Cold Cases Solved: True Stories of Murders That Took Years or Decades to Solve (Murder, Scandals and Mayhem Book 8) by Mike Riley
Authors: Mike Riley
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Fountain was looked at again, and this time the investigators made a concerning discovery.
Back in 1977, Fountain had been convicted in Queens County for manslaughter in the second degree. He also had a conviction from 1984 for rape in the first degree, and attempted rape in the first degree in 1996. Clearly, he was a dangerous and violent man.
Fountain was currently living at the Central New York Psychiatric Center in Marcy, New York, having been placed there on an indefinite civil confinement. State law required that he submit a DNA sample, so his DNA was now available in the state database. Investigators ran it against the vaginal swab taken at Epps’s autopsy, and it matched. Fountain had been no innocent bystander.
Based on the DNA evidence discovery, Fountain was re-questioned by investigators. He still denied ever knowing Epps, and also denied having any contact with her at all before he found her body.
However when he was told of the DNA match he finally gave in, and admitted to having sex with Epps and then brutally stabbing her. He told investigators that he tried to sever her head and leg to make the body easier to get rid of.
James Fountain appeared before a grand jury, and an indictment of murder in the second degree was returned. He pled guilty and on July 13, 2012, he was sentenced to life in prison.
Current Status:
Epps’s sister stated in court that she forgave her sister’s murderer, and did not harbor any ill will towards him.
Fountain’s convictions for manslaughter and rape both occurred before Epps’s murder. You have to wonder why police did not discover his prior convictions and take a closer look at him when her body was discovered. Instead, her murder remained unsolved for eighteen years.
Young Mom Home Alone
Victim: Amy Weidner
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Suspect: Troy Jackson, Rodney Denk
Date of Crime: November 13, 1989
Date of Conviction: June 14, 2013
Backstory:
Amy Weidner was a sixteen-year-old who lived with her family in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her mother Gloria was raising her and her siblings on her own.
Weidner had three siblings, two sisters and a brother. Her family remembers her as a girl who loved school, who would probably one day be a teacher herself. She helped out around the home, and was much loved by her mother and siblings.
Becoming pregnant at just fourteen years old, Weidner was the proud mother of a two-year-old daughter, named Emily. The father was seventeen years old and a good friend of her older brothers.
Her mother did not want her to stay involved with him, wanting Weidner to concentrate on finishing her education. Emily was born in October 1987, and Weidner returned to school just six days later.
After her daughter was born, family and teachers say that Weidner became more focused and responsible. She still found time to have fun with her friends, her mother helping her out with babysitting.
On The Day In Question:
On November 13, 1989, Weidner woke up feeling unwell. Her mother offered to take Emily to a babysitter for the day, but Weidner said she would keep her at home with her. Leaving for the day, Gloria called the house around 9:30am to check up on Weidner, but there was no answer.
After she didn’t answer a second call, Gloria rang a neighbor and asked her to go and check on Weidner and Emily. The neighbor went around and knocked on the door, but no one answered. She called Gloria back and told her.
Gloria immediately left work and came home, only to discover a horrific scene. Weidner was lying dead on her bed. She had been both beaten and then strangled. Her daughter Emily was still in the house and unharmed.
Gloria removed Emily from the house and called 911.
Investigation:
The news of Weidner’s death spread quickly, and by the time school was done for the day a reporter was at the school asking questions. Perhaps because Weidner was a teenage mother and
Back in 1977, Fountain had been convicted in Queens County for manslaughter in the second degree. He also had a conviction from 1984 for rape in the first degree, and attempted rape in the first degree in 1996. Clearly, he was a dangerous and violent man.
Fountain was currently living at the Central New York Psychiatric Center in Marcy, New York, having been placed there on an indefinite civil confinement. State law required that he submit a DNA sample, so his DNA was now available in the state database. Investigators ran it against the vaginal swab taken at Epps’s autopsy, and it matched. Fountain had been no innocent bystander.
Based on the DNA evidence discovery, Fountain was re-questioned by investigators. He still denied ever knowing Epps, and also denied having any contact with her at all before he found her body.
However when he was told of the DNA match he finally gave in, and admitted to having sex with Epps and then brutally stabbing her. He told investigators that he tried to sever her head and leg to make the body easier to get rid of.
James Fountain appeared before a grand jury, and an indictment of murder in the second degree was returned. He pled guilty and on July 13, 2012, he was sentenced to life in prison.
Current Status:
Epps’s sister stated in court that she forgave her sister’s murderer, and did not harbor any ill will towards him.
Fountain’s convictions for manslaughter and rape both occurred before Epps’s murder. You have to wonder why police did not discover his prior convictions and take a closer look at him when her body was discovered. Instead, her murder remained unsolved for eighteen years.
Young Mom Home Alone
Victim: Amy Weidner
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Suspect: Troy Jackson, Rodney Denk
Date of Crime: November 13, 1989
Date of Conviction: June 14, 2013
Backstory:
Amy Weidner was a sixteen-year-old who lived with her family in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her mother Gloria was raising her and her siblings on her own.
Weidner had three siblings, two sisters and a brother. Her family remembers her as a girl who loved school, who would probably one day be a teacher herself. She helped out around the home, and was much loved by her mother and siblings.
Becoming pregnant at just fourteen years old, Weidner was the proud mother of a two-year-old daughter, named Emily. The father was seventeen years old and a good friend of her older brothers.
Her mother did not want her to stay involved with him, wanting Weidner to concentrate on finishing her education. Emily was born in October 1987, and Weidner returned to school just six days later.
After her daughter was born, family and teachers say that Weidner became more focused and responsible. She still found time to have fun with her friends, her mother helping her out with babysitting.
On The Day In Question:
On November 13, 1989, Weidner woke up feeling unwell. Her mother offered to take Emily to a babysitter for the day, but Weidner said she would keep her at home with her. Leaving for the day, Gloria called the house around 9:30am to check up on Weidner, but there was no answer.
After she didn’t answer a second call, Gloria rang a neighbor and asked her to go and check on Weidner and Emily. The neighbor went around and knocked on the door, but no one answered. She called Gloria back and told her.
Gloria immediately left work and came home, only to discover a horrific scene. Weidner was lying dead on her bed. She had been both beaten and then strangled. Her daughter Emily was still in the house and unharmed.
Gloria removed Emily from the house and called 911.
Investigation:
The news of Weidner’s death spread quickly, and by the time school was done for the day a reporter was at the school asking questions. Perhaps because Weidner was a teenage mother and
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