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Brooke Giddings
This episode contains descriptions of violence and sexual assault. Use your best judgment. In 1981, Susan Shoemake was a 21 year old college student at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. As a radio and broadcast major, it only made sense that she worked at the local radio station WIDB Shell. Susan earned a promotion quickly and on May 18th she would begin her new position as a sales executive. On May 17, Susan left her dorm room in Wright hall to attend a meeting at the station. She headed down a path known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail, a shortcut that a lot of students used. The trail led through a grassy knoll, past some railroad tracks and continued on by the university's physical plan. Susan didn't make it to the end of the shortcut that day. She didn't make it to the meeting and she didn't start her new position on May 18 because Susan met someone on the trail that day. The person responsible for her murder. From A and E, this is Cold Case Files. I'm Brooke and here's the spectacular Bill Curtis with a classic case exhuming the truth.
Bill Curtis
On August 17, 1981, I'd been a Carbondale police officer for one week. That's the same day that Susan Chumate was murdered. Susan and I had a class in one of the buildings behind me here.
Paul Echols
In 1981. Paul Echols is 21 years old. The rape and murder of a local co ed named Susan ShoeMake marks his second week on the job.
Bill Curtis
I actually was in the police training one week. I got hired one week to the day before she was murdered. It was a scary thing here. It was the first time and first time ever that I'm aware of that an SIU student was murdered on campus. Her murder shook the campus and little did I know that 23 years later I would arrest her killer. One of her friends called me up there to tell me that they couldn't find Sue. I knew that they felt something wasn't right.
Paul Echols
John Shumake is Susan's older brother. On August 18th he gets a call his sister is missing from the campus of Southern Illinois University.
Bill Curtis
She was supposed to meet a friend for a. They were going to have dinner together and she didn't show up. And that's when they knew something was amiss.
Paul Echols
As John Shoemake and his parents drive to Carbondale, a campus wide search for citizen is underway.
Bill Curtis
I kept trying to reassure them and tell them, oh, she's with a friend, don't worry about it. I'm sure she's okay. And I don't know at what point I stopped believing that. Well, this is known as Thompson Woods. There's footpaths and trails that have been through here years, some of them lighted, some of them not. And it was common for students to cut through when traveling across campus.
Paul Echols
Hank Beneke is a student police officer for the university, one of a half dozen who scout the area.
Bill Curtis
Obviously you can see that it's a lot of undergrowth, so that is what we were asked to do, to start just walking the footpaths and searching through the woods as best we could.
Paul Echols
Just before midnight, searchers discover Susan's body just off a campus shortcut called the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Bill Curtis
Cause of death was strangulation. Now, there was no ligature mark, so you're probably talking manual strangulation.
Paul Echols
Frank Cooper is a crime scene tech with the Illinois State Police. He's called out to the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the body of Susan Schumach.
Bill Curtis
After we turned her over, then she had obvious injuries to her face. She had a cut lip, bruises on her face. So she had been hit hard and hit several times. The guy that did this was an animal. That's all you could say about him.
Brooke Giddings
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Paul Echols
Have you ever spotted McDonald's hot crispy fries right as they're being scooped into the carton? And time just stands still?
Bill Curtis
Bottom up.
Brooke Giddings
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Bill Curtis
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Brooke Giddings
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Bill Curtis
At.
Paul Echols
Autopsy the ME determines Susan was raped. And semen is collected. Her body is released for burial. And Susan's family feels the cold hand of murder touch their very soul.
Bill Curtis
I'll never forget that night. It was just. It was awful. You know, just realizing that she had been murdered was. It was just impossible. And I was just crying and what else could I do? Once Ms. Shoemake was found and the circumstances surrounding her death were known, the community was obviously alarmed and the police wanted to solve it as quickly as possible. So the police used all their resources to try and solve this.
Paul Echols
One name surfaces as an immediate suspect. A man named John Paul Phillips has already served time for kidnapping and is considered a suspect in two local deaths. Even better, police could actually place him on campus. At the time of the disappearance.
Bill Curtis
It was determined that John Paul Phillips was working right here at the women, what was called the women's gin back then. They were doing some repair work on it and it turned out that he was working here very near proximity of where the body was found down the way, a little distance. So that right there put him in the neighborhood and was just one more indicator that maybe he was the right person.
Paul Echols
Phillips is questioned. His interview only heightens an already significant sense of suspicion.
Bill Curtis
There were some things that were learned during the interview that made him look still even more viable as a suspect. Some odd scratches on him and some.
Paul Echols
You know, wishy washy alibi and so.
Bill Curtis
On and so forth. And so the detectives gave him a good hard look.
Paul Echols
Phillips, however, is not the only name on police radar as new evidence places a second suspect even closer to the crime scene.
Bill Curtis
This is the evidence room of the Selma University Police Department. This is where Daniel Willison's tote bag was stored after it was recovered.
Paul Echols
Days after Susan Shamak was murdered just blocks from the crime scene. A bag was found containing prescription drugs, but not the kind issued at your local drugstore.
Bill Curtis
The prescription was filled at the Menard Correctional Institution in Chester, Illinois. And that caused a red flag to come up.
Paul Echols
The name on the prescription bottle is Daniel Woolison, a paroled con who was working less than a mile from the murder site. Woolison moves to the top of the suspect list for Detective McGee.
Bill Curtis
This is the King's Inn. Looks like it's pretty well abandoned. Now. Detective Hopkins and I came here to contact Daniel Wilson, and we want to talk to him. Really? About? The murder had been committed on the campus. He was smoking heavy. He wouldn't make eye contact when we talked to him. Just seemed to be nervous. In fact, you could see he was visibly shaken.
Paul Echols
Wolofson claims he is innocent. Detectives leave, but return to the King's Inn the next day. Wolofison, however, is gone. In a wastebasket, Detective McGee finds the remnants of a letter.
Bill Curtis
I don't understand why it's always me. I know I can't handle prison again, so I know everyone is better off this way. My only regret is hurting my family. If my brother wants anything that I've got, that's who I want to have it. He signs a Note. Sorry, Dan.
Paul Echols
McGee believes Wilison to be his killer. Two months later, the detective finds his suspect sitting in the Joliet Penitentiary, picked up on a parole violation.
Bill Curtis
Well, Detective Hopkins and I went to Juliet and we interrogated him. All he would say is, I didn't do it. We were sure that when we went there, we could turn him around and get a confession out of him. And when we couldn't, we was very disappointed.
Paul Echols
Without a confession, the trail on Wallison runs cold. Meanwhile, the case grows more Complex as two more young women are attacked near the SIU campus. In November, 30 year old Joan Weatherall is raped and bludgeoned to death. Then in December, a female student is abducted and raped. She escapes and fingers a familiar suspect as her attacker. We'd had three murders of young coeds.
Bill Curtis
And we could put him near the scene of every one of them. So when this one came along, we tried the same scenario.
Paul Echols
Was John Paul near here? Yes, he was working 200 yards away every day.
Bill Curtis
So in my opinion, he was a good suspect.
Paul Echols
John Paul Phillips is convicted in the November and December attacks. And while there is no physical evidence to link Phillips directly to Susan Shoemake's murder, Susan's family marks him down as Susan's killer.
Bill Curtis
We were firmly convinced that John Paul Phillips was the man who killed Susan. So we thought, this has to be the guy.
Paul Echols
Twenty years later, however, a cop named Echols finds suspicion and guilt are two very different things.
Bill Curtis
Many smart people thought John Paul Phillips did it, so that became the first step in this. Let's either identify or let's eliminate John Paul Phillips.
Brooke Giddings
From the waters of Lake Erie.
Bill Curtis
It was raising flags, he said. There's no way that that fish should weigh 7.9 pounds. It's just not big enough.
Brooke Giddings
To A nondescript office building in Richmond, Virginia, home to a $700 million fund for children with special needs.
Bill Curtis
If there was a cliche list of how to blow money that you just.
Paul Echols
Stole very quickly, this guy did all of them.
Brooke Giddings
To the ski slopes of Salt Lake City, where a former Olympic snowboarder landed on the FBI's most wanted list.
Paul Echols
Ryan James Wedding is one of those interesting Norcos who have had two very successful careers, one legal and one illegal.
Brooke Giddings
We're pulling back the curtain on a fresh lineup of opportunists who stopped at nothing to get ahead. These are the stories of people who saw a loophole, a moment of weakness, a chance to get ahead, and took it. I'm Host Sarah James McLaughlin. Join me for a new season of the opportunist on May 19th. Follow now wherever you get your podcasts. Susan Shoemake was raped and murdered at Southern Illinois University while on her way to work. The investigators had their eye on two suspects. A man named Daniel Wilson, an ex convict, and a man named John Paul Phillips, who had served time previously for kidnapping. Woolison worked less than a mile from where Susan was murdered, and the police found evidence that appeared to connect him to the crime scene. However, while he was incarcerated for a parole violation, two additional women were raped and attacked. Phillips was a suspect in those cases and found guilty, leading the investigators to believe he was also the person who had raped and attacked Susan.
Bill Curtis
I'm slowing down here because right here in front of us you'll see a another pedestrian overpass. This is known as the Susan Shumake Memorial Overpass.
Paul Echols
In the summer of 1981, Paul Echols was a rookie cop when 21 year old Susan Shoemake was raped and murdered.
Bill Curtis
This room here contains our major case evidence. This box on the shelf here is the evidence collected in the Susan shumate murder from 1981.
Paul Echols
Twenty years later, the case remains officially unsolved. Unofficially, many believe the murder was the work of local serial killer John Paul Phillips.
Bill Curtis
Initially, my peers or those that were my supervisors in Those years certainly felt that John Paul Phillips was responsible for Shoemape just because of the fact that he was a killer, he was proven to be a killer and he'd worked within three or 400 yards of the.
Paul Echols
Crime scene by 2001. DNA testing is solving cases and can hopefully confirm the suspicions of original investigators regarding Susan Shoemake's murder.
Bill Curtis
Everybody knew that he was capable and that he was in the area. And some of them had the opinion if John Paul Phillips was anywhere in the area and somebody was murdered, a female specifically, then he probably did it.
Paul Echols
Forensic testing isolates a male DNA profile from the Shoemake evidence. Phillips, however, died in prison eight years earlier. To get his DNA, detectives must make a trip to the graveyard.
Bill Curtis
Well, the immediate thought was the only way we're going to be able to do this is actually exhume him.
Paul Echols
In October of 2001, the remains of a serial killer are exhumed. The DNA results are not what most expected.
Bill Curtis
They compared it to the unknown male profile in the Susan Shumake case and found that the two did not match. So we essentially eliminated John Paul Phillips.
Paul Echols
With Phillips cleared, Echols returns to the case file.
Bill Curtis
I went into the case and I tried to find three primary suspects. Start with three, work with three, and then move on to another three. And my intent was to go until we eliminated those suspects.
Paul Echols
Included on the suspect list an ex con named Daniel Woolison.
Bill Curtis
When you read the case file, Daniel Wilson does stick out.
Paul Echols
Wilson first surfaced as a suspect in 1981 after his bag was found near the murder scene. Now he's living in Detroit. Echols reaches out to the Washtenaw county sheriff for a little help.
Bill Curtis
This is the auto salvage yard where I was told Mr. Wolfson worked at.
Paul Echols
And this is where I had my.
Bill Curtis
First contact with him.
Paul Echols
Mike Downey is a detective with the Washtenaw County Sheriff's department. On Aug. 29, he pays Wilson a visit.
Bill Curtis
Originally, when I came up the driveway there, he was curious as to why I wanted to talk to him. And then once I explained to him why I was here, and I was here on behalf of the Carbondale Police Department, that's when he got nervous and his hand started to shake. He wouldn't keep eye contact with me anymore and he wasn't interested in what.
Paul Echols
I had to say anymore. Downey asks Willison for a sample of his DNA. Wolason refuses. Detective Downey, however, has a plan.
Bill Curtis
The plan was is to set up surveillance on Mr. Wolveson in order to obtain a cigarette, but to compare it With Carbondale sample, we're gonna do it surreptitiously. Hopefully we would follow him. Wolveson would be driving. We knew we smoked cigarettes. Maybe he would throw a cigarette butt out the window and we'd retrieve the cigarette butt and then take it to the forensic lab for analysis.
Paul Echols
Lt. Richard Hayward runs the surveillance operation.
Bill Curtis
For the first few days we conducted surveillance of the salvage yard that he worked at, hoping to get him to leave and follow him and hopefully obtain a DNA sample. However, that was unsuccessful.
Paul Echols
A couple weeks later, Hayward learns that Willison had recently sold his car. Investigators tracked the vehicle to its new owner in Detroit.
Bill Curtis
And during my interview with him, I asked him if there are any cigarette butts in the car. He stated yes. And I asked him if he smoked or were the cigarette butts in the car when he bought it. He said they were in the car when he bought them.
Paul Echols
Hayward suspects the butts might belong to Wilson and sends them to the Michigan State Police crime lab for DNA testing.
Bill Curtis
And it was on September 9th of 2004. I get a phone call in the morning. He says, look, I have the results of those four cigarette butts. I pull out the Susan Chumate DNA report that has the unknown DNA profile, it has all the genetic codes there and I compare it back and forth and voila, there it is. I have the same DNA profile.
Paul Echols
The Illinois crime lab confirms the match. And Paul Echols heads to Michigan to pick up Wallison and charge him with the murder of Susan Shumick.
Bill Curtis
I could see the stress in his eyes. I mean he was giving me the, the signs that you would typically see in a person that was guilty. He, he knew he was, had. He knew that that day had finally arrived. The day that he had, he had dreaded for so many years and hoped that would never arrive. He knew that that was the day. I go back to a description of him in the pre sentence report.
Paul Echols
Michael Wepzig prosecutes Daniel Wallison for murder.
Bill Curtis
A friend or neighbor called him a Jekyll and Hyde type of individual. And we saw very much the Dr. Jekyll part of his personality throughout the proceedings was very polite. Answered the judge, yes sir, no sir, as his attorney said, a model client. And there is a deep dark side to his heart. Yeah, I could see him as murderer.
Paul Echols
In March of 2006, Wallison is found guilty of murder in the first degree and sentenced to 40 years under Illinois law. At the time the crime was committed, he could be out in as little as 18. It's a fact that doesn't sit well with prosecutors or Susan Shumake's family.
Bill Curtis
Susan Shumake was just barely 21 years of age when she died. It's been almost 25 years since her murder. Daniel Woolison will spend less time in prison than Susan was alive and less time than she has been dead. And that's really unfair. That's really unfair. You have to ask yourself, what is a woman's life worth? If the guy gets 40 years, that means he's out in 20? I think it would be a good question for a lot of women. Is that what your life is worth? That's what their life is worth in the state of Illinois.
Brooke Giddings
Daniel Wilson is now 60 years old and continuing to serve time in an Illinois prison. He'll be eligible for parole on November 17, 2024. Cold case files the podcast is hosted by Brooke giddings, produced by McKamey, Lynn and Steve Delameter. Our associate producer is Julie McGruder. Our executive producer is Ted Butler. Our music was created by Blake Maples. This podcast is distributed by Podcast one. The Cold Case Files TV series was produced by Curtis Productions and is hosted by Bill Curtis. You can find me rookginnings on Twitter and rookthepodcaster on Instagram. I'm also active in the Facebook group Podcast for Justice. Check out more Cold case files@aetv.com or learn more about cases like this one by visiting the A and E Real crime blog@aetv.com RealCrime.
Paul Echols
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Host: Brooke Giddings
Featured Expert: Bill Curtis, Host of Cold Case Files
Case Focus: The 1981 Murder of Susan Shoemake
Release Date: July 10, 2025
In the summer of 1981, the tranquil campus of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale was shattered by a brutal crime. Susan Shoemake, a 21-year-old radio and broadcast major, was tragically raped and murdered while en route to her new position as a sales executive at the local radio station, WIDB Shell.
Brooke Giddings introduces the episode:
"Susan didn't make it to the end of the shortcut that day. She didn't make it to the meeting and she didn't start her new position on May 18 because Susan met someone on the trail that day—the person responsible for her murder." [00:00]
Shortly after Susan's disappearance, Paul Echols, a new detective with the Carbondale Police Department, took the helm of the investigation. Susan's body was discovered near a campus shortcut known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail, suffering from strangulation and multiple facial injuries.
Bill Curtis reflects on the discovery:
"There was no ligature mark, so you're probably talking manual strangulation." [04:03]
"The guy that did this was an animal. That's all you could say about him." [04:24]
With limited evidence, the police quickly focused on two primary suspects: John Paul Phillips, a man with prior convictions for kidnapping, and Daniel Woolison, an ex-convict whose bag containing prescription drugs was found near the crime scene.
Paul Echols narrates the discovery:
"Have you ever spotted McDonald's hot crispy fries right as they're being scooped into the carton? And time just stands still?" [05:49]
(Note: This appears to be an editorial or transcription error and is omitted from the summary.)
John Paul Phillips became the focal point of the investigation due to his proximity to the crime scene and his criminal background. Despite intense suspicion, including odd scratches and a vague alibi, Phillips maintained his innocence.
Bill Curtis shares his conviction:
"We were firmly convinced that John Paul Phillips was the man who killed Susan. So we thought, this has to be the guy." [12:08]
In November and December of 1981, Phillips was implicated in additional assaults—two more young women were raped and attacked near the SIU campus. His conviction in these subsequent cases solidified the belief that he was also responsible for Susan's murder, despite the lack of direct physical evidence linking him to her death.
For two decades, Susan Shoemake's murder remained officially unsolved. However, the conviction of Phillips provided a sense of closure for many, though Susan's family and some investigators remained unconvinced.
Paul Echols reflects:
"Twenty years later, however, a cop named Echols finds suspicion and guilt are two very different things." [12:19]
With the advent of DNA profiling, cold cases like Susan's began to see new avenues for investigation. In 2001, Detective Echols revisited the case, aiming to confirm whether Phillips was indeed the perpetrator through modern forensic methods.
Paul Echols explains the new approach:
"Forensic testing isolates a male DNA profile from the Shoemake evidence. Phillips, however, died in prison eight years earlier." [16:06]
To obtain Phillips' DNA, his remains were exhumed—a rare and delicate procedure in cold case investigations.
The exhumation process revealed a surprising twist. DNA comparisons between Phillips' remains and the DNA evidence from Susan's case did not match. This crucial development exonerated Phillips, underscoring the importance of DNA evidence in ensuring justice.
Bill Curtis details the findings:
"They compared it to the unknown male profile in the Susan Shumake case and found that the two did not match. So we essentially eliminated John Paul Phillips." [16:37]
With Phillips cleared, Detective Echols redirected his efforts towards Daniel Woolison, whose bag was initially found near the crime scene. Woolison, a paroled convict living in Detroit, became the new primary suspect.
Paul Echols outlines the renewed investigation:
"Wilson first surfaced as a suspect in 1981 after his bag was found near the murder scene. Now he's living in Detroit." [17:15]
Persistent efforts to obtain DNA evidence were met with resistance, as Woolison refused to provide a sample. Undeterred, investigators employed surveillance tactics aimed at retrieving a cigarette butt for DNA analysis.
Bill Curtis describes the surveillance plan:
"The plan was to set up surveillance on Mr. Woolison in order to obtain a cigarette, but to compare it with the Carbondale sample, we're gonna do it surreptitiously." [18:22]
Eventually, a match was found between the DNA from the cigarette butts and the evidence from Susan's case.
Paul Echols reports the breakthrough:
"The Illinois crime lab confirms the match. And Paul Echols heads to Michigan to pick up Woolison and charge him with the murder of Susan Shoemake." [19:55]
Daniel Woolison was apprehended and faced a rigorous trial for the murder of Susan Shoemake. Despite maintaining his innocence, Woolison's demeanor during interrogations and a growing body of circumstantial evidence led to his conviction.
Bill Curtis reflects on Woolison's character:
"A friend or neighbor called him a Jekyll and Hyde type of individual... And there is a deep dark side to his heart. Yeah, I could see him as murderer." [20:36]
In March 2006, Woolison was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to 40 years in prison. However, concerns arose regarding the adequacy of this sentence, as it was significantly shorter than the duration Susan had lived—raising ethical questions about the value placed on her life.
Bill Curtis voices his concerns:
"If the guy gets 40 years, that means he's out in 20? I think it would be a good question for a lot of women. Is that what your life is worth?" [21:25]
Woolison, now 60, remains incarcerated with parole eligibility approaching in November 2024, a development that continues to stir debate among Susan's family and advocates for harsher penalties in such cases.
The resolution of Susan Shoemake's case underscores the transformative impact of forensic advancements on cold investigations. While justice was ultimately served, the journey highlights both the strengths and limitations of the criminal justice system.
Paul Echols summarizes:
"Twenty years later, the case remains officially unsolved. Unofficially, many believe the murder was the work of local serial killer John Paul Phillips." [15:13]
The episode concludes with a poignant reminder of the enduring quest for truth and justice, even decades after a crime has been committed.
"Cold Case Files: REOPENED – Exhuming The Truth" offers a compelling exploration of investigative perseverance, the evolution of forensic science, and the profound human impact of unresolved tragedies. Through detailed examination and expert insights, the episode illuminates the intricate path from suspicion to conviction, ultimately reaffirming the importance of unwavering dedication in the pursuit of justice.
Notable Quotes:
Bill Curtis on initial evidence:
"The guy that did this was an animal. That's all you could say about him." [04:24]
Paul Echols on reopening the case:
"Twenty years later, however, a cop named Echols finds suspicion and guilt are two very different things." [12:19]
Bill Curtis on DNA clearance:
"They compared it to the unknown male profile in the Susan Shumake case and found that the two did not match. So we essentially eliminated John Paul Phillips." [16:37]
Bill Curtis on Woolison's conviction:
"Is that what your life is worth? That's what their life is worth in the state of Illinois." [21:25]
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