The Skeleton Key Chronicles

20 hours ago

A new documentary is taking a look at the Los Angeles Innocence Project's efforts to overturn Scott Peterson's conviction, more than two decades after the disappearance of his wife, Laci, while she was eight months pregnant.

"Scott Peterson: The New Evidence" follows their work to help Peterson seek a new trial, focusing on what the organization says is new evidence and investigative angles it believes were never fully explored. It also features Peterson's longtime attorney, Mark Geragos, who argues there are questions about the original investigation and evidence presented at trial. Peterson has maintained his innocence since his 2004 conviction, while prosecutors have consistently stood by the jury's verdict and the evidence presented at trial.

If you missed Part 1, A&E is airing it again tonight at 6 p.m., followed by the premiere of Part 2 at 8 p.m. Part 1 will air again at 10:01 p.m., with additional encore presentations scheduled throughout the night for anyone catching up.

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The Skeleton Key Chronicles

23 hours ago

More than 45 years after multimillionaire California real estate investor Thelma Gaston disappeared, investigators have finally identified her as a Riverside County Jane Doe. Thelma, 80, had built a multimillion-dollar fortune buying and managing foreclosed properties throughout Southern California. On June 28, 1981, she left her Los Angeles home after writing a note saying she was going out to look for her cat. When she never returned, friends reported her missing, and investigators soon began trying to determine what had happened.

Five months later, on November 28, 1981, people searching for firewood near Sugar Loaf Mountain discovered skeletal remains protruding from a shallow grave. Investigators recovered the remains the following day near Highway 74, but they had decomposed to the point that authorities were unable to determine who the woman was despite extensive efforts. For the next 45 years, she remained known only as a Riverside County Jane Doe 1981.

Meanwhile, as the investigation began to unfold, detectives focused in on Thelma's 39-year-old companion, Lawrence Remsen. According to investigators, documents giving him power of attorney over her affairs had been forged, along with letters claiming Thelma had decided to leave and start a new life. Authorities also said he attempted to access her bank accounts and sell some of her properties after she disappeared.
Although Thelma's remains had still not been identified at this point, the case went to trial in 1982, and Remsen was ultimately convicted and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. He remains incarcerated and has been denied parole multiple times.

In 2022, the Riverside County Sheriff's Coroner's Bureau reopened the Jane Doe case using advances in forensic DNA technology. Investigators used investigative genetic genealogy to narrow the search, and dental records ultimately confirmed the remains found that day near Sugar Loaf were those of Thelma Gaston. Authorities announced the identification this week, finally giving her back her name and closing one of the last remaining chapters in a case that had already been resolved in court.

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The Skeleton Key Chronicles

1 day ago

It's amazing what a few discarded soda bottles can do. After more than four decades, they appear to have finally brought answers to a Texas case dating back to 1981. Beverly Bruneau was just 35 years old and working as a Braniff Airlines flight attendant when she was found deceased inside her Grapevine apartment. Despite years of investigative work, no one was ever charged, and the case slowly grew cold. For more than four decades, her family, friends and former coworkers were left without answers.

Now investigators say modern DNA technology may have finally changed everything. According to court documents, the man now accused wasn't a stranger to Beverly. He was Larry Dean Brown, the husband of Beverly's close friend and fellow Braniff Airlines flight attendant, Thelma Brown. Beverly and Thelma had previously co-owned a home in Dallas, and investigators say a dispute involving the home and related insurance claims became a growing source of tension in the weeks leading up to Beverly's death.

Brown was interviewed in 1981 and police always considered him a suspect, but the case remained unsolved for decades due to lack of evidence. It wasn't until detectives recently collected several discarded soda bottles believed to have been used by Brown that they were able to compare his DNA to evidence preserved from Beverly's clothing. Investigators say those results ultimately led to Brown's arrest more than 44 years after Beverly's death.

Brown has since been extradited to Tarrant County. He has pleaded not guilty, and court proceedings are ongoing.

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