THE investigator fighting to solve a 16-year-old cold case fears the killer of a local woman is still walking around and could kill again.
Former Navy paralegal Linda Malcom was found dead with 24 stab wounds on April 30, 2008 in her partially burned house in Port Orchard, Washington.
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The upper body had been attacked and her hands and forearms displayed defensive wounds. There were also chest and back stab wounds.
The house was then set ablaze, although Linda was certainly dead before the fire was started due to the absence of soot in her esophagus, trachea, and lungs.
No one has ever been charged for the murder, but ever since investigator Jennifer Bucholtz and investigative journalist George Jared began working on the case, there has been notable progress.
“Jenn and George have been wonderful,” Linda’s sister Cindy told The U.S. Sun.
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“Linda’s death is something we will never get over, but we just want closure – and the killer to be found.”
The pair became aware of the situation after placing an advert appealing for cold cases to be looked at as part of a university course aimed at criminology students, run by Bucholtz, a former US Army Counterintelligence Agent and decorated veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Her volunteer Cold Case Investigative Team has been looking at a multitude of incidents all over the United States, and Linda’s story hit home for one for the students on campus.
Linda’s nephew Mike Booker was studying for his Master’s degree at the American Military University and asked for help.
SUSPECTS TARGETED
Bucholtz says she has five suspects on her list, all of which are alive and living in the area where Linda’s mutilated body was found.
“Two rank higher than others,” she told The U.S. Sun.
And she is hopeful new DNA testing, which was initiated by Port Orchard police authorities working closely with Bucholtz and her students, could shed further light on the story which has ripped apart Linda’s family.
Her eight siblings had to watch the death of their beloved mother late last year, whose dementia forced them into continually reminding her of the tragedy.
Neither gender has been ruled out but Bucholtz is confident a man started the fire.
Bucholtz refused to discuss the reasons why but says everything is pointing towards it being someone who knew the popular 47-year-old, who was known about town and dated both males and females.
“We can place all of them in her house at some point, whether they admitted it themselves or through other people,” Bucholtz admitted.
“Linda’s death is something we will never get over, but we just want closure – and the killer to be found.
Linda’s sister Cindy
She believes the police are “completely in agreement that whether there’s one killer and an arsonist or the killer is the same person that lit the fire, we are confident they left and then came back.”
There are also questions about the repeated stab wounds and why, after administering four fatal blows, were so many more unleashed.
“There are a lot of actions this killer took,” Bucholtz, who has set up a very active Facebook group and a podcast in the hope of gleaning any fresh information, said.
“Stabbing her so many times, setting the house on fire. There was a level of overkill,” Bulcholtz added.
Evidence from the scene was sent for Investigative Genetic Genealogy testing (IGG), which uses public ancestry sites to help identifying unknown DNA profiles.
It was introduced in 2018 and helped solve the infamous Golden State Killer case. Joseph D’Angelo was eventually identified in the case with the use of DNA technology and convicted of 13 murders in 2020.
The technique can be used to figure out any unknown DNA profiles found at a crime scene, as well as identifying unknown human remains.
FRESH HOPE
Results could take “months” according to the investigator and it could be a promising update, but Bucholtz won’t get ahead of herself. If anything, the findings will open further doors to investigate.
“The DNA could be extremely helpful,” she said. “But most defense attorneys are gonna want more.”
Some of the interviews conducted by Bucholtz and Jared have left them convinced they are being lied to, while former Navy colleagues have refused to return calls.
“Three people in Port Orchard have lied or not called us back, and they knew some of the suspects,” she said.
“If we’re two years down the road and they can’t figure out who did this, it’s probably going to remain an unsolved case because there’s so much work being done on it right now with so many different agencies and so many different types of forensic technology,” Bucholtz added.
“It’s a public safety issue though, as are all these unsolved murders. If you’re willing to take one life, what’s gonna stop you from doing it again?”
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