Solved case · 1987
Also known as Roxanne Leigh Wood cold case · The Unsolvable Murder of Roxanne Wood
The short answer
Roxanne Wood was killed in her Niles Township home in 1987, and forensic genealogy led to a second-degree murder conviction 35 years later.
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How a genetic genealogist helped solve Roxanne Wood's "unsolvable" murder
48 HoursVideo · YouTube · 3 min · 2022Titles and descriptions are the creators’ own and may not reflect current legal status. The sourced facts are in the file below. Players load only when you press play. Suggest coverage we’re missing.
Roxanne Leigh Wood, 30, was killed in her home in Niles Township, Michigan, during the early hours of February 20, 1987. She and her husband, Terry Wood, had driven separately to go bowling, and Roxanne returned home first. Terry later found her dead with her throat cut. Michigan State Police opened the homicide investigation that day and continued working the case through its Fifth District Cold Case Team.
The investigation remained unresolved for decades. Original biological evidence preserved from the scene did not initially identify a perpetrator. Michigan State Police later worked with its forensic laboratory and outside forensic specialists to reexamine the material. CBS News reported that a very small DNA sample was used for genetic-genealogy research in 2021, producing a family tree that led investigators to Patrick Wayne Gilham of nearby South Bend, Indiana. Police conducted surveillance and obtained a discarded cigarette for comparison.
Investigators interviewed Gilham in July 2021 and arrested him on February 17, 2022. He was initially charged with open murder and breaking and entering an occupied dwelling. On March 18, 2022, Gilham entered a no-contest plea to second-degree murder. Michigan State Police said the plea agreement provided for a minimum sentence of 23 years. A no-contest plea is not a factual admission but is treated as a conviction for sentencing.
On April 25, 2022, Gilham was sentenced to a minimum of 23 years in prison. CBS News independently reported both the sentence and the role of the DNA investigation in identifying him. The conviction resolved a case that had remained active for 35 years.
Roxanne Wood was killed in her Niles Township home and found by her husband.
Forensic genealogy research began building a family tree from preserved crime-scene DNA.
Michigan State Police investigators interviewed Patrick Gilham.
Patrick Gilham was arrested in connection with Roxanne's killing.
Patrick Gilham pleaded no contest to second-degree murder.
Patrick Gilham was sentenced to a minimum of 23 years in prison.
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