Beat: Major Crimes.
[[Opening bumper]]
EPISODE 3: A NEW HOPE
Saul Jaeger: The start of the holiday season, a time of hope and goodwill. 
In 2008, while some began to string up lights at their home, gather family around to celebrate good tidings and cheer, at the Mountain View Police Department, it was a time of reflection, and certainly of cautious hope. 
On December 1, then Captain Max Bosel was head of the Mountain View Police Department’s Investigative Services Division, home to the trove of detectives who investigate cases ranging from homicide, to robbery, to kidnapping, to cold cases. 
“While assigned as the Special Operations Captain,” Bosel wrote in a supplemental report, “I reviewed the January 18, 1985 homicide of Saba Girmai. Based on the fact that the victim’s body was lifted into the dumpster where she was found, I believed the suspect’s contact DNA could have been left on the victim’s clothing or property. This technology was not available during the initial investigation.”
“I inquired about the availability of evidence items in order to determine if there was physical evidence that could be analyzed for DNA,” Bosel went on to write. 
In his report, Bosel noted that five items were re-sent in hopes that, perhaps, after 23 years, advances in technology could present an opportunity to re-examine the case and perhaps even identify and arrest the person responsible for Saba’s gruesome murder. 
Katie Nelson: Those five items included:
-- her black, plastic wrist watch, that had been found on her left wrist
-- her blouse 
-- a sample of her scalp hair
-- a sample of hair from other areas of her body
-- and, fingernail clippings from both of her hands
While he was never arrested, Bosel noted that the man some had described as Saba’s boyfriend was still a person of interest and, following any results from the Crime Lab, “should be contacted for an interview.”
[[interlude]]
The incredible news came in the form of an unremarkable fax on January 12, 2010, just after 6 a.m.
In a letter dated just days before, a CODIS administrator with the California DNA Data Bank Program, a section of the California Department of Justice, wrote a letter to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Crime Lab.
An excerpt from the note reads as follows: “The DNA profile from your evidence sampl