TheTrenchcoat Chronicles

Caption: Jennifer Servo (L) and Patricia Scoville (R).

April 16, 2008

A TEXAS REPORTER BECOMES NEWS WHEN SHE IS MURDERED AND

A YOUNG WOMAN IS FOUND RAPED AND KILLED IN THE WOODS OF VERMONT

TWO COLD CASES, TWO FAMILIES, ONE ?48 HOURS MYSTERY? ? SATURDAY, APRIL 19

Jennifer Servo was a recent graduate from the University of Montana?s school of journalism with dreams of becoming the next great news anchor. But in September 2002, just weeks after moving to Abilene, Texas to take a job as a reporter at KRBC-TV, the 22-year-old became news when she was found murdered in her apartment.

Servo died from strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head and, with no signs of forced entry to her apartment, police suspected that she knew her killer. With a contaminated crime scene producing little evidence, investigators focused their investigation on Jennifer?s newly ex-boyfriend, Ralph Sepulveda, and a co-worker, weatherman Brian Travers, with whom she had begun a romantic relationship. Both men deny any involvement in the murder. While a cold case squad has been working the investigation since 2002, Jennifer?s own family has been independently pursuing leads, and both are hopeful that their relentless efforts will soon lead them to Jennifer?s killer.

Like Jennifer Servo, Patricia Scoville moved to a new town to pursue her dreams. It was 1991, when Scoville relocated from Massachusetts to Stowe, Vermont, abandoning her corporate career in the hopes of becoming a ski instructor. And like Servo, Scoville?s hope that her life was just beginning was cut short when she disappeared while on a bike ride. After an intense search her body was discovered in the woods hidden under leaves. She had been raped and murdered.

When police collected DNA from Scoville?s crime scene, they were hoping they would be able to quickly match it to a suspect. But their search was hindered by the lack of a Vermont state DNA database. Determined to find their daughter?s killer, Scoville?s parents lobbied relentlessly for a bill to create a database, but despite support from then-governor Howard Dean, it took seven years for the bill to be signed into law. After thousands of leads and DNA tests at their fingertips, in 2005 police eventually found themselves back on track in an investigation that had gone cold for nearly 14 years.

Harold Dow reports on these two remarkable and haunting cases on 48 HOURS MYSTERY: ?Deadline For Justice? on Saturday, April 19 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.** This broadcast is produced by Josh Gelman and Shoshanah Wolfson. Anthony Batson is the senior broadcast producer and Al Briganti is the executive editor. Susan Zirinsky is the executive producer.

Editors’ Note: Click here to see Harold Dow?s Reporter?s Notebook on the Patricia Scoville case. CBS News 48 HOURS MYSTERY broadcasts are now available on iTunes.com.

**Please note this is part of a 48 HOURS MYSTERY doubleheader beginning at 9PM with the broadcast of 48 HOURS MYSTERY: ?Dream Killer.?

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