On May 5, 1998, at approximately 9:17 a.m., Wichita, Kansas, officers were dispatched to a small, one-bedroom, duplex apartment on a report of a deceased person. The house was divided into two apartments: one in the front and one in the back of the house. The victim lived in the back portion of the duplex. The officers were met by Ben Gray, the father of the victim, Regina Gray, 28 years old. The father reported that he had gone to check on his daughter because her co-workers at the Kansas Cancer Center had called and were concerned because she had not shown up for work that morning.
Fig.1 The victim’s body was found covered with a robe and face down on the living room rug.
According to Regina’s co-workers, this was very strange because she was never late to work and was generally the first one in the office. Co-workers later stated she had planned on bringing biscuits and gravy for breakfast to share with her co-workers.
Officers found Ms. Gray lying on the floor of her living room partially dressed. Emergency medical personnel reported to the responding officers that it appeared she was dead from blunt force trauma to the head. Officers cleared the other rooms in the house and established a perimeter. Homicide detectives were notified.
The police obtained a search warrant before processing the scene. The partially clad body of the victim was face down on the living room floor. She was covered with a blue robe and beneath the robe was a maroon blouse. Her arms were out to the side and her legs were apart. There was also evidence of a struggle in the apartment. Detective Kelly Otis noticed a blood impression on the carpet, which appeared to be from a large knife. Detective Otis also noted the presence of a bread maker and thought it strange that there wasn’t a knife with the bread maker. A bloody footprint was observed on a calendar next to the victim’s head. Two buttons, apparently ripped from the victim’s clothing were found on the bedroom floor. Later examination showed they were torn from the garment.
Fig.2 The victim’s throat had been sliced open to the spine and into the vertebrae.
When the body of the victim was examined, it was determined that she had a large, gaping wound to the throat. No sharp knives were recovered in the residence. Gray’s purse was in the kitchen; however, her billfold was missing. The autopsy indicated that Gray had been sexually assaulted. DNA was recovered from semen found during the examination.
Investigators worked into the late evening hours documenting and collecting evidence from the scene. When the officers, who were processing the scene, went into the attic, they observed that the firewall between the two apartments was broken and entry into the victim’s portion of the duplex was possible.
Fig.3 Suspect claimed that the police showed him crime scene photographs of the deceased. He was able to accurately describe the injuries.
As detectives and additional officers arrived, they began contacting neighbors. Detective Dana Gouge arrived at the scene and was immediately advised by a patrol officer, who was speaking to a neighbor, to stop a gray Honda four-door that was driving past the residence. The detective’s car was not equipped with red lights and a siren, so Detective Gouge followed the car several blocks, calling in the location on the radio. The car stopped at a nearby car wash. Detective Gouge identified the driver as Stanley Elms, an 18-year-old white male. It was determined Elms, who was driving with a suspended license, lived with his girlfriend. She resided in the front portion of the same duplex where the deceased lived. The patrol officer at the scene observed him drive by and then quickly drive away after seeing the police activity. That was the reason that the patrol officer alerted Detective Gouge to stop the gray Honda. Detective Gouge directed patrol officers to take Elms into custody for driving with a suspended driver’s license. Detective Gouge advised the patrol officers that he wanted to interview Elms after he reviewed the crime scene.
Detectives Gouge and Otis learned that Gray was engaged to be married. Detective Gouge interviewed the victim’s fiancé, Thomas, who told the detective that he and Gray had been to catechism class the night before, May 4. He said that they had planned on getting married in November. According to Thomas, they had not engaged in sex and were waiting until they were married. Gray was last heard from when she spoke to a relative on the telephone at approximately 10 p.m. on May 4.
Fig.4 The victim had a large gaping wound to the throat.
Detectives Gouge and Otis returned to the police station to interview Stanley Elms, who had been charged with driving with a suspended license. At this time, Elms was considered a possible suspect, but the police didn’t have any physical evidence, so the interview was basically conducted for background information. During the interview, Elms made statements about the victim being a good person and stated he had never had any problems with her. He was questioned about the victim’s habits and friends, but little information was gained. He also denied any physical or sexual contact and said he had not been in the victim’s apartment for almost a year. Elms voluntarily gave up DNA standards to Gouge in the form of oral swabs and also gave up head and pubic hair.
Detective Gouge noticed that Elms had feces and hair stuck to the toe of one of his shoes. Gouge asked Elms to allow the lab to process the shoes. Elms gave Gouge the shoes, which were taken to the Wichita Police Lab. Detective Gouge returned to the interview room and told Elms the shoes would be returned to him after processing, but it could take a while as the lab personnel were very busy. Elms elected to be taken to the booking desk and to retrieve his shoes later. Elms was released on the charge of driving with a suspended license and was picked up at the police station by his live-in girlfriend’s mother.
Fig.5 The offender had broken through the wall which separated the two duplex units, thus gaining access to the victim’s apartment through the attic.
The following morning, Detective Gouge took the shoes and calendar, along with several known standards of DNA from different people, including Elms, to the Sedgwick County, Regional Forensic Science Center. On May 7, results from the examination of the tennis shoes and comparison to the impression on the calendar were completed. Elms’ shoes could not be eliminated as having made the print. The detectives contacted the Kansas State Parole Office and inquired about Elms and his status on parole; he was on parole for burglary. The parole officer told detectives that Elms had been found to have a dirty urine analysis several weeks prior. The detectives also learned that Elms had been arrested for driving under the influence (DUI). The detectives requested parole authorities to arrest Elms for a parole violation.
Later DNA testing showed that the semen recovered from Gray’s vagina matched Elms’ DNA. Elms’ tennis shoes were also tested by the Kansas City, Missouri, police lab for fibers and compared the fibers to the insulation in the attic, but no insulation was found on the shoes. However, the bloody footprint impression on the calendar in the victim’s apartment matched the suspect’s tennis shoes. Stanley Elms was charged with capital murder, rape, aggravated burglary, and theft.
While in jail awaiting trial, Elms confessed to two inmates. They later provided this information to detectives. The inmates told the detectives that Elms had told them he knocked on the front door and the victim let him in. He also claimed he had contacted another person who assisted him in the clean-up of the scene. At trial, Elms testified that Gray had invited him over for a sexual interlude. He testified that a drug dealer he knew, named Rico Rojas, came over and accompanied him to Gray’s apartment. Elms stated that he had consensual sex with Gray and then Rojas killed her. The jury did not believe him and he was convicted of capital murder and was sentenced to be executed. The sentence was later changed to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 40 years.
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