Double murder of Andrea Scherpf and Bernd Göricke

Chetwynd with about 2,500 inhabitants
The killer drove a 1960s Chevrolet pick-up[1]

The double murder of Andrea Scherpf and Bernd Göricke happened in early October 1983. The young German tourist couple was shot dead at Chetwynd in Canada. The case is unsolved.

It was associated with a miscarriage of justice, which brought the innocent Canadian Andy Rose almost ten years in prison and was reported on the Canadian television series The Fifth Estate.[2]

Murder 1983

The German tourists Andrea Scherpf (born December 31, 1959) and Bernd Göricke (born June 29, 1956) tramped in the fall of 1983 in a westerly direction through Canada. Probably on October 3, 1983, the couple met their murderer at Chetwynd, who took them by car. He killed them by headshots, 32 kilometers west of Chetwynd, near British Columbia Highway 97 and the Pine River.[3][4][5]

The killer stole the victims' property and dumped his blood-spattered jeans in a nearby trashcan. Then he drove south in a 1960s Chevrolet pick-up and bought gasoline on October 4 and 5 with five of Andrea Scherpf's stolen travelers checks in the places Prince George, in Quesnel, in McLeese Lake, in Lac La Hache and in 100 Mile House.[1][6]

Investigation

On October 6, the bodies of Andrea Scherpf and Bernd Göricke were found. By means of forensic dentistry and intervention of Interpol, the victims were identified on October 16, 1983.[4][7]

On October 21, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrested US worker Vance Hill; he was accused of lodging twice with false information.[7] Shortly thereafter, he was released and only in 1997 again became the focus of the investigation.

Over the next six years, 900 tips were collected, but the investigation remained unsuccessful.[7]

Then in August 1989 there was a testimony by Madonna Mary Kelly against her acquaintance Andy Rose (* 1948). She was staying with a drug dealer to whom she told her story. The drug dealer turned out to be an undercover police informant who subsequently relayed the information to the police.[5]

Sentencing of Andy Rose 1991

Almost entirely based on the testimony of Madonna Mary Kelly, who testified that the drunken Andy Rose had appeared in 1983 near her caravan in Chetwynd, bloodied, and said he had killed two people, Rose was convicted of murder in 1991.[8] Rose was convicted again in 1994 following an appeal.

In March 1996, DNA analysis revealed that there were no DNA traces of Andy Rose on the bloody jeans from the scene.[7]

Suspect Vance Hill

Vance Hill (1928-1985) was an American road worker.[9] Since 1967 he lived with his wife and three children in western Canada. He was a hunter and chronic alcoholic.[7] In April 1983, his wife, who was separated from him, moved back to California with the children. Vance Hill, 55, remained behind in Prince George, three hours from the later crime scene in Chetwynd.

In November, Vance Hill returned to his family in a hurry to California. He confessed his murders to his estranged wife Willadeen Hill.[9] A short time later, he left his wife and left a suicide message because "he would not go to jail." At this point, he did not kill himself yet. However, on July 28, 1985, Hill shot himself, almost two years after the murders.[9]

In 1997, Willadeen Hill told the story to her nephew, who informed the police. This led to the resumption of the trial and in 2001 to the release of Andy Rose, who was imprisoned for almost ten years in prison.[8][10][10]

Willadeen Hill recorded in 1997 what her ex-husband told her in 1983, 14 years earlier:

"The couple asked him if he could take her, and he agreed. He began to harass the woman. When her friend protested, he stopped the pick-up, they got out and began to argue. He reached into the pick-up, took the rifle, and shot him. The woman screamed and screamed and did not want to shut up. He said he also had to kill her."[11]

Acquittal of Andy Rose 2001 – again an unsolved case

After Rose was released on bail in late 1998, he was elicited a false confession in 1999 with the investigation method Mr. Big.[7]

In 2001, at the third trial against Rose, the crime scene evaluated the DNA traces on the jeans. There were traces of at least five people, including the victims. The DNA of a third person was salient, but did not fit Andy Rose. It also did not fit with Vance Hill.[8] Prosecutor Gil McKinnon issued an acquittal for Rose.[5]

Since the DNA of both suspects was not found on the jeans, the case applies again as unsolved since 2001. On January 21, 2009, Canadian journalist Linden MacIntyre reported extensively on the case in a sequel to The Fifth Estate.[2] In 2013, after 30 years, the population was again called upon to give information on the victims' property, which has disappeared to this day.[6]

References

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