On June 23, 1991, a small town outside Kent County, Delaware, became home to a gruesome and bizarre murder, so shocking that even investigators couldn’t believe what actually happened.
We’ve all been warned about the dangers of hitchhiking. But a few decades ago, society was generally more trusting.
It was not unusual for a friendly driver to pick up a stranger looking for a ride. Eager and confident travelers would rely entirely on hitchhiking to make their journey across the country.
But on this day, 35 years ago, a man’s willingness to help a hitchhiker led to a tragic murder that became famous because of a chilling coincidence that so stunned the police that they stopped the investigation.
as he said unsolved mysteriesLocal factory worker Charles Holden stopped at a fast-food restaurant for dinner at midnight. In the truck, she was approached by a man on the side who kept pushing her to take a lift. Although reluctant at first, Holden decides to take her to her desired destination.
When Holden asked the unidentified hitchhiker to get out of the truck, the man became enraged and began attacking him. With no one nearby to help, Holden tried to reason with the man and told him he would drive him away.
However, the alert and alert Holden managed to jump into his truck and drive away before the hitchhiker could get inside. Holden drove in the other direction from his house, not wanting the hitchhiker to see where he lived.
When Holden thought the scary conversation was over, he realized the hitchhiker was walking on his own property. Holden lived right next door to his mother, Dorothy Donovan, and was immediately concerned for her safety. He called the police and a constable accompanied him to the property.
After seeing signs of forced entry, Holden and the trooper find Donovan’s body in his upstairs bedroom. He was repeatedly stabbed with a knife on his face, chest and arms.
As told by investigators forensic files episode, “Stranger in the Night,” Holden’s story seemed too unbelievable to be true. He challenged him in subsequent interviews and discovered that he was the beneficiary of Donovan’s sudden death insurance policy.
However, the police eventually succeeded in identifying Holden as the killer through DNA evidence. The blood stained palm print found in the house did not match. With this, investigators had to work around the overall sketch that Holden provided when eliminating him as a suspect.
DNA evidence solves case after 14 years
(Photo by Beata Zorgel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Investigators entered the killer’s DNA into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and made a breakthrough in November 2005. Criminal? A criminal named Gilbert Cannon, who spent time in prison for robbery and drug-related crimes.
As shown in forensic filesCanon was tracked down and arrested more than a decade after the brutal murder. Canon initially denied involvement but eventually confessed after palm print and fingerprint evidence was found.
In his confession, Cannon admitted that he was under the influence of drugs and was looking for more on that fateful night. After a confrontation with Holden, Cannon states that it was merely a coincidence that he chose Donovan’s farmhouse while looking for a place to sleep overnight.
After encountering Donovan in the home, Cannon killed him by stabbing him with a screwdriver before leaving the property. Cannon was also stunned to learn that Donovan was the mother of the man who had given her a ride a few minutes earlier.
He pleaded guilty and received a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2007.
