2020/11/24

DNA Cracks 1995 Cold Case Murder of California Nurse

Forensic Magzine November 23, 2020

Christine Munro was attacked while jogging on the south side of the Sacramento River Trail on June 24, 1995. A 37-year-old nurse and mother of four children, her murder devastated our community. At that time, RPD investigators spent hundreds of hours collecting evidence and interviewing dozens upon dozens of witnesses and potential suspects. 

A convicted rapist falsely confessed to the crime in 1997, but there was insufficient evidence to prove he actually committed the crime. Over the years, the case went cold. 

In late 2019, Major Crimes Detective Rusty Bishop began reviewing the entire Munro cold case, including looking at physical evidence that could be analyzed with modern DNA technology. In January 2020, Bishop re-submitted fingernail scrapings of Christine Munro to the Department of Justice for DNA analysis. This past June, Bishop received notification of a possible match through the Department of Justice Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). The evidence matched the DNA profile of James Watkins, 42 years, of Texas. Watkins was serving a 14-year sentence for robbery in a Texas state prison.

Detectives immediately went to work reviewing Watkin’s history and whereabouts, before, during, and after the murder of Munro. They learned Watkins moved to Redding, California from Texas in early 1995 at the age of 17 to live with his aunt and uncle. During his short time in Redding, he was contacted by Redding Police eight times over the two-year period. Those contacts included an arrest for shoplifting, a warrant arrest, and an unlawful camping citation. more