Tire Cast Catches James Kodadich in Morris County | The New Detectives | S6 E11

A rare tire tread, a burned Jane Doe, and a canyon crash unravel. The New Detectives shows how forensics expose three killers' fatal errors. Morris County, New Jersey, 1982: 18-year-old Amy Hoffman vanished after a late shift at a mall. Two days later, her body was found in an abandoned water retention tank. Weeks after, 25-year-old Deirdre O'Brien was forced off the road by an old Chevy, abducted, and fatally stabbed, but she described her attacker and his car before dying. At her abduction site, investigators cast a single tire track with dental stone. Forensic tire expert Pete McDonald compared the impression to tread guides and focused on the Cyberling Snow Power design. Unique cuts and tears tied the cast to a right rear tire on a Chevy driven by James Kodadich, who had reported being stabbed himself. His wound appeared self-inflicted. Cross-linking fibers from the victims and Kodadich's car sealed the case. He was sentenced to 95 years. Illinois, 1993: A decapitated, burned woman was found in a brush fire at Lake Lou Yeager Park. With no identity, investigators leaned on the victim's body: fibroid tumors and age estimates from forensic anthropologist Dr. Mark Johnsy. Illinois State Police scientist Gary Haavy restored fingerprints by detergent soaking and then using black powder with frosted lifting tape. After extensive APHIS searches across the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico failed, detectives located old employment prints and identified the victim as Lynn Matchem Thomas. A moving-company carton at the scene matched the boxes she used to pack; witnesses saw a cargo van; an ex-girlfriend recalled Curtis Thomas mocking the initial misidentification of race and noted his access to a van. Curtis Thomas was convicted and sentenced to life without parole. Utah, 1985: David Mosman said his truck accidentally plunged 285 feet into Logan Canyon, killing his wife Tanya. Autopsy showed drowning, a seat belt mark, and three blunt head contusions. A sprinkler pipe matched those wounds, and hydrologist Dr. Dave Tullis concluded the river could not have carried her from the bank to midstream as Mosman claimed. With a custody dispute and $110,000 in added life insurance as motive, Mosman received life in prison. #TheNewDetectives #TrueCrime #ForensicScience #TireImpressions #FingerprintAnalysis #CrimeDocumentary #ColdCases