Killing was Purposeful /// Part 1 /// 841

Summary

True Crime Garage Podcast Episode Summary: "Killing Was Purposeful /// Part 1 /// 841"

Release Date: May 14, 2025

In this gripping episode of True Crime Garage, hosts Nic and the Captain delve into the tragic and mysterious case of Lori Ann Hill, a 14-year-old girl whose untimely death shook the small town of Swanton, Ohio. This detailed summary captures the key discussions, insights, and developments presented in the first part of their exploration into Lori's case.

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1. Introduction to Lori Ann Hill's Story

The episode opens with Nic setting the stage for a deep dive into Lori Ann Hill's disappearance and subsequent murder. Known for their engaging storytelling, Nic and the Captain weave a narrative that highlights the perplexing nature of Lori's case and the challenges faced by the investigators.

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2. Lori Ann Hill: A Snapshot of Her Life

Lori Ann Hill was born on November 9, 1970, in Miami, Florida, to Roger and Dottie Hill. The family relocated to Swanton, Ohio, a small town of approximately 3,500 residents, providing Lori with a seemingly safe and close-knit community. As the youngest of four siblings, Lori was described as a friendly and popular sophomore at Swanton High School, cherished for her sunny personality and strong family bonds. A passionate horse enthusiast, Lori balanced her interests with an active social life, including a budding romance with her 18-year-old boyfriend, Craig Rupp.

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3. The Fateful Night: October 25, 1985

The night of October 25, 1985, was supposed to be ordinary for Lori. However, it swiftly turned tragic. The evening's timeline unfolded as follows:

• 6:30 PM: Craig Rupp picks up Lori from her home.
• Dinner at McDonald's: The couple enjoys a meal together.
• Visit to a Pond: They spend some private time near an area pond, with Craig affirming, "they never had sex and that night was no exception" (00:54).
• 8:00 PM Halloween Party: Lori attends a party on South Munson Road, where tensions escalate.

At the party, Lori and Craig engage in a heated argument over Lori wearing both Craig's class ring and a ring from a previous boyfriend—a significant breach of etiquette that visibly upset Lori (09:40). Witnesses report Lori leaving the party around 9:30 PM, appearing distraught and visibly intoxicated.

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4. The Last Known Movements and Witness Accounts

Following the departure from the party, Lori's movements become increasingly erratic:

• Ride with Steve Wachowski: A friend named Steve offers Lori a ride home. However, Lori, overwhelmed with emotions, insists on getting out of the car after driving a short distance, believing Craig's headlights were following them (10:01).

  "She was very distraught, crying. She had been crying very, very hard. Her face was red. She just wasn't herself." – Steve Wachowski (09:41)

• Encounter at Mr. G's Pizza: Lori is later seen at Mr. G's Pizza making a phone call. The caller remains unidentified, leaving a critical gap in the investigation's timeline (12:09).

• Additional Sightings:

  • Rhonda Whitman: Lori briefly interacts with a friend who offers her another ride, which Lori declines, stating someone else would pick her up. Notably, Rhonda notes Lori seemed "normal" despite earlier distress (12:38).
  • Deborah Ronan: A neighbor observes Lori walking toward her home after 10 PM, offering her a ride which Lori again refuses (16:45).
  • The Bettingers' Sighting: Around 10:30 PM, a married couple reports seeing three teenagers near State Route 295. They later identify the girl in the center of the group as Lori based on her appearance and familiarity with the area (16:45).

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5. Discovery of Lori's Body

On October 30, 1985, a deer hunter discovers Lori's body along Fulton County Road M. The location is approximately 10 miles west of Toledo and 13 miles from her home. Initial reports mistakenly suggested she was shot, but a subsequent coroner's report clarified that Lori died from multiple blunt force and sharp injuries, with her skull likely fractured by an iron instrument like a pry bar or crowbar (26:15).

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6. Initial Investigation and Suspect Focus

Law enforcement quickly categorizes Lori's disappearance as that of a runaway but soon shifts focus to potential foul play given the discovery of her body. The primary suspect becomes her ex-boyfriend, Walter E. Zempik, who dated Lori for approximately 18 months prior to her death. Inconsistent alibis and conflicting statements during initial interviews raise suspicions (35:34).

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7. Forensic Findings and Challenges

Forensic analysis revealed semen on Lori's vaginal swab, though no sperm cells were detected. The quality of evidence at the time hindered its utility, and subsequent DNA testing in 1988 also proved inconclusive due to poor sample quality (43:52). These challenges contributed to the case going cold, leaving Lori's family and the community desperate for answers.

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8. Reopening the Case: The Cold Case Unit's Involvement

Decades later, in 2008, renewed interest and advances in investigative techniques prompt law enforcement to revisit Lori's case. Collaborating with a cold case unit funded by a National Institute of Justice grant, investigators uncover new tips and evidence. This renewed effort culminates in 2009 with the indictment of Walter E. Zempik on charges of aggravated murder and murder, bringing a semblance of closure to a decades-old mystery (47:32).

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9. Verdict and Current Status

The indictment of Walter Zempik signified a pivotal moment in Lori Ann Hill's case. While the indictment did not immediately resolve all questions surrounding her death, it underscored the persistent efforts of law enforcement and Lori's family to seek justice. As of the episode's conclusion, the case remains a stark reminder of the fragility of youth and the enduring quest for truth in the face of tragedy.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• "She was very distraught, crying. She had been crying very, very hard. Her face was red. She just wasn't herself." – Steve Wachowski (09:41)

• "I am very worried. This isn't something that she wouldn't do at all. I just don't know what to say." – Walter Zempik (47:32)

• "There is definitely a revenge factor. I want an eye for an eye." – Roger Hill, Lori's father (29:03)

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Conclusion

In "Killing Was Purposeful /// Part 1 /// 841," True Crime Garage provides a comprehensive overview of Lori Ann Hill's tragic demise. Through meticulous recounting of events, witness testimonies, and investigative hurdles, Nic and the Captain shed light on the complexities surrounding this case. As they hint at further developments in subsequent parts, listeners are left pondering the elusive nature of justice and the enduring impact of Lori's loss on her community.

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For fans of true crime and those seeking to understand the depths of unsolved mysteries, this episode serves as a poignant exploration of a young life cut short and the relentless pursuit of answers.

Transcript

[Captain]

Sa.

[Nick]

Foreign welcome to True Crime Garage, wherever you are, whatever you're doing. Thanks for listening. I'm your host, Nick, and with me as always, is a man who at the end of today's show will be performing a tick tock dance. Here is the cap and it's gonna.

[Captain]

Blow your freaking mind. It's good to be seen and good to see you. Thanks for listening. Thanks for telling a friend.

[Nick]

This week we are delighted to be featuring Lawn Mower Yard lager by the fine folks at Churchill Brewing Company. This is an American light beer by style, but it's made up in Canada so it has a little extra oomph to it. It's crisp and not watered down like some light beers. ABV 4.3% garage grade, three and a half bottle caps out of five. And let's give some thanks and praise to our good friends for helping us fill up the old garage fridge. First up, a big shout out to Melissa from White House, Tennessee.

[Captain]

And a big we like your drip goes out to Nikki from Rockton, Illinois.

[Nick]

Here's a cheers to Ally in Sumter, South Carolina.

[Captain]

Big tall cans in the air to Christine and Indianapolis.

[Nick]

And last but certainly not least, Captain, we have a double fisted cheers that goes out to Shannon and her sister Kel from West Sacramento, California. Everyone we just mentioned, they helped us out with this week's beer run and for that we thank you.

[Captain]

Yeah, BWWAN Beer Run. I'm adding old off the records to YouTube, so make sure you go to our YouTube channel, True Crime Garage TV and subscribe. And that's enough of the business.

[Nick]

All right everybody gather round, grab a chair, grab a beer. Let's talk some true crime. It defies belief, yet it seems to happen time and time again. In a state of despair, a vulnerable victim just happens to come across someone. Someone who pretends to come to her aid to help her out, to be a friend. But that good Samaritan is far from that. He is a monster. What are the chances that as 14 year old Lori Ann Hill was walking home alone, crying on a cool night in a small town, someone unknown to her abducted her, savaged her and then left her body to be found by hunters? The chances are slim, but it does happen instead. Police suspected that the killer was someone Lori knew. A statistically sound theory. And eventually someone she knew well was arrested, charged and tried for her murder. But that is not where Lori's tragic story ends. And it may be just the beginning. This is the case of Lori Ann Hill and this is True Crime Garage. Lorianne Hill was born on November 9, 1970 in Miami, Florida. Her parents are Roger and Dottie Hill. The family moved from Florida to a home on Berkey Southern Road, located in Swanton, Ohio. Now Swanton is a small town in northwest Ohio. Back then when they moved here, it was about 3,500 people and small in size as well. It's only three and a half square miles. This is where our story starts. This is 1985. Lori is the youngest of four kids. And by this time, Lori has an older sister, Joy, who is living in Dallas, and an older brother, Sergeant Chris Hill, in the Marines at Camp Lejean. She has one sister, Rachel, who is still living at home. But again, Rachel is older than Lori, who is the youngest. Lori is a sophomore at Swanton High School and was described as friendly and popular. Her school principal described Lori as an average student with lots of friends, adding that Lori was a wonderful person and had a very sunny personality and strong family bonds. Lori was a horse person. We love horse people. Lori was often seen outside of her home working with her horse. She was in many ways a typical teen with big 80s hair and a mouth full of braces. She also had some drama going on in her love life, which was quite active considering she was only 14 years old. With some facets of her dating life being kept from her parents. However, 14 year old Lorianne Hill will go missing sometime during a night out with friends. Lori's parents reported her missing to Fulton county authorities around 2am on the morning of October 26, 1985. Her sister Rachel got home while her parents were on the phone with the sheriff's office. She said her heart sank when she heard that Lori had not come home and was missing because as a rule, her younger sister did not come home past her curfew. She never broke curfew. The whole family was very scared. Her mom started calling everyone she could think of and Rachel and her father, they jump in the car and they start driving around looking for Laurie. Rachel knew Lori had gone to a party earlier that evening, but a visit to that house, the home of the party, showed that the place was quiet and no one had seen Laurie. In several hours. Rachel called all of the local radio stations and alerted them to Lori being missing, saying, lori, if you are hearing this, please come home now. We need to point out here, Captain, that Lori had just started dating a guy named Craig Rupp, who at age 18, of course, he's a lot older than Laurie. The timeline for the evening of October 25th, the evening in question, is as follows. At 6:30pm Craig picked up Lori at her home. They go to McDonald's for dinner. They went to an area pond for some air quotes, private time. But according to Craig, they never had sex and that night was no exception. Then they went to a Halloween party on south munson road around 8pm so this would be the house where later her older sister and father would drop by, check to see if Laurie was still there. The party's over by that time and Lori, of course, not there. Now when she was at the party here, Captain, Lori was drinking and the reports are that she was drinking to the point where she appeared to be drunk to other attendees of this party. And it's noted by Craig and several other people that were there that she and Craig got into an argument. It was a very obvious argument that this was apparently about the fact that she was wearing Craig's class ring as well as a ring from a previous boyfriend. So that's, that's typically a big no, no. You're, if you're going to wear the ring of a boyfriend, should just be the one. According to partygoers, Lori left the party upset at 9:30 and was given a ride downtown by a friend. So this is downtown Swanton. The friend is Steve Wachowski. Craig says he never saw Lori again. So she leaves Craig at the party, ditches him after this argument, hops in a car with this Steve guy, and Steve drives her. And according to Steve, on the night that Laurie disappeared, he says, look, I was at the same party. I left without Lori, but later saw Lori walking this. She, she hadn't made it very far. And so he stops to talk to her. He wanted to find out what was going on, make sure she was okay. He offers to give her a ride home. She accepts. But she's very angry and upset at this time about this argument with Craig.

[Captain]

Right.

[Nick]

So she gets in the vehicle, accepts the ride home. However, Steve says, quote, she was very distraught, crying. She had been crying very, very hard. Her face was red. She just wasn't herself. The whole thing was over a r. She was very upset about the fight. You couldn't reason with her. End quote.

[Captain]

Right.

[Nick]

Steve said Lori had that argument with Craig about the ring thing. Steve said Lori got out of his car at some point. He says they just drove a block and a half or so when she saw some headlights behind them and seemed to think that it was the headlights of her boyfriend, which I, I want to circle that word, boyfriend, because that could mean multiple things here. But according to the guy that Gives her the ride. Steve, he says, quote, she just went crazy after that, wanted out of the car. She was going to get out of the car whether I stopped or not. So.

[Captain]

Yeah, but we've all been there. I mean, when you're young and you're drinking, you're inexperienced, so sometimes you drink too much too quickly and get angry.

[Nick]

About stuff that maybe wouldn't bother you or, or a disagreement gets blown way out of proportion. Right? So he stops, he lets her out. Steve says that the last he saw of Lori, she was walking toward a place called Mr. G's Pizza. This definitely holds up his statement here because this Mr. G's Pizza, as I understand it, was a popular hangout at the time for te means. He goes on to say that I proceeded to go home. I didn't think anything of it at the time. We can confirm his statement because Lori is later seen by several people at this Mr. G's Pizza without Steve. All right, so at Mr. G's, Lori was seen making a phone call. But the question mark here, Captain, is to this very day, the identity of the person she spoke with has never been established, never definitively been established. And it's a question mark to me as well if police even know this because there's a chance that maybe they have an idea of who she spoke with. I would have to believe that this is a pay phone call and that maybe they are just not saying who. Who she spoke with.

[Captain]

Yeah, because you could assume that maybe she's calling the guy she got on a fight with, or she's calling the guy, the other guy that she was wearing a ring from. Or maybe she was calling a parent or somebody to come pick her up. Or maybe she's calling a friend to either come pick her up or to discuss, hey, this, this went down at this party and I, I need to discuss it with somebody. So many possibilities, many possibilities.

[Nick]

That's right. Outside of Mr. G's, Lori's friend, Rhonda Whitman says that she spoke with Lori briefly. So this would have been just before 10pm and she asked Lori if she wanted a ride. I like something you said there in the possibilities of who this phone call was for. I believe after reviewing all the information here, that the, the most probable scenarios of this phone call was either A, she's calling somebody for a ride, or B, she's calling to meet up with somebody. That may also involve a ride somewhere. And I say that because what we're going to see here by the following statements that as the night progresses after she's at Mr. G's. Remember, she hops out of the car, Steve's car goes to Mr. G's. Now we're going to see her continually turning down rides, which is suggestive to me that she's meeting someone, she doesn't want to go home and that she's either meeting someone or she's waiting on a ride from, from someone else. So this Rhonda Whitman friend asked Lori if she wants a ride. Her response? Someone was going to be picking her up. She doesn't say who. Rhonda did say Lori at this time was acting normal even though she knew that Laurie had been crying previous to this time. Now, the next witness to see Lori was a neighbor of hers. I, I like these witnesses because many times we're reviewing cases and it's people that don't know the person in question. These are all people that have previous histories with Lori. They went to school with her, they were friends with her. This person is a neighbor. So her neighbor, Deborah Ronan says that she saw Lori walking toward her home. This is after 10pm so it falls right into the timeline perfectly. Deborah stops asking Lori if she wanted a ride, but Lori says no. And then we get this information as well. This is again neighbors of the Hill family of Lori's family and it's married couple, the Bettingers. They're driving home from that night's football game. They says this, they say this would be around 10:30pm they say that they came across three teenagers who were walking northbound on State Route 295. This would be rather close to Lori and Hill's home. And the Bettingers say that they remember this specifically because the teens were walking into the middle of the road so they had to slow down and kind of idle past them. And shortly after Lori Hill's disappearance, Mr. Beddinger called the Swanton Police Department reporting this incident. He stated that the individual in the center was a tall girl with blonde hair. He said to her right was a boy who was taller than the girl who had dark shoulder length hair. To the left of the girl was a shorter, heavy set person who Bettinger said he could have been a boy or a girl he didn't know. And he says that as they came upon the teens, the boy to the right of the girl stepped further into the road and turned around to face their car. The girl in the middle turned partially around and then the teens stepped to the side. The Bettingers went past them. He told the police chief that, that when the report came over the evening news that Lorianne Hill was missing. He and his wife realized that the girl that they had seen walking in the road was in fact, Lorianne Hill. He said that he could back this up, and he was pretty positive about this identification because Lorianne Hill had been to their house a few times. She was friends or acquaintances with their son.

[Captain]

Well, let's back up for just a minute with any of these eyewitness reports, especially the ones that see her at the pizza shop. Do we have any clue of what her state is? Because like we said, Steve, the guy that gives her a ride is like, well, she's clearly intoxicated and then clearly upset. But do these people see her as being upset or see her. Her as being intoxicated? Because like I said, it's this. And I'm not blaming her here. We've all been there. I could tell you some crazy stories of my inexperienced drinking days, but you'd think maybe within this time frame that she, you know, she's not continuing to drink, so you would think she would start sobering up and obviously start making more sense to these eyewitnesses.

[Nick]

I think you're spot on there because I, I don't think that none of the other people that interact with her after the party mention anything about her being drunk or intoxicated. They do reference several of them other than the bettingers, because they just had this brief moment in time where they passed somebody that they believed was Lorianne Hill. But the only people to report that she was drunk or intoxicated were people that were in attendance at the party with her. To what state of intoxic intoxication? It's difficult for anyone to say your body's gonna. If she only consumed a beer, beer and a half, whatever, wine coolers, who knows? I, I don't have a great description of, of the goings on at the party outside of the argument. Right. Everybody knows that there was the argument. People report afterwards, they knew that she had been upset. She continued to be upset for a period of time, but nobody else reports this, her being intoxicated. Now, the last sighting of her, let's say potential sighting, because I want to throw this one in the questionable basket for a couple reasons. This one's really difficult for me to sort out because I don't know how much credence the police gave to this last tip. The, the bettingers, out of all the people that night, they're the only ones to say that they saw Lori in a group of people with two other people. If she was in fact with two other People, those persons have not been identified. However, I will say this. When Mr. Beddinger spoke with the police chief, he did give a description of what he thought that the girl was wearing or what he recalled her to be wearing when, when he spotted her. And he says that the girl in the middle, middle of the pack, who he thought was Lori, was wearing a blue jean jacket and blue jeans and a white shirt. Now this is consistent with what she was wearing that night. So that last tip, that last bit of information is difficult to sort out because that information puts her one, much, much closer to her home than any of the other sightings. That, that all the other sightings seem very credible. It puts her with two people that have not been identified.

[Captain]

Right.

[Nick]

The Swanton police and the Lucas County Sheriff's Office categorized the case as a missing runaway. But then they did do immediately a large scale search for Lori. They didn't, they didn't wait. And rather quickly, they are interviewing her friend's family, her new boyfriend Craig, who she had the argument with, and the kids at the party. Now, I had mentioned earlier to circle that word, boyfriend, right. Because Steve's statement to police is, well, she was going to get out of the car no matter what. And she seemed to get more upset when there were headlights behind us and she said something to the effect that it might be her boyfriend's car. So that could mean Craig, who she was at the party with, that she had just gotten in the argument with. But it all goes also could mean a guy that she had recently broke up with. Remember, she's wearing two class rings from two different guys at that party. So when she says boyfriend, did she mean boyfriend or ex boyfriend? Let's also not dismiss the, the option that it could just have been a car that didn't belong to either of them, that she's just in the moment, she's upset, she might be still intoxicated at this time and just being irrational and saying, you know what, I, I gotta get out of the car. I think she was going to get out of the car no matter what, just like Steve said, regardless of who was in the vehicle behind them.

[Captain]

And I'm not, I'm not trying to throw shade at Steve, but if you're a little intoxicated and haven't been before, is he saying anything to her that's creeping her out and she wants to get out of the vehicle?

[Nick]

Yeah, I mean, I don't know. There's reports of her being drinking to the point of drunkenness. There's no reports of Of Steve, you know that we do know. What we do know is police spoke with the partygoers very quickly in the heat of the moment here. And as said, we, we have searchers going door to door. We have people looking at this Swanton Memorial park, trying to witness, trying to locate witnesses or Lori. They search fields, vacant buildings. A dive team was brought in rather quickly. Even the Air National Guard assisted in some of the, the searches. So they moved into action rather quickly. And they were, they were searching for her high and low. Now they also investigated a college party that was somewhat in the area that night. A female employee of a place called El Matador. This is a restaurant. This employee attended the University of Toledo. So Swanton is west of Toledo. I think it's about a 35, 45 minute drive. So this is a Halloween party. And investigators considered that the party may have brought outsiders to town. But the thing is they couldn't find anybody to say that Lori ever ended up at that party that night, nor would there be a whole lot of reason to think that she did unless it was random. But we should point out she's 14, but often in the company of high school students. But they're, they're technically men. I mean they're 18 year old boys. On October 30th there was news and it's not the good kind. This is around 3:30pm so this is Tuesday afternoon. A deer hunter in northwest Pike Township found a body off of Fulton county road M, the letter M, halfway between State Routes 12 and 13. This is 10 miles northeast of Wassion and 10 miles west of Toledo. This was 13 miles from Lori's home. So again, if that last, if the bettinger's sighting of the person they thought was Lori is correct, this is 13 miles from where she was last seen. This got the, the Lucas County Sheriff's office involved in the case as well as Fulton county officials because she was found in Lucas county from Fulton. But it's not clear where she had been killed. Now we have to say it, it's unclear to me exactly where they found her body because some reports say she was found in a wooded area and some say she was found in a cornfield.

[Captain]

Yeah, I actually think what it is, is, you know, anytime you're driving on these rural routes that you have, you know, soy bean fields or cornfields or whatever, but they're kind of outlined by little patches of woods. So I'm guessing it's kind of both. You know, she's found maybe in a small patch of woods that was Connected to a cornfield.

[Nick]

Looking at Google Maps, it appears that County Road M has a lot more cornfields than wooded areas. And then, of course, the family receives the. The horrible news. Roger Hill, her father, Lori's father, had to walk into his house and tell his wife, Doy, and his daughter Rachel, that Lori was dead. Doy started screaming, and the family was never the same again.

[Captain]

All right, we are back. Cheers, mates. To the windows, to the walls. Cheers to you, Colonel.

[Nick]

Cheers to you, Captain. Cheers to the people in the back.

[Captain]

Yeah, I mean, this is a. A tough case. Like you said, just a few days after, you know, she went missing, nobody's heard from her. They find her naked body, and she's badly beaten and obviously deceased. And they only find, what, her jean jacket in a. In a sock?

[Nick]

Yeah, that's correct.

[Captain]

And then it makes you wonder, did whoever did this to her, did they keep items or did they drop these items off? And these were somehow. Whether. Whether it was because of the weather or animals or whatever, is there a reason why the other clothes are missing?

[Nick]

Well, initial reports about Lori's cause of death and as I had referenced before the break, the crime scene were misleading. Now, we do know it was a homicide. That was obvious from the beginning. In fact, the Fulton county medical examiner reported as such, ruled it as such. Initial reports by Fulton county officials were that Lori had been shot at least once in the head. This was assumed by the deputies who found her after the. The hunter notified them of the body. This is because she had a hole in the middle of her forehead. But October 31, the Fulton county coroner stated that this was inaccurate. She wasn't shot at all. Lauria died from, like the captain said, blunt force trauma to the head inflicted by multiple blows. From the record, the cause of death was multiple blunt force and sharp injuries. In particular, her skull was fractured, and she had numerous bruises, abrasions, and lacerations over her body. The coroner opined that the skull fractures were likely caused by an iron instrument such as a pry bar, crowbar or pipe. But that. So that information, while we know it today, the pry bar, crowbar, pipe speculation, that information wasn't made public at the time. All the authorities would say was that they were following up on several clues. And they did say that at that time, they did not have a suspect. It was difficult, really, for anybody to say 100% how long Lori had been lying out there before she was found. We do have Dr. Reed, who goes on the record saying that, that it's believed that Lori was killed late Friday night or or early Saturday morning. So in other words, this would have been within hours of her going missing.

[Captain]

Yeah, obviously if you're in law enforcement, you're going to look into this fight with her quote, unquote boyfriend. But he remains at the party, so you'd think there was enough eyewitnesses there that would give him a pretty solid alibi.

[Nick]

Officials clarified later that Lori was found lying 67ft from the road and she had been left in plain sight with no attempt to obscure the body. She was nude but for one sock. Her other sock and jean jacket lay nearby, but no, none of her other items of clothing were found. This next bit was not released at the time either. But what we do know today is semen was identified on vaginal swabs taken at the autopsy. The pathologist did not make a ruling as to whether the victim had been raped. There was no evidence of trauma to the genital area. There's also no reference or report of had she possibly engaged in consensual sex, which of course, at the age of 14, she can't really consent anyway by per the law. The, the town was shaken up, needless to say, by the murder.

[Captain]

It was, I mean, technically she could consent with another minor. Right.

[Nick]

I don't, I, not a lawyer, but.

[Captain]

I don't know how this works. But what we do know is she was at a party. We have nobody saying that she was sneaking off into the room with anybody. She leaves the party, this guy Steve, there's no physical or intimate connection there. She's seen at the pizza shop, so she's not obviously having sex with anybody at the pizza shop. And then she's last seen walking down a road. So, you know, I would, I would assume, we could almost assume that this is not consensual. Right?

[Nick]

Well, no, I, I, I mean, in what terms? I, I mean, then the legal term, I, I went out of my way to say it that way because of, of a few different things. If, if the individual. I don't want to, I want to try to dance through the, the raindrops of, you know, if, if she was 14 and with another 14 year old. What's the, what's, what's the law there? But.

[Captain]

Right.

[Nick]

What I'm pointing out here is if, if she were picked up by somebody, if it was a person who, a male who was 16, 18, 19, what have you. The, the. Look, there's information in and throughout this story that she was very likely sexually active at the age of 14. And there's also the statement by her Current boyfriend, Craig Rupp. His statement to police is that they went to a pond area to, quote, spend some time together. But he says that in their relationship they had never had sex and that that evening was no exception. We, we glossed over some of the information here purposely because it, it, it, I don't know that it furthers the investigation to go into how potentially violent this murder was. To say that the town was shaken up would be an understatement. The, the students at Lori's high school were incredibly disturbed by the news. And remember, the principal said this was a girl that had a lot of friends. And we can see by her activities at night she had a lot of friends, a lot of people liked her. People stopping to offer a ride. Many sought counseling. Some of the students had to go to counseling or started going to church after this event. Now, the community did pull together to raise some money for a Crime Stoppers reward. It wasn't until November 15th, but this is the first time we see a local paper advertising a $1,000 reward for information in the case. That reward very quickly doubled. Meanwhile, area law enforcement authorities wanted to solve this murder very quickly. The Fulton County Sheriff's office made sure that all items of physical evidence, which was not a list, was not provided to the public. But what we do know is Fulton County Sheriff's office is stating we sent the physical evidence immediately to the FBI labs for analysis later. What we would learn here, Captain, in some reports, is that blue paint chips were recovered from Lori's jean jacket. Now, this was an all hands on deck case. We have Fulton County Sheriff's Office, Lucas County Sheriff's Office, and Swanton Police Department. All hands on deck to solve this very quickly. The Swanton police chief, Tom Bates, who was also a reverend, he led the funeral service for Lori on November 2nd at Woodlawn Cemetery in Swanton, Ohio. On November 7th, the public received word that the authorities, they were seeking the public's help for locating the potential murder weapon in the case. It was obvious and also pointed out that they had no reason to believe that Lori was killed where she was found. It was simply a. A dumping ground. She had been killed elsewhere. And they were telling the public this would be a location that we would expect to find a lot of blood. Wherever she was killed, we expect to find a lot of blood.

[Captain]

Well, yeah, because there's blunt force trauma to the head and the head is an area that likes to bleed out.

[Nick]

They also went out of their way to say that they don't think that there is a Mass murderer running loose in the county. They don't think that there is some maniac out there that would, you know, no evidence to suggest that there's a maniac out there seeking to murder young people. They did say that it was their belief that whoever was responsible for this very likely was someone who knew Laurie. It was a person, therefore, that. That was not considered to be a danger to others. It was Laurie that this individual wanted to kill, whether it be premeditated or in the moment.

[Captain]

Yeah, to me this seems. I mean, you have the argument, you have the current boyfriend, you have the ex boyfriend. So I guess you'd have some people that have motive. But because her whereabouts changed, she was initially at a party. I don't know if it, if do we have in any information that she was supposed to stay at the party or was she supposed to go back home? But either way, her movements change throughout the day. So to me, if I'm law enforcement, I'm going. I think this is more random.

[Nick]

See, that's where my. I'm with you because, no, the way the night was supposed to go is go to McDonald's. Of course she's not going to tell her parents that she's going to a pond for a, for a brief stop off with her boyfriend. But it's. The plan was go to McDonald's, go to this Halloween party where there's a bunch of friends her age, a bunch of high school kids, and then go home. Her, her boyfriend, Craig Rupp would be dropping her off at home. And we do have her sister saying, look, she never broke curfew. Now, of course, she's 14. And sometimes those teenage years get weird and the older you get, you might start breaking rules all of a sudden. But it, it appears to me that her being out past curfew, her being out on her own is just as you said, it's a matter of what was going on in the moment. She was, she, she was distraught. She decided to stomp off and leave the party. And that was never the plan for that night. And I'm with you. Who's to say that she wasn't out walking a county road by herself? And. And exactly what the police and prosecutors said to not be worried about. Maybe there was somebody out there seeking to snatch a woman or a young lady and sexually assault them. And if it leads to death, it leads to death. So I. Look, I think that maybe what they were seeing and who they were talking to, maybe that is suggestive to them. That wasn't the case, that it Was some. The statistics would say that it. That it would likely be somebody that knew her. But I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the idea that this was somebody that saw an opportunity, saw a person who was vulnerable and took advantage of that situation. And she, again, if that were the case, she didn't have to willingly get into a vehicle for this to be the result, unfortunately.

[Captain]

Meaning that she was forced in, right?

[Nick]

Well, yeah, yeah, yeah. Unfortunately, her case goes cold rather quickly. We do know that crime stoppers continue to run ads and newspapers with reward information throughout 1986. The following year, no answers or tips forthcoming. In June of 86, her parents, tired of the. Of the quiet surrounding the case, offered up their own reward of $10,000, leading for information to the. That would lead to the identity of her killer. Lori's father, Roger, goes on record saying that he wanted his daughter's killer to face the death penalty. Quote, there is definitely a revenge factor. He said, I want an eye for an eye. In November of 1986, a Fulton county grand jury was convened to consider Lori's case. Now we got to clarify for some of the listeners out there why and what this scenario actually entails. So sometimes investigators do this. Prosecutors do this to employ the subpoena power and sworn testimony of that investigative body. Right. To force people to testify telling the truth. The proceedings are typically secret. All we know about this one is that teenagers and police officers testified during this grand jury. The grand jury failed to hand down an indictment, although it is unknown whether one was sought. They may have convened, they may have brought this to a grand jury without actually seeking an indictment. Sometimes it's just to further the investigation when you have the subpoena power and testimony power. We do know that one angle that was explored by the grand jury was three guys, three individuals. This is James and William little and Richard najakowski. So a witness claimed to have seen James little in the possession of a gold watch, which was believed to belong to Laurie. This witness testified to the grand jury, but admitted later that she lied because she was influenced by others to try to connect this watch to the. The James and William little brothers. Now, other witnesses also tried to tie the littles to the crime, but were revealed to have ulterior motives to see the littles in prison and imprisoned. And the physical evidence did not support these stories either. So no indictment comes down, and certainly no indictment came down against either James or William little. We're going to peel back the curtain here a little bit and look at something that was known behind the Scenes for a long period of time, but not known to the public for many years. So many years later, the public would learn what happened. Remember, we talked about the sheriff's office sending off the physical evidence to the FBI laboratories for testing. And years later we will learn that, quote. In 1985, the items of evidence collected from the victim's body included oral, rectal and vaginal smears and swabs that were placed on slides and in separate vials. On October 31, 1985, the Fulton County Sheriff's Department submitted those items to the FBI Laboratory in Washington, D.C. for analysis. On February 14th of 1986, the FBI Laboratory submitted its report to the sheriff's office regarding the results of the evidence that was submitted. They did say blood was found on the oral smear and swab. Semen was found only on the vaginal swab. In addition, no spermazoa cells were found on any of the samples. The testing that was conducted, however recorded, required the consumption of the entire sample. The testing found semen on the swab but failed to detect sperm. And the vaginal swab sample was used up. It wasn't clear if there were other samples. Right. It wasn't clear if the sheriff's office was holding on to additional evidence that wasn't sent off for testing that could be used later.

[Captain]

Right.

[Nick]

So look, that's bad news in the moment. That's bad news in 1985. And actually, well, when they received the results In February of 86, look at, look how long it took to receive the results back then. I mean, it's four months. But it's also bad news for the case at large where it's. We're seeing time and time again cases being solved 10, 20, 30, 40 years later because this kind of evidence still, this physical evidence still exists. Nothing seems to have really nothing of consequence happened in the case until 1988. So that year, that same evidence, Right. The same swabs and slides that we've already discussed.

[Captain]

Right.

[Nick]

These items, you know, you talk about the, the further mint of. Of technology there. These swabs and slides were submitted to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification for potential DNA testing. Now, upon examination of. Of these samples, what the forensic scientists came back with was that there was not sufficient quality or quantity of material to undergo the DNA testing. So they didn't actually get to the point of testing it because of the poor quality and lack of quantity of the samples submitted. So then bci, Ohio bci, then returns the physical evidence, those swabs and slides back to The Fulton County Sheriff's Department. Over the next two decades, Captain Lori's family pushed hard for the case to receive attention. They made the rounds of talk shows and whatnot and even raised $50,000 toward reward money. But it wouldn't be until 2008 until this case would take a turn. So let's fast forward here, zoom forward. We're now 2008. We have. More than two decades have gone by since the the brutal murder of Lorianne Hill in northwest Ohio. In 2008, there was a renewed push to finally solve the case. Rachel Hill, Lori's sister, now well into adulthood herself, demanded an accounting of the status of the case. And the answer was it was pretty much dead in the water. But then the sheriff learned that the Toledo Police Department had funding for a cold case unit via a National Institute of Justice grant that the police department had received. They had in fact, successfully resolved some cold cases because of that grant and because investigators, cold case investigators, were active on these old investigations. Now, Lori's case was the only unsolved murder on the books for the Fulton County Sheriff's office. During that sheriff's 25 years in office, the sheriff requested the help of this cold case unit and the cold case investigators, the Fulton County Sheriff's office and the Fulton County Prosecutor's office started quickly and quietly working together on the 20 plus year old case. This would lead to about 8 months of hardcore investigating on the old case, which definitely unearthed some information in the form of tips. This is enough for the Fulton county grand jury to act on. So in July, now we move to July of 2009. So this is the following year after the cold case detectives take over the case. There's news coming out that the grand jury had indicted a man for two counts, one of aggravated murder and one of murder. So the grand jury indicted 42 year old Walter E. Zembic on those two counts of murder. So who is this guy?

[Captain]

Ex boyfriend.

[Nick]

The captain's been talking a lot. For an hour I've been listening quietly. Who is this guy? You've not told us about Walter Zempic yet. So Walter Zempic was Lori's boyfriend prior. So this is the boyfriend before she started dating Craig Rupp.

[Captain]

Right.

[Nick]

Lori's boyfriend for a period of time before her death.

[Captain]

And see, here's what I wonder though, because Walter is not at the party. No eyewitnesses put Walter at the pizza shop.

[Nick]

Correct.

[Captain]

So is it possible that this is the individual that Lori called at the pizza shop?

[Nick]

I think it's highly likely. That either she called him or was attempting to get in touch with.

[Captain]

Right.

[Nick]

So we need to point out, obviously, since she's. She had moved on to Craig Rupp, that she was not dating this guy Walter at the time that she was killed. The MO Most of the reports state that they dated for several months, some saying that it was like 18 months.

[Captain]

Yeah. But a couple months when you're 14, one is a decent percentage of your life. But that's a. That could be a big deal when you're four.

[Nick]

A lot of the reports are that they started dating at near the end of her eighth grade year and continued dating until the summer before her sophomore year, sounds like, or just when school was starting up her sophomore year. So this would be lengthy for, for her age and even for Walter's age at the time. But what we do know is she moves on to this Craig Rupp guy. Her and Craig get in an argument at that party. She's still wearing Walter Zempik's ring, class ring. When she's at that party, she's got two class rings on. That was the genesis of that argument, that disagreement. It was noted that at the time of the murder, Walter Sempik lived not very far from the. Where Lori's body was found.

[Captain]

Right. And so there's a possibility, or at least law enforcement's thinking there's either a possibility that Walter picked her up, took her back to his. His house, or did she make it all the way to his house and then some kind of confrontation happens and then her, like you said, her body is discovered not far from where he lived.

[Nick]

Well, and, and as we said earlier, this was all hands on deck. This was big news when she went missing, and there was a large search for her while she was still missing. And in fact, Walter Zempic was interviewed. Right. He's on camera. He spoke to WN wo news cameras during a search for Lorianne Hill and his. He says on camera, quote, I am very worried. This isn't something that she wouldn't do at all. I just don't know what to say. When the Fulton County Sheriff's office and the Toledo Police Department started investigating this case anew. Right. In 2008, we have Toledo Police Sergeant Steve Forrester. He said his department received close to 100 tips after the public push for information, he told the Fulton County Expositor, some of the calls have proven to be very helpful. I am very happy with the information we have gotten so far. He said they were looking to build a case, but they were still looking for the name of the person Lori called from Mr. G's, quote, she definitely talked to someone in there, and we'd like to know who, end quote. They were working on building a case, just like he said. Part of that, too. That was helpful. Part. One of the things that was helpful was a tip that came in from Zempik's estranged wife there in the middle. Walter Zempik and his. His wife were involved in this custody battle around the same time. It's. It's weird, man, how these things, like, line up in almost a coincidence, right? There's. All of a sudden there's this cold case investigation that kicks off because the sister, you know, gets angry and reminds the sheriff's office that her sister's murder is still unsolved. And. And the Cold case unit recently kicked into gear about a year or two before. And then all at the same time, this separation with a custody battle. And then Zempic's estranged wife calls in a tip with his name and says, you know, he dated her back then. You might want to take a look at him. He was from the area. So the Cold case Unit, they go and they review. Zempic was interviewed a couple of times back in 1985, and they were aware, law enforcement was aware, that there was a previous relationship between the two and that it may have been extensive. So they wanted to talk to this guy quite a bit. They talked to Craig a lot. They talked to Steve a lot. Now we're going to talk to this Walter Zempic when they go back and they review the interviews from 1985. The cold case unit finds that Zempic had given conflicting information during the course of several interviews. And part of this was. Is difficult, right, because we said all hands on deck. Sometimes you have what we say in the Captain intro last week. Too many cooks spoil the soup. Well, it's unclear to me if they were aware in 1985 that he had given conflicting information, because on some of these occasions, he's being interviewed by the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, and on other occasions, he's being interviewed by the Lucas County Sheriff's Office according to his alibi, or whatever you want to call it. His activities or his whereabouts for the night in question were conflicting in those. Those different statements. So here's what we do know, though. So according to the record, Lori dated Walter Zempic from the time she was in eighth grade for about 18 months. And like Craig Rupp, Zempic was significantly older than Laurie. He was, like Craig, 18 at the time. That Lori was killed. We have Lucas county detectives La Course and Damasco last names interviewing Zempic on November 1, 1985. So this, this would be after her body was located. It sounds like they're treating him as a possible suspect right away because of his history with Lord. Zempic said that Lori had moved on from him to date this Craig Rupp. But the two were still friendly. They spoke on the phone nearly every day. But he said in his statement that he had actually not seen her in approximately two weeks time leading up to the night that she went missing. At the time, 1985, the investigators asked Walter Zempik for his alibi. And let's go through, let's go through Zempik's alibis. Yes, that wasn't a mistake by the old colonel. That was plural on purpose because these alibis were all over the place in my humble opinion. One story he told was that he worked as a busser at El Matador. Right. This is the same restaurant we mentioned earlier where another employee had a party on the night that Lori was believed to have been killed. But he didn't actually work that night. He was scheduled to work. But he says there was, there was a friend coming into town and there was an offer to go and hang out with some friends and he, he made arrangements to get his shift covered and he didn't have to go in that night. So in this version of his alibi, he says that he hung out with his friend Denny Miller, along with some other guys named Mark, Ken and Denny's brother, who is unnamed in the statement or at least as far as what made it made to the public. He says he hung out with these guys until about 7pm and then he went home to. So he lives at the Garden Road Apartments in Mommy, Ohio, where he lives with his mom and his stepdad. And he says he was there for the rest of the night, didn't see or talk to Lori at all. Walter Zempic was interviewed again several days later. This is on November 5th. So four days later, he sits down with Fulton County Sheriffs Warnke and Albright. So please note, he's talking to a different agency and he's talking to two different detectives four days later. This time he said that he and Laurie had been talking about getting back together leading up to her death and that she planned on dumping Craig to get back with him. Walter Zempic says in this statement he met up with his buddies around 4pm but this time he said that he went, that they went to the Southwick mall. There he ran into another buddy. This is a co worker of his named Bob. He said he also met a girl at the mall for the first time. This is the first time he had met her. Her name was Sandy. He says that after meeting Sandy that they agreed to go back to Walter's mom's apartment. He snuck her in through the bedroom window and they, quote, spent time together until she left around 2am he says after Sandy left, the phone rang and the caller was Rob. So this is a neighbor who was also a Lucas county deputy telling him that Lori was missing. So these two investigators from Fulton County Sheriff's Department in this interview, they specifically asked Walter Zempic whether it was he that lori called from Mr. G's Pizza Place that night. He says no. And remember, he says he not only did he not see her that night in the statement, he also says he did not speak with her at all that night.

[Captain]

A lot more to get to in this crime story. Join us back here in the garage. Same back time, same bat channel. And until then, be good, be kind and don't live.

[Nick]

Sam sa.