Where is John Ernest Walsh Now? We discuss the murder of Stefanie Sue Watson following the release of the 2023 Hulu true crime series Cold Case Files: DNA Speaks. This article contains disturbing details.
The advancements in technology today have been crucial in solving many cold cases for law enforcement agencies. Evidence found at crime scenes decades ago has been re-examined to help bring closure to, and sometimes justice, to unsolved cases.
Hulu’s ten-episode series Cold Case Files: DNA Speaks brings some of these cases to light, exploring some of the most frustrating and horrific crimes ever committed and the final resolutions that arrive courtesy of the new techniques now available.
Fans of true crime will dive into this series and satisfyingly find a resolution by the episode’s end. However, the series is a harrowing watch, and some incidents are nightmare-inducing, so this is not for the faint-hearted.
At Ready Steady Cut, we have been looking at the cases used in the show and bringing some companion pieces to the series.
This article will answer the question: Where is John Ernest Walsh Now? The murderer of Stefanie Sue Watson.
Who is John Ernest Walsh, and what did he do?
John Ernest Walsh was arrested after a DNA match to murder was found in a cold case from 1982. Walsh was implicated in the shocking crime thirty-one years after it happened. Stefanie Sue Watson would leave for work in the Summer of 1982 and never be seen again.
The next day, her cousin would file a missing person report, and two days later, her car would eventually be located at an apartment block. Horrifyingly, the interior of the vehicle would be covered with blood stains.
Around forty-five days later, a local teenager would spot a gloved man dumping a bag in an area of woodland. The bag would contain a portion of Stefanie’s head, but her body was never found.
The case would go cold until new techniques would be used on blood found during the investigation, and a positive hit was found.
The match was with John Ernest Walsh.
How did Stefanie Sue Watson die?
Police have stated that they think Stefanie Sue Watson was bludgeoned to death while sitting in the driving seat of her car.
Where is John Ernest Walsh Now?
John Ernest Walsh is in jail and was incarcerated when the police made the connection between him and the murder of Stefanie. He had been out on parole for another crime at the time of the attack on Stefanie. A plea made by Walsh led to him receiving a further thirty-three years on top of the sentence he was already serving.
He will die in jail.
How did DNA evidence convict John Ernest Walsh?
Cold case investigators would become aware of new ways of checking blood samples, and the car seat that Stefanie had been sitting in when she was killed was covered in blood.
Experts would carefully analyze the blood on the seat using the available new tech, and incredibly, after months of painstaking work, they would find a DNA match to Walsh.
