Bloody clothes beside body lead cops to suspected killer decades later, officials say
William T. Adams’ partially buried body was found at the bottom of a hillside three decades ago, Montana authorities said.
At the scene, there were also “two ball caps and a bloody shirt/jacket,” the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office said in a Sept. 23 news release.
Detectives “believed that the unknown suspect had sustained a cut on their hand and possibly used the shirt/jacket to cover and help control the bleeding,” the sheriff’s office said.
Thirty years later, that bloody piece of clothing was key in identifying Adams’ suspected killer as Leonard D. Owen, the sheriff’s office said.
Adams, a transient known as “Cadillac Man,” was “known to ride the rails,” the sheriff’s office said.
When his body was discovered face down Sept. 13, 1992, in a shallow grave “with a broken knife in his chest,” he was wearing a “sweat jacket and wool sweater that had been pulled up over his head, appearing as though he had been drug to the location,” the sheriff’s office said.
An entomology report showed that Adams died from “a knife wound to the chest and massive head trauma” on Sept. 2 or 3, the sheriff’s office said.
Despite an initial investigation, no suspect was found, the sheriff’s office said.
To pinpoint the suspected killer decades later, detectives turned to DNA technology.
Since Owen was dead, detectives used DNA from his family to compare with the DNA from the bloody clothing, and the “Cold Case Unit was able to make a positive identification,” the sheriff’s office said.
Owen, also a known transient who went by “8 Ball” and “traveled by train,” had family in the area, according to the sheriff’s office.
Additionally, “he had an extensive criminal history which included violent crimes,” the sheriff’s office said.
This story was originally published September 28, 2022 at 3:29 PM with the headline "Bloody clothes beside body lead cops to suspected killer decades later, officials say."
