A Dawn to Remember

Summary

Cold Case Files: "A Dawn to Remember" – Detailed Summary

Introduction

"A Dawn to Remember," an episode of Cold Case Files hosted by Paula Barros, delves into the haunting unsolved murder of Dawn Ellen Koons. Released on July 29, 2025, this episode meticulously explores the complexities of a case that remained cold for decades before a breakthrough led to justice. Through interviews, archival footage, and expert analysis, the episode paints a comprehensive picture of Dawn's life, her tragic demise, and the relentless pursuit of truth by her family and law enforcement.

---

Dawn Koons: Life and Relationships

Dawn Ellen Koons was an 18-year-old vibrant young woman from Yonkers, New York, known for her charm, beauty, and ambition. She was deeply connected with her family, particularly her brother, David Koons. In his own words, David reflects on their close-knit relationship:

"We were good companions and we played games and imagined and enjoyed a very close-knit family life. We each had a bike and we always enjoyed bike riding. We would go to the museum or to concerts."
– David Koons (01:31)

Dawn excelled academically but yearned for greater opportunities, leading her to pursue modeling and a potential career in show business. Despite her popularity and numerous suitors, she maintained an on-again, off-again relationship with Steve Shirl, a blue-collar young man she met in high school. David and their brother Leland found this relationship puzzling:

"Both my brother and I were puzzled by the attraction. We didn't see what she was seeing."
– David Koons (01:31)

---

The Crime: Discovery of Dawn's Body

On January 16, 1979, in California's southern San Joaquin Valley, police sergeant Brad Rourke received a frantic call about a missing female resident. Upon arrival at apartment 46, the grim discovery was made:

"In the bathtub is the body of a woman. It quickly becomes obvious she had not died from natural causes."
– Marissa Pinson (03:18)

Dawn was found face up, her hands bound with telephone cords, a brown pillowcase over her head, and evidence of sexual assault. The initial investigation revealed:

• No signs of forced entry.
• A possibly strained relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Steve Shirl.
• The presence of semen stains on the sheets, suggestive of an assault.

---

Initial Investigation: Suspects and Leads

Early investigations pointed towards individuals within Dawn's immediate circle. A crucial piece of evidence was a note found on Dawn's door:

"Dawn, give me a call and let me know what you're up to. I can't seem to track you down. You're never home, Diane."
– Brad Rourke (08:19)

Diane, a close friend and coworker, was the last known person to see Dawn alive. Suspicions initially fell on Steve Shirl, Dawn's ex-boyfriend, due to their tumultuous relationship and his conflicting alibis. Steve's statements during interviews were designed to divert attention:

"Steve also tries pointing detectives in another direction."
– Marissa Pinson (11:41)

Despite Steve providing an alibi by claiming to be at a party and camping with his girlfriend, inconsistencies emerged over the years, keeping him a person of interest.

---

Cold Case Period: Decades of Uncertainty

Over the next three decades, the murder of Dawn Koons remained unsolved. The lack of advanced forensic technology hindered progress, and the case faded into obscurity. David Koons shares the profound personal impact:

"This whole situation had a negative impact on my parents' marriage. ... I don't really think she had anything to hope for at that point. I got to the point personally where I thought, is it ever going to be solved?"
– David Koons (23:15)

---

Reopened Investigation: Hope Through Technology

In 2011, prompted by renewed family interest, investigators revisited the case. They discovered that a preserved rape kit from Dawn's autopsy could now be analyzed using modern DNA technology. Unfortunately, the initial attempts yielded only degraded samples:

"The quantity of that sample was too low to upload into the CODIS database to yield results."
– Gina Pearl (25:56)

However, a pivotal discovery in 2015 revealed additional slides from the rape kit, providing a viable DNA profile for comparison.

---

Discovery and Arrest of Prentice Foreman

The new DNA evidence led investigators to Prentice Foreman, a neighbor living in apartment 50. Foreman's initial interview in 1979 revealed inconsistencies:

"He said he was with friends that night. I saw that his alibi, Latonya, had never been interviewed."
– Prentice Foreman (32:29)

A warrant was issued, and Foreman was arrested after his DNA was compared against the evidence, ultimately proving that he was not the source of the semen found on Dawn. Despite passing a polygraph test, discrepancies in his statements raised suspicions.

---

Trial and Conviction

In 2019, after extensive investigations and DNA confirmation, Prentice Foreman was charged and stood trial. The prosecution presented a compelling case:

"I believe Mr. Foreman entered the apartment and Dawn was already in her bedroom, either asleep or going to sleep. The attack definitely happened in the bedroom."
– Gina Pearl (39:04)

After seventeen months of deliberation, the jury found Foreman guilty of Dawn Koons' murder:

"When they did read the verdict, I looked at Prentice and he was obviously, I guess you could say stunned and in disbelief."
– Prentice Foreman (40:55)

Foreman was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, bringing a sense of closure to Dawn's grieving family.

---

Impact and Closure

The resolution of Dawn Koons' case, nearly four decades after her untimely death, underscores the advancements in forensic science and the enduring pursuit of justice. David Koons reflects on the outcome:

"I'm still missing something. Dawn was definitely unique and special. I'm still grief-stricken that my sister was taken from me, that I've been denied the opportunity to see her develop, to succeed."
– David Koons (41:41)

Gina Pearl, the supervising deputy DA for Kern County, emphasizes the importance of closure:

"To somewhat bring some closure to the family when they've been searching for answers for so long is why I do my job."
– Gina Pearl (29:12)

---

Conclusion

"A Dawn to Remember" not only recounts a tragic cold case but also highlights the resilience of a family and the relentless efforts of law enforcement to seek justice. Through breakthroughs in technology and unwavering dedication, Dawn Koons' story serves as a poignant reminder of the enduring quest to solve cold cases and provide closure to those left behind.

Transcript

[Marissa Pinson]

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[David Koons]

Both my brother and I were puzzled by the attraction. We didn't see what she was seeing.

[Gina Pearl]

There was a lot of back and forth with accusations and jealousy and things of that nature.

[David Koons]

She was interested in pursuing modeling and a career in show business.

[Gina Pearl]

She was posed in a very sexually demeaning way.

[David Koons]

The news was surreal. You couldn't wrap your mind around it.

[Gina Pearl]

We knew he had lied to investigators about his whereabouts that weekend. None of your business. And that he was armed and dangerous.

[David Koons]

I mean, after all, she was only 18 years old.

[Marissa Pinson]

There are over 100,000 cold cases in America. Only about 1% are ever solved. This is one of those rare stories. It's January 16, 1979, a cool, crisp evening in California's southern San Joaquin Valley, when a frantic call comes in to the police. Brad Rourke is a retired sergeant with the Bakerfield Police Department.

[Brad Rourke]

I'd been a patrol officer for just over a year, and I was dispatched with another officer to go to an apartment complex in southwest Bakersfield. There was a female resident that hadn't been seen for a few days. So based on the phone call from a boyfriend, myself and another officer met the manager out front of the apartment number 46. We went inside and walked through a living room, down a hallway into a bedroom and then we proceeded to the bathroom.

[Marissa Pinson]

In the bathtub is the body of a woman. It quickly becomes obvious she had not died from natural causes.

[Brad Rourke]

She was face up. Her hands were bound behind her back with a piece of a telephone cord. She also had a brown pillowcase over her head and also had a piece of telephone cord wrapped around her neck.

[Marissa Pinson]

The apartment manager tells Rourke that 18 year old Dawn Koons lived in apartment 46. David Koons is Dawn's brother.

[David Koons]

My sister was Dawn Ellen Koons. I'm the oldest sibling. Then comes my sister dawn and then my younger brother Leland. Dawn was only 11 months younger. We were good companions and we played games and imagined and enjoyed a very close knit family life. We lived in the Bronx until I was in the second grade and then we moved to Yonkers. We each had a bike and we always enjoyed bike riding. We would go to the museum or to concerts. My parents were big into exposing us to culture and broadening our horizons, as it were. Dawn and I ended up going to the same high school in Yonkers. And dawn was very popular and very well liked. She did well in school but ultimately became bored. Kind of longed for bigger and better things, bigger and better opportunities. During that time she was interested in pursuing modeling, maybe even a career in show business. My sister was gregarious, beautiful, charming, articulate, and she had no shortage of attention. She would go to fashionable places. She got the attention of successful men, professional men, men in entertainment.

[Marissa Pinson]

Despite her many suitors, dawn remains in an on again, off again relationship with a blue collar young man she met in high school, Steve Shirl.

[David Koons]

Both my brother and I were puzzled by the attraction. We didn't see what she was seeing. My mother was a nurse. She was a good judge of character and she wasn't impressed by him because he didn't have any real sign that there was any great character or drive or ambition.

[Marissa Pinson]

By the end of 1978, dawn had made a decision.

[David Koons]

I was away at college. I called home one Sunday and she told me that she was going to be going to Bakersfield, California with Stephen. I instantly didn't think it was a great idea when she got out there. He found somebody else and moved on. He left her in the lurch. I don't understand why she didn't turn around and get on a plane and forget it and just come back to the city and pick up where she left off.

[Marissa Pinson]

Back in Bakersfield, Captain Ted King arrives.

[Chance Coroner]

At the crime scene, as officers entered the apartment, it didn't look like there were a lot of signs of struggle or any disarray in a lot of the apartment. But in that bedroom, it looked like there had been a struggle.

[Brad Rourke]

Some of the sheets were pulled up, the blanket was pulled back. There was a pillow on the floor, and the phone cord had been removed from the wall. The phone was sitting on the ground next to the bed.

[Chance Coroner]

They didn't find anything that showed forcible entry. So the belief was maybe it was an acquaintance of hers, maybe it was a crime of passion.

[Brad Rourke]

There wasn't much to go on. They took some hair samples. They found some fingerprints on a window, and they also found a white stain on the sheets of the bed, which they suspected was semen. You have to remember that in 1979, DNA evidence did not exist. So the police did not have the database that they do now to try to identify suspects.

[Marissa Pinson]

With the investigation now creeping into the early morning hours, detectives reach out to Dawn's family.

[David Koons]

My father was home. My mother was working, so she wasn't home when the police came to the door to let us know that my sister was dead. I remember my mother coming home. My father gave her the news, and I just remember her sobbing. I mean, she was just wrecked. She was just destroyed. The news was surreal. Couldn't wrap your mind around it. I just found it hard to, you know, live my daily day to day life.

[Marissa Pinson]

Bakersfield police start interviewing Don's friends and associates.

[Chance Coroner]

They had to start pulling on threads and talking to folks and figuring out exactly why those things would or would not be important.

[Marissa Pinson]

One of those threads is focusing on a note discovered on Dawn's door by the apartment manager.

[Brad Rourke]

Dawn, give me a call and let me know what you're up to. I can't seem to track you down. You're never home, Diane.

[Chance Coroner]

The investigators found that dawn and Diane were pretty good friends. They worked together at breakers and learned that Diane had been the last person to see dawn before the weekend. Diane was a good source of information for investigators to figure out kind of some context to what was going on in Dawn's life at the time.

[Brad Rourke]

Investigators learned that she was last seen alive on Friday evening, January 12, when her friend Diane dropped her off at her apartment. Diane watched her unlock the door, wave goodbye, and step inside. That was the last time she was seen alive. The next day, Diane tried to get a hold of dawn and she could not contact her. They had plans that day, and Don never showed up. Don did not arrive at work that evening.

[Marissa Pinson]

On Saturday, police also interview a new man in Don's life.

[Brad Rourke]

Don came to California with Steve. He was the boyfriend. They subsequently broke up their relationship and Don started dating a new named Brian. And Brian was the one who called the manager to check on dawn after he hadn't been able to contact her for a few days.

[Marissa Pinson]

Chance coroner is a sergeant with the Bakersfield Police Department.

[Prentice Foreman]

Brian was a gentleman that dawn met at a party about two weeks prior to her murder. He was a nice looking man. He had a job at a local refinery.

[Marissa Pinson]

Gina Pearl is a supervising deputy DA for Kern County.

[Gina Pearl]

They talked to him, tried to find out if there was any sort of hostility between he and Don at the time where he was during the weekend Don was killed.

[Prentice Foreman]

He explained that he was at the refinery during the time period of this murder.

[Marissa Pinson]

During interviews, Don's ex boyfriend Steve is mentioned repeatedly.

[Chance Coroner]

Investigators found that they did not have a great relationship. They argued quite a bit, didn't get along frequently. There had been some fighting.

[Marissa Pinson]

They also learned that Steve was at Dawn's apartment on January 12th when Diane picked her up for work.

[Chance Coroner]

At that point, there were some suspicions that he may have been involved in her death. During Dawn's autopsy at the Kern County Coroner's office, the coroner found that her cause of death was asphyxiation. And the kit that they submitted came back as positive for a sexual assault.

[Gina Pearl]

The best estimate the coroner could give for Dawn's time of death was early morning hours of Saturday the 13th. She was posed in a very sexually demeaning way. By placing the pillowcase over Dawn's face and taking away who she was, really indicated a lot about what the killer thought of her.

[Marissa Pinson]

Less than 24 hours after finding dawn lifeless in her apartment bathtub, investigators bring Steve, the ex boyfriend from Yonkers, in for questioning.

[Gina Pearl]

Don was 18, Steve was 21. And she and Steve had somewhat of a rocky relationship. There was a lot of accusations and jealousy and things of that nature. Investigators wanted to know where he was that Friday night as well as the weekend in which Don was murdered.

[Chance Coroner]

He said that he had been with friends that night. He went on to further describe the way that they broke up as he broke up with Don, that it was something that he had moved on from and that he had gone camping that weekend.

[Marissa Pinson]

Steve also tries pointing detectives in another direction.

[Chance Coroner]

Steve told investigators that he believed that another tenant at that apartment complex may be involved and that he had shown interest in Dawn.

[Prentice Foreman]

As an investigator, you obviously have to look into it, but you also, on the other side, are Wondering, okay, you're trying to draw attention away from yourself and put it on somebody else.

[Gina Pearl]

So based on the information that Steve provided the man in apartment 50, Prentice Foreman, investigators contacted Dawn's friends, even employees of the apartment complex, to determine whether or not Mr. Foreman was giving dawn any sort of trouble or harassing her in any way. And based on those conversations with multiple people, no one other than Steve had that information or could connect Mr. Foreman to dawn in any way.

[Marissa Pinson]

Detectives turned back to their most promising suspect.

[David Koons]

My mother was in contact with the police. There were some initial questions they asked about her relationship with Steve. My mother knew that Steve was a suspect. My mother really wasn't a fan of Steve's. She blamed him for taking dawn to California. Their relationship was still as volatile as when they were in high school. He ultimately found a new relationship, and he started seeing someone. He had moved out.

[Gina Pearl]

They're going to try to check out and confirm an alibi. And Steve was at a party Friday night into the early morning hours of about 2 or 3am that was verified by multiple. And then he was also out of town starting Saturday morning at 9am Again, that alibi was verified by multiple people.

[Marissa Pinson]

On January 18, 1979, five days after dawn is murdered, her friends and family gather for her funeral. Meanwhile, police are no closer to catching her killer.

[David Koons]

I remember hoping until the day I walked in the funeral home that somehow this was some kind of a mistake, that it wasn't her. One of the arrangements they made is that they decided that my sister was going to have an open casket. I remember seeing her, the dress she looked gorgeous in. You could see what had happened. You know, there was some discoloration. But she was beautiful just the same way as she always was. There were a lot of relatives and friends that came. There was a service from the organization she belonged to, the Triangle Girls, a Masonic organization that is for young women. They actually have this very beautiful ceremony they do where they read these poems and there's flowers involved.

[Marissa Pinson]

News of Dawn's murder makes headlines both in California and her hometown of Yonkers. Ed Tropasso is a reporter who covered the case.

[Ed Tropasso]

I was a reporter at the Yonkers Herald Statesman in Yonkers, New York. I spent a decade as a crime reporter, and I covered my share of stories. And after all these years, interestingly enough, and inexplicably, the only name of a victim I can remember is Dawn Ellen Coons. I think one reason might be is because people I spoke to her, they thought she was an exciting, dynamic young woman. They thought that she would really make something of herself. And I sort of became cast under her spell a little bit by virtue of learning so much about her and learning what a delightful person she was. I felt that it was a worthy story for our readers. Our readers would want to know about it because it's a local girl. Even though it happened on the West Coast 3,000 miles away.

[Marissa Pinson]

Even though his alibi checks out, police aren't ready to eliminate Don's ex boyfriend, Steve.

[Prentice Foreman]

Well, obviously the primary suspect would be current boyfriend or previous boyfriend. And based on the information they had obtained from family, associates and friends about this rocky relationship between Don and Steve, they are still primarily focused on Steve.

[Chance Coroner]

Some of the challenges that investigators faced initially was that Don and Steve were both from New York, so they had to do somewhat of a long distance investigation using the local police departments over there to help facilitate some of the interviews.

[Ed Tropasso]

The police left no stone unturned. They were very thorough.

[Prentice Foreman]

There was no signs of forced entry in the door. Nothing was taken from the apartment. It's very plausible that she knew who did this to her. So without other information or leads, investigators are stuck looking at their primary suspect and in this case was still Steve.

[Gina Pearl]

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[Marissa Pinson]

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[Prentice Foreman]

Steve agreed to participate in a polygraph examination and eventually he did exactly that.

[Marissa Pinson]

Detectives wait to see if Don's ex boyfriend Steve will pass the polygraph.

[Gina Pearl]

Polygraphs are used by investigators frequently as sort of a tool to get them better leads. They're certainly not admissible in court, but they are an investigative tool that can be helpful given the situation and the investigation.

[Prentice Foreman]

A polygraph examiner from San Francisco, he comes to Bakersfield to conduct the polygraph examination with Stephen. During the polygraph examination, he asks him four questions. Did you cause Don Kuhn's death? Were you in the apartment when she died? Do you know how Don was killed? And the fourth question, do you know who killed Don? And Steve answered no to each of these questions. The polygraph examiner determined that Steven was telling the truth.

[Marissa Pinson]

Despite the fact that he passed the polygraph test, Steve remains a person of interest to detectives.

[Prentice Foreman]

People can lie in a polygraph examination, but still indicate by the examiner that maybe he believes they're telling the truth.

[Chance Coroner]

Polygraphs have always been something that's kind of a sticking point when it comes to investigations, especially in California. And ultimately, it is not something that investigators can really rest a case on.

[Marissa Pinson]

Once again, the investigation turns to looking for answers.

[Prentice Foreman]

In New York, investigators were obviously hoping that this could provide them with a lead.

[Ed Tropasso]

Sometimes you find that police are a little reluctant to talk to you for whatever reason, but the folks out there in Bakersfield were very approachable. I think the reason was because they were frustrated by lack of leads and they were looking for any help they could get. Maybe someone knew something out here on the east coast that they didn't bump into in Bakersfield.

[Marissa Pinson]

Investigators come up empty on the East Coast. So without much else to go on, they focus on the neighbor Steve found so suspicious.

[Prentice Foreman]

Prentice Foreman was a truck driver and was living in Bakersfield.

[Gina Pearl]

They talked to Mr. Foreman about where he was the weekend of Dawn's death. And Mr. Foreman claimed he was with his girlfriend, Latonya, the entire weekend, that he did not know dawn in any way other than maybe a neighborly hello once in a while at the mailboxes.

[Prentice Foreman]

Prentice was very cooperative with investigators, answered all their questions.

[Marissa Pinson]

As investigators crossed names of people that knew dawn off their list, they are forced to consider another grim possibility.

[Ed Tropasso]

You know, it's not uncommon for victims to know they're killers, and as a result, the police are usually able to find some connection that implicates the killer. In the case of serial killers or drifters, they have no connection to the community. They're in and out. And as a result, it's difficult for the police to find any connective tissues, any clues that would point to that person.

[Chance Coroner]

There was another homicide that same weekend. Linda Sue Atkins. Investigators didn't know if these two homicides were related or if both of them knew each other or anything like that.

[Prentice Foreman]

Investigators reached out to the California Department of Justice to determine if there was possibly a serial killer. They received information about four homicides that occurred, two in 1978 and two in 1979. These homicides involved white females and these victims of homicide, all in the LA area. They had been tied up and died of a form of asphyxiation, just like Dawn.

[Marissa Pinson]

Despite the similarities, investigators can't connect Dawn's murder to these other killings. By the end of 1979, leads dry up and the case goes cold.

[David Koons]

My mother did most of the communication with the detectives once it went beyond a year, and there was really no Word. My mother's phone calls were less frequent. There were no new suspects. There were no new leads. It just sort of languished. This whole situation had a negative impact on my parents marriage. My mother was very distant from my father. I think Dawn's murder was the thing that ended their relationship. Relationship. Five years pass. Ten years pass. My father, he died 2001. My mother, she hoped that they would catch who'd murdered her daughter, but I don't really think she had anything to hope for at that point. I got to the point personally where I thought, is it ever going to be solved?

[Marissa Pinson]

Then, 32, two years after Don's murder, David gets the call he thought would never come.

[David Koons]

They contacted me and they said, we are going to resume the investigation. Then things started happening. My sister always had a very special bond with my younger brother. She doted on him, you know, it was just a very special bond she had. My brother Leland contacted a friend in law enforcement, and he contacted the Bakersfield police to resume the investigation.

[Chance Coroner]

The case itself really wasn't getting any attention up until the family called.

[Gina Pearl]

So when investigators reopened the case in 2011, one of the first things they did was pull from their archives the police reports and tried to determine if there was any physical evidence that could be now used with recent DNA technology to try to solve the case. In their diligence, they learned that there was a rape kit taken at Dawn's autopsy in 1979, and that had been preserved and properly kept within the chain of custody. Investigators sent a large amount of evidence to the crime lab for possible DNA testing. The pillowcase, the cords from Dawn's wrists, the cord from around her neck, as well as remnants of her fingernail clippings that had been taken at her autopsy.

[Chance Coroner]

And then also the rape kit that had been seized as evidence as part of the autopsy. Unfortunately, what they learned was that we did not have a quality sample that had stood up through all of that time that gave us a sufficient quantity of testable substance.

[Gina Pearl]

The quantity of that sample was too low to upload into the CODIS database to yield results. It essentially was too degraded on all fronts to give any sort of real lead.

[Chance Coroner]

So investigators still believed that Steve was the main suspect in this. However, the decision was made just to wait because we knew that technology was evolving.

[Marissa Pinson]

Two years later, investigators are given new hope by a random discovery.

[Gina Pearl]

In 2015, during a routine office cleanout, the Kern County Coroner's office discovered some evidence related to many cases that had been in a storage facility that no one really knew about. And inside one of those boxes was a sample from Dawn's rape kit. Two slides which had been marked with Dawn's case number.

[Marissa Pinson]

When the slides are brought to the crime lab for analysis, Bakersfield police are told they will finally have what they've been waiting for. After 36 years, there is enough sample to create a DNA profile of Dawn's killer for comparison.

[Prentice Foreman]

This is either going to corroborate the suspect that we've been looking at all these years, or it's going to lead us into a completely different direction.

[Chance Coroner]

At the top of the list for the investigators when it comes to sample comparisons with Steve.

[David Koons]

I guess things didn't go well for Steve. After dawn was murdered, he returned to Yonkers. His family lives there.

[Marissa Pinson]

Steve ultimately leaves New York and settles in Florida.

[Chance Coroner]

Investigators obtained a warrant for Steve's DNA and then flew to Florida to collect a sample for comparison.

[Prentice Foreman]

During the interview with Steve, he was cooperative and in his mind he. He believed that he had been cleared. I don't think he realized that he was still the primary suspect in this investigation.

[Brad Rourke]

I had enough faith in the system to put myself totally in your guys hands that you could find out what happened.

[Gina Pearl]

You know, Steve spoke with investigators and sort of detailed the nature of his relationship with Don.

[Prentice Foreman]

He was cooperative in the sense that he voluntarily provided a sample.

[Marissa Pinson]

Investigators take the sample back to California for analysis. Months later, investigators get the results.

[Prentice Foreman]

Investigators compare the DNA evidence that we have on file with the DNA sample that was obtained from Steve, and it's not a match. The investigation, in all honesty, stalls.

[Chance Coroner]

Now that they had their main suspect cleared. Investigators had to link that full profile into the CODIS system to see if there were any, any matches in that system.

[Gina Pearl]

There was a new kit that was coming out in 2017 that was essentially more sensitive and could detect more degraded samples.

[Marissa Pinson]

Investigators submit the profile to codis. But the line behind newer cases is long. While authorities wait for results, the Koons family suffers another loss when Dawn's mother passes away.

[David Koons]

What I find heartbreaking is the. That as the years went on and no word, no new developments, I think that my mother probably felt that it was something that would never be solved.

[Gina Pearl]

To somewhat bring some closure to the family when they've been searching for answers for so long is why I do my job. It's why I became a prosecutor, and it's why I continue to be a prosecutor.

[Chance Coroner]

The procedure for submitting DNA into CODIS isn't a fast one. It's one that takes a lot of approvals, and ultimately it takes quite a while to get that comparison back.

[Marissa Pinson]

After months of waiting, results of the CODIS search finally come back.

[Gina Pearl]

There was a CODIS hit.

[Chance Coroner]

Initially when we got this information, everybody was very excited because we had something, we had had a direction to go. In this case, there was a little bit of surprise.

[Gina Pearl]

It was the man who lived in apartment 50. Prentice Foreman.

[Marissa Pinson]

This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Let's be honest, workplace stress has never been higher. In fact, 61% of the global workforce reports experiencing above normal stress levels. And honestly, I felt it myself this summer. I'm reminding myself that even small steps like sitting in the sun for a few minutes, walking on an incline, or just setting aside regular time to unplug can make a real difference in how I feel day to day. But while some time off or a vacation is great, we know that's not a long term solution. Sometimes you need extra support to really manage workday challenges. And that's where therapy comes in. Therapy isn't just for dealing with big life events. It's also about learning positive coping strategies, setting healthy boundaries and and building resilience so you can bring your best self to everything you do. That's why I love BetterHelp. With over 30,000 therapists, they're the world's largest online therapy platform, serving over 5 million people worldwide. The app is simple to use and you can join sessions from anywhere, anytime. Need a different fit? You can switch therapists with just a click, no awkwardness. And with a 4.9 star rating from over 1.7 million client reviews, BetterHelp is helping people take their wellness seriously one step at a time. As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com cold case that's better h e l p.com coldcase homes.com knows that when it comes to home shopping, it's never just about the house or condo. It it's about the home. And what makes a home is more than just the house or property. It's the location and neighborhood. If you have kids, it's also schools, nearby, parks and transportation options. That's why homes.com goes above and beyond to bring home shoppers the in depth information they need to find the right home. And when I say in depth, I'm talking deep. Each listing features comprehensive information about the neighborhood, complete with a video guide. They also have details about local schools with test scores, state rankings and student to teacher ratio. They even have an agent directory with the sales history of each agent. So when it comes to finding a home, not just a house, this is everything you need to know, all in one place. Homes.com, we've done your homework. A national database match leads Detective Corner to a man named Prentiss Foreman.

[Prentice Foreman]

Prentice Foreman was interviewed by the detectives in 1979. And during that interview, he basically told the detectives that he had seen her in passing, would wave at her, maybe say hello to her, and he gave an alibi. He said he was with his girlfriend. At the time. I saw that his alibi, Latonya, had never been interviewed. So we didn't have any information about what she had to say about this.

[Gina Pearl]

One of the main things we wanted to do was verify whether or not he was with Latonya during the weekend that Don was murdered.

[Prentice Foreman]

She was actually at the residence that was listed on her college transcripts from 1979. So I actually met with Latonya at her residence, and she admitted to being a friend of Prentiss. I gave her the time frame of the murder, January 12, 1979. And she told me that she was not with Prentiss during that time, that she was actually in Texas attending college. I needed to corroborate that, so I reached out, and the administrator, fortunately decided, did some research and located some transcripts from that time period for Latonya, that she was in Texas attending college at the time of this murder.

[Gina Pearl]

We knew that his original statement was going to be a big piece of evidence for us because we could now prove he was, in fact, lying. It was very important for us to try to get a statement from Foreman, a recent statement. So Detective Kerner was able to locate a valid phone number for Prentice Foreman, and he called him.

[Prentice Foreman]

The question now came down to, what is he going to say?

[Marissa Pinson]

One day, after speaking with Latonia, Detective, coroner calls the man that investigators first spoke with nearly 39 years earlier.

[Prentice Foreman]

Well, who am I speaking with, sir?

[Chance Coroner]

My name is.

[Prentice Foreman]

I've got some photos of a guy that we've been looking at for a long time, and I'm hoping. I like to meet with you to show you these photos.

[Gina Pearl]

I spoke with a detective years ago.

[David Koons]

I didn't know nothing then.

[Prentice Foreman]

I don't know nothing now. But I never really identified or told him what case I was referring to. I didn't really have that opportunity to get that deep into the conversation, but I knew that I had to keep him on the phone. Did you guys have any type of intimate relationship or not, Mr. Foreman, that's all I want to know.

[Chance Coroner]

None of your.

[Gina Pearl]

When we heard his tone and tenor on the phone, as well as his total lack of cooperation, we sort of knew that this was going to become important as to what he had to say. Now, we knew that we had a lot of pieces of the puzzle already. We had from Steve Don was afraid of the man who lived in apartment 50. We knew that was Prentice Foreman. We knew he had lied to investigators about his whereabouts that weekend. And then we also had a very strong DNA sample from her rape kit. The decision was made at that time to issue the arrest warrant and bring him in for a formal interview. Foreman was arrested in Bakersfield, an apartment he was living at. He was brought in downtown to the Bakersfield Police Department station, and he was given his Miranda rights. He decided to waive those rights and indicated a willingness to speak to investigators.

[Prentice Foreman]

When Prentice Foreman first came into the interview room, he was almost challenging. Anything you say may be used against you in court. You understand that? Didn't that say all that to you already? I started asking him questions about his relationship with Dawn. No. You remember me from talking on the telephone, correct?

[Marissa Pinson]

That's your name.

[Chance Coroner]

Okay.

[Prentice Foreman]

What kind of a relationship did you and Ms. Coons have?

[Gina Pearl]

Friends. Okay.

[Prentice Foreman]

When you say friends, I mean, explain that to me.

[David Koons]

What do you mean, friends?

[Brad Rourke]

One sexual encounter.

[Prentice Foreman]

I now had to establish a time frame. When did that sexual encounter take place? That's eventually what I did.

[Marissa Pinson]

Months before that.

[Prentice Foreman]

Months before that?

[Gina Pearl]

Yes.

[Chance Coroner]

Okay. Months?

[David Koons]

Yes.

[Prentice Foreman]

That was your sexual encounter months before?

[Ed Tropasso]

Months back, October2, three months before the end.

[Prentice Foreman]

As soon as he said that, my partner and I basically kind of look at each other, and we knew right then and there he was done. We knew as investigators that the sperm is going to die within a few days. And obviously, if Princess Forman is saying that he had sex with her four months earlier, obviously his DNA wouldn't be there any longer.

[Gina Pearl]

Within 48 hours of his arrest, Mr. Foreman was arraigned on a single count of first degree murder.

[Prentice Foreman]

It was a relief. I put many hours into this case, and the biggest relief for me was closure for the family.

[Marissa Pinson]

The call from Bakersfield police stuns. David.

[David Koons]

After four decades, I couldn't believe it. They had someone. Maybe it was on its way to being solved. But of course, you had to go through a trial first.

[Gina Pearl]

One of the first things that I did was looking through the report to make sure we could actually prove what happened to a jury some 40 years later. What evidence is there still that has Maintained its integrity and we can actually use for a jury at a trial. This was first degree premeditated, willful, deliberate murder that someone did. They just had to decide was it Prentice Foreman?

[Prentice Foreman]

I was only five years old when this homicide occurred, but here I am 40 years later, the lead investigator and I was able to maybe bring some closure to the family and some justice.

[Marissa Pinson]

Nearly four decades after Don Koon's murder, Bakersfield police arrest Prentice Foreman for the crime. When Forman pleads not guilty, Prosecutors now face the challenge of bringing a 40 year old case to life.

[Gina Pearl]

For a jury, that's always a concern, especially on a 40 year old case is the longer it goes, the longer it's drawn out, the harder our case is going to be to prove to 12 people beyond a reasonable doubt. The report had been maintained. The original report from 1979 as well as the original rape kit and the slides, all the photos from 1979 and the autopsy had also been properly preserved.

[Marissa Pinson]

Seventeen months after Forman's arrest, Gina Pearl finally takes the case to a jury.

[Gina Pearl]

The defense was claiming a consensual relationship with Dawn.

[Chance Coroner]

The fact that two individuals have sex and one of them dies afterwards, we don't know how long afterwards, doesn't tell us that that sex partner killed the other.

[Gina Pearl]

Defense did try to make a point in that Diane was her closest friend and co worker. If really the man in apartment 50 was so harassing and so horrible, Don would have mentioned that to her. And so obviously the defense was going to try to throw out as many suspects as they could possibly find. We were able to successfully argue against their attempts to point the finger at someone else. This defendant is the man in apartment 50. Don and Mr. Foreman knew each other in the sense that Don had seen him around the apartment complex before. She had expressed fear to Steve about the man who lived in apartment 50. He is the one who was harassing dawn, giving her a hard time.

[Marissa Pinson]

He.

[Gina Pearl]

In the weeks leading up to her murder, she did have a habit of keeping her front door unlocked. And that's how I believe Mr. Foreman was able to get in. I believe Mr. Foreman entered the apartment and dawn was already in her bedroom, either asleep or going to sleep. The attack definitely happened in the bedroom. The sheets were thrown about, the mattress was exposed, the lamp was knocked over and the telephone cords were all indicating that that is where the sexual assault and ultimately the murder happened. I believe Mr. Foreman went in prepared and planning to have sex with Don whether or not she consented. When she saw him and said no, that's when he became violent and put the pillowcase over her, cut the cords, bound her wrists and was able to overcome her.

[Marissa Pinson]

After nearly two days of deliberation, the jury comes back with a verdict. Prentiss Forman is found guilty in one of Kern County's oldest unsolved homicides, the murder of Don Koons.

[Prentice Foreman]

When they did read the verdict, I looked at Prentiss and he was obviously, I guess you could say stunned and in disbelief. I honestly don't know if he really understood what just happened. It was almost like he was dazed.

[Marissa Pinson]

On July 10, 2019, a judge sentences Forman to 25 years to life in prison. Prison.

[Prentice Foreman]

Unfortunately, Don Coons mother was no longer with us, but Don's brothers were. And I felt great that they could finally have some closure.

[Gina Pearl]

I had contact with David Coons throughout, and he gave me a. A beautifully written letter as well as a bouquet of yellow roses, which were Don's favorite. Those flowers and that note are prominently displayed in my office.

[David Koons]

I was so happy to meet her because what she did for my family, the way she tried the case, I think that she gave everything she could, as if dawn was her own sister or her daughter. But the fact that the man has been tried and convicted to me is immaterial. I'm still missing something. Dawn was definitely unique and special. I'm still grief stricken that my sister was taken from me, that I've been denied the opportunity to see her develop, to succeed, to see what her life would have become. Those things are still missing for me.

[Chance Coroner]

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[Ed Tropasso]

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[Chance Coroner]

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[Prentice Foreman]

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[Chance Coroner]

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