Murder of Miranda Fenner

Miranda Fenner
Born Miranda Colleen Fenner
(1979-12-26)December 26, 1979
Sacramento, California, U.S.
Died November 15, 1998(1998-11-15) (aged 18)
Billings, Montana, U.S.
Cause of death Homicide by stabbing

Miranda Colleen Fenner (December 26, 1979 – November 15, 1998) was an American teenager who was murdered by an unknown assailant while working at a video store in Laurel, Montana. The murder case received wide media attention and is one of the highest-profile murder cases in Yellowstone County history.[1]

Fenner's murder was featured on the Discovery Channel's Sensing Murder and the Montel Williams Show. Her case remains unsolved.

Murder

On November 15, 1998, 18-year-old Miranda Fenner was working at The Movie Store, a locally owned video rental store in Laurel, Montana. At around 8:15 p.m., a passing motorist noticed a woman attempting to crawl out the doorstep of the video store.[2] The motorist stopped and called 911. The woman, discovered to be Fenner, had been stabbed multiple times in the head and neck, and her throat had also been slashed.[1]

Fenner was transported via Life Flight to St. Vincent Healthcare hospital in nearby Billings, where she died of her injuries within two hours.[1]

Investigation

Over 700 people were interviewed in relationship to Fenner's murder, but to date no suspects have been named.[1] Police could not find a motive nor suspect in the case, though it was noted that a small amount of cash had been taken from the video store's register;[3] because of this, robbery could not be entirely ruled out as a motive.[4]

In 2000, a man who was killed in a police shootout in Glendive, Montana had allegedly made statements prior to his death that he had been involved in Fenner's murder; however, Glendive police reported that the statements were rumor and were not confirmed.[5]

In 2012, Fenner's murder was given to the Billings Police Department's cold case unit.[4] Fenner's mother, Sherry Fenner, would later advocate for an instatement of Marsy's Law in the state of Montana in 2015.[6]

Media depictions

Fenner's murder garnered national attention.[7] It was the subject of a Sensing Murder episode on the Discovery Channel in 2007.[8] In 2006, the case had been featured on the Montel Williams Show,[9] in which psychic Sylvia Browne claimed two men were responsible for the murder, aged 19 and 24.[3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Benoit, Zach (September 5, 2012). "Fenner murder case getting new attention". The Billings Gazette. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  2. "Who Killed These Montana Women a Decade Ago?". True Crime Diva. June 7, 2012. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  3. 1 2 "TV show appearance leads to tips in old murderPosted on March 2". Missoulian. Associated Press. March 2, 2006. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Mayer, Larry (September 21, 2015). "Miranda Fenner". The Billings Gazette. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  5. The Associated Press (July 13, 2000). "Glendive shooting victim had talked about Laurel video murder involvement". The Independent Record. Retrieved December 29, 2016.
  6. Howe, Breeanne (October 8, 2015). "The Case of Miranda Fenner". MarsysLaw.us. Retrieved January 31, 2017.
  7. Hudson, Matt (June 13, 2016). "Volunteer unit tracks unsolved murders in Montana". Post Register. Retrieved September 11, 2016. PDF
  8. "Show on Laurel killing on tap". The Billings Gazette. June 6, 2007. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  9. Shay, Becky (February 15, 2006). "Laurel murder featured on Montel Williams show". The Billings Gazette. Retrieved September 12, 2016.

Coordinates: 45°40′06″N 108°46′39″W / 45.668301°N 108.777474°W / 45.668301; -108.777474

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.