Unraveling the Past - Linda Sue Anderson and Theresa Romano

Episode # 70 

[Shaun] 

DNA has become an important investigative tool, not only when analyzing current cases, but for solving cold cases from decades ago. 

With this rapidly evolving technology, smaller and smaller amounts of DNA can be used to identify unknown victims and unknown murderers using genetic genealogy and other investigative techniques. Because of this, there is new hope for people who have lost loved ones that they might achieve some level of closure.

[John] 

We’ve got two of these cases for you today, one from 1991 and one from 2003. As with so many of the stories we cover, we don’t know a lot about the victims, because the media prefers to focus on the more sensational aspects rather than the victims and those they leave behind. 

In one case we have the typical story of a woman who allegedly just up and left her family, and in the other, we have a brutal murder that remained unsolved for 21 years

(Music - Pause for 8 seconds)

[Shaun] 

Hi and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, where we focus on cases that deal with domestic violence, as well as missing persons and unsolved cases. I’m your host, Shaun

[John] 

And I’m your co-host, John

[Shaun] 

As we said we have two cases today, one from the early 1990’s and the other from 2003. What they have in common is that we have two female victims and that eventually both would be solved using DNA Evidence. 

As usual, there are some frustrating aspects to these cases. The news media didn’t cover much about the victims themselves, and the initial investigations were seriously hampered by the technology of the time. 

We’ve talked about CODIS in previous episodes, but as a reminder, CODIS is the Combined DNA Indexing System, a national DNA database maintained by the FBI, which helps law enforcement agencies identify and link criminal offenders through DNA profiles. 

It was established as a pilot project at the FBI in 1990 and became fully operational in 1998 after the passage of the DNA Identification Act of 1994, which authorized the FBI to create and maintain a national DNA database.

The amazing thing about CODIS is that it contains DNA profiles from convicted offenders, arrestees (depending on state laws), forensic crime scene evidence, and importantly, unidentified remains.

The other important tool to complete the equation here is the use of forensic genetic genealogy, which uses public and consumer databases to help identify unknown suspects or human remains through familial relationships (or even directly sometimes)

If there’s no known match in CODIS, genetic genealogy can identify genetic relatives of a suspect or a victim and allows investigators to build a family tree to help identify them.

Othram Labs in Texas does amazing work in this area and locally the Vegas Justice League works to fund their research to solve cold cases here in Las Vegas and elsewhere. Because of these two organizations, offenders and victims alike have been identified, which can offer justice, or at the least some degree of closure to families who have been searching for answers

That's a bit of a tangent, but it directly relates to both of our cases today. Do you start us out with our first case?

[John] 

Sure. In 1993, Las Vegas was a lot smaller than it is today. If you visit the corner of Tropicana and Durango now, you'll be near Spanish Trails Country Club, which contains Spanish Trails, a very expensive gated community, one of the most expensive in Las Vegas.

If you visited that area in 1993, you would have been in the desert. There were some streets slightly further west than Durango, but not at Tropicana. That was all desert.

On April 18th, 1993, two biologists were in that area searching for tortoises for some research they were doing. As they searched, they smelled something that they described as the smell of decomposition.

They searched for the source and located what looked like a handmade quilt covered in rocks, but they quickly realized they’d stumbled on a shallow grave containing what was determined to be the skeletal remains of a female.

Las Vegas Metro Homicide responded, and her remains were recovered. The Clark County Coroner determined that she had died from gunshot wounds, estimating that it happened somewhere between mid and late 1991, and ruled her death a homicide.

With no evidence to go on, the homicide investigation quickly became a cold case, and she was given the name Jane Tropicana Doe, a name she’d keep for over 30 years. (note that we recently talked about Sahara Sue Doe who was found near Sahara and Las Vegas Boulevard about 14 years earlier in 1979 the last time we covered this topic).

When NAMUS (the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System) came online in 2005, her information was entered there as well. 

In early 2023, Metro reached out to Othram Labs in Texas again hoping that their advanced methods of testing could finally give Jane Tropicana Doe back her name. 

The cost to do the analysis for a cold case like this is around $7500, and for this one, it was provided by NAMUS, which is funded by the National Institute of Justice via the Research Triangle Institute International. 

You can actually contribute straight to the funds for individual cases on their website DNASolves.com.

When the cases are fully funded, Othram performs the DNA Analysis and research. You can see why people in law enforcement and true crime are excited by all this, because it starts to feel like cold cases are now much more solvable, and closure is within reach.

But let's get back to the case of Jane Tropicana Doe.

[Shaun] 

The research Othram did finally allowed them to identify the victim through her brother. Her name was Linda Sue Anderson, but she also went by Linda Sue Andrews, and she lived here in Henderson, NV.

Strangely Linda was never reported missing back in 1991, and the story surrounding her disappearance is pretty suspicious, though no one has been arrested for her murder.

Back in 1991, Linda Sue Anderson lived with two of her children (a daughter and a son) and her husband who was a stepfather to them. 

Her oldest daughter Mical Collition (coal-ish-un), lived with her father in Northern Nevada in Reno. Their stepfather told them one night that their mother had just up and left to “start a new life and she didn't want anyone looking for her” and told them that she was living a double life and having an affair. 

He told the children that she left a note saying all of this, but Mical, at least says that she never saw that note, and that's the part that’s very suspicious to us.

It turns out that, according to her family, Linda Sue was experiencing a mental health condition, and because of this, they said that the idea that she just walked out seemed totally plausible to them, although it hurt them deeply, that their mother possibly did just walk out of their lives. 

They all believed his story. Later, she told investigators that she spent her life hoping that her mother would finally reach out to her, but she did NOT expect to be contacted by Metro.

Their stepfather filed for divorce from Linda in 1992, and in the divorce documentation he stated he’d last seen her in October 1991. 

Mical also commented though that everyone in their lives was really shocked and said she’d never just leave her children like that.

Slower.

[John] 

After 30 years, the children finally know their mother didn't just walk out on them, but there’s still work to do. Mical was interviewed after her mom was identified, and she said “This whole time we were thinking she left us, that she didn't love us. This is huge.. It's a huge thing in our lives.” 

She said that when the news came down, all of the siblings immediately all called each other on the phone, and I can't even imagine the mixed bag of feelings they were having about this. She didn't leave them, but she had been murdered and died from gunshot wounds.

As Mical said “To know she was murdered.. We all wonder if she suffered, what she was thinking, and who did this to her.. We want answers”

The case remains open as a homicide investigation, and if we learn more we’ll share it. We have some thoughts on this that probably occurred to you as well which we’ll talk about in our Swing Shift episode right after this, so subscribe now to listen to that at sinspod.co/subscribe, and let us know what you think about this one.

Anyone with information about Linda Sue Anderson is urged to contact the Homicide Section by phone at 702-828-3521, or by email at homicide@lvmpd.com. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 702-385-5555, or on the internet at www.crimestoppersofnv.com.

Her children deserve answers on who murdered their mom, whether that person is still alive and can be brought to justice, or if he died years ago

[Shaun] 

The second case we have has some similarities, but a whole other set of frustrating aspects. On September 4th, 2003, the Henderson police were called by a person who went to visit his friend, 28 year old Theresa Romano, who he found nonresponsive in her home in the 200 block of Gold St near Water St and East Lake Mead Blvd right near downtown Henderson.

She’d rented the home about a month earlier and lived there with her two children and two other roommates.

The police responded and according to a police report the home was described as being in complete disarray and very dirty. They found Teresa lying face down in the bedroom covered by a comforter, but had obviously been in a violent struggle because she was covered with multiple contusions, and the area near her head was bloody.

When they removed the comforter they saw she had multiple stab wounds in her neck, and when they moved her they found a pair of scissors under her. The Coroner determined that she had died from multiple sharp force trauma, and detectives believed it was these scissors that were the murder weapon.

Her death was ruled a homicide of course and the investigation started.

Witnesses said that they heard a truck racing away from the scene but initially no one had any good leads for the police

[John] 

About two weeks after the murder they were able to identify a suspect in a way that probably isn't the way you expect.

On September 13th, 2003, Henderson Police arrested Sherry Wright for something completely unrelated, but when they were questioning her she told them she had information about the murder of Theresa Romano.

She told them that she was friends with a man named Ricky Lee Trader who frequently visited her to get food and drugs. She said that a couple of nights before she was arrested, Trader had come over to her house “spinning out”

She said he told her that he was in an incident with a woman and said things like “There was blood everywhere and she wouldn't shut up.. She wouldn't shut up so I had to cut her” and “I’ve got to get her off my mind.. I’ve made a mess and I don't know what I'm going to do”

She immediately suspected this had to do with the nearby murder of Theresa Romano, so all of this freaked her out pretty badly. She said no when he asked her for drugs, and he started choking her, though he thankfully stopped before seriously hurting her, then he just apologized and left.

Based on this, the police again analyzed the evidence in Theresa’s house, including a massager, a lamp, multiple cans of soda, and the blades of two figure skates that were recovered. When they did, they got a fingerprint match for Trader.

The strange part is that they didn't think that this was enough evidence to bring him in for the crime, so the investigation continued as they searched for other leads and more evidence.

[Shaun] 

This is where the story becomes even more tragic, complicated, and infuriating. September 10th, 2003, Just a couple of days after Trader came by Sherry Wright’s place spinning out and ranting about the woman he claims he cut, a man named Robert Wittwer was murdered in that same area of Henderson. He was found stabbed to death in his bedroom with a kitchen knife around 430 am

A woman named Anna Meade called the Henderson police and told them that Wittwer had been stabbed and she even told them who had done it.

Can you guess who she said killed Robert Wittwer? If you guessed Ricky Lee Trader, you’d be exactly right. 

Henderson Police ended up apprehending him around 8am as he lurked around the back of an apartment complex on Atlantic St along with another man named Paul Caballero who had given Trader a ride. 

The police questioned Caballero and he told them that Trader told him he needed someplace to hide. When they interviewed Trader and asked him what had happened, he seemed confused and incoherent, and said that he didn't know, or didn't remember what had happened.

The witness Anna Meade picked Trader out of a 6 person line up and told police exactly what had happened, and how she’d seen Trader stabbing Wittwer. She said she helped Wittwer to the couch then she ran to St Rose Hospital on Lake Mead and called 911.

Trader was arraigned for first-degree murder in January of 2004, after a series of delays, Trader pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on September 19th, 2006.

He was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole and was given credit for time served, and he was shipped off to Ely State Prison in northern Nevada.

Henderson detectives were still working on the case of Theresa’s murder, and in 2010, they came back to Trader as a suspect and traveled up to Ely to meet with him. 

It's unclear based on the record why this conversation didn't happen earlier, but Trader did admit to having a “casual sexual relationship” with Theresa but didn't know anything about her murder. 

He told them that detectives took a DNA sample from him in 2003 on the night of Theresa's murder but he never heard anything after that from them. He also told them that Sherry Wright was a liar and was making up stories to “get him in trouble”

Somehow, although the investigation continued for SEVERAL more years, no further evidence was found to positively identify Trader as a suspect

[John] 

So eventually the case was turned over to the cold case unit of Henderson Police (and a note that the Henderson Police Department is fully separate from Las Vegas Metro, just like North Las Vegas Police is. Different cities, different departments) 

That isnt to say that the departments don't work together, and this case is an amazing example of inter-departmental cooperation, with all of them working toward solving the case. They should all work this seamlessly.

In October of 2021, the Henderson PD cold case unit reviewed the case. They submitted a request to have additional evidence tested that was never tested before including (unbelievably) the scissors found under Theresa’s body which was the murder weapon, and a phone cord.

The new DNA obtained was sent to the Las Vegas Metro Forensics lab in January of 2024, and while in the forensics lab, an analyst asked to process some of the evidence that was already tested. Henderson PD provided a sample from Theresa’s underwear and some nail clippings from her autopsy.

Using updated methods, in May of 2024, from swabs in both of those last two items, the underwear and nail clippings, they got a match Ricky Lee Trader.

Trader had been paroled in June of 2021 for his murder of Robert Wittwer after serving a total of about 18 years and was living in Reno, and the Henderson Police Department traveled up to Reno to speak to him in July of 2024.

Trader was arrested on July 16th, 2024, 21 years after the murder… during his parole check-in. When they interviewed him he came up with some very lame excuses like “it was probably sweat”  or maybe he “had a soda at the house”

This time, he denied having known Theresa or having a sexual relationship with her, despite the fact that he told the police all about it when they talked to him at Ely State Prison in 2010.

[Shaun] 

The police were not convinced. Trader was extradited to Clark County and remanded to the Clark County Detention Center to await trial where he currently faces charges of open murder. His case is set to resume at the end of February (which will be before this episode airs) we’ll provide updates as we learn about them

As we said this was such a great collaboration between several departments across the whole state of Nevada, including

• Henderson Police Department’s Cold Case unit, 
• Crime Scene Analyst Unit, 
• Intelligence Unit, 
• Cold Case Unit
• Northern Nevada Parole and Probation Reno Office,
• Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Forensic DNA Laboratory.

 and we applaud this interdepartmental success.

News Channel 8 got to speak with Theresa’s daughter Patricia about the case and about her mom. She told the interviewer that he mom had been a talented ice skater and that when she was only 2, her mom had taken her for skating lessons at Pickwick Ice Rink in Burbank CA.

She said that 5 years later, long after her mom was gone, she went back to take lessons there again, and so many people remembered her mom there. 

She started skating again in her mom’s memory as a way to be close to her even though she wasn't around anymore.

Since she was so young when she lost her mom, her aunt Sherri (note, thats a different Sherry than the one we talked about earlier who helped identify Trader as a suspect) told her a lot of stories about her to help fill in the details.

Sherri told her that her mom had had her struggles, but was turning her life around and always loved her daughters very much.

Patricia also said that her mom’s death was even harder on her older sister since she was old enough to understand what was going on, but she was happy that they finally knew who did it, and hoped that it could help in the healing process.

She also told them she recently had a daughter.. Who she named for her mom, Theresa. She didn't say whether she’d be taking her daughter for figure skating lessons, but we sure hope so, it would be a great tribute.

[John] 

We’ll provide updates when we learn them about Ricky Lee Trader’s trial, and on the search for answers on who murdered Linda Sue Anderson.

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Thank you as always for listening, and we remind you that what happens here happens everywhere.