Detectives have solved the old case of a 15-year-old girl who was found dead almost 30 years ago. The suspect in the murder committed suicide after being confronted with death.
Danielle Houchins was found facedown in just four inches of water in a swamp area near Belgrade, Montana on September 21, 1996.
The case was reopened in 2019 and Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer reported Thursday that investigators had identified her killer.
Paul Nathaniel Hutchinson, 55, committed suicide on July 24, a day after police questioned him as a suspect in the teen’s death.
Dannielle Houchins was found face down in a pool of water in a swamp area near Belgrade, Montana, on September 21, 1996.
His DNA later matched four hairs on his arm that were found on Houchins’ body, providing “100 percent confirmation” that he was the killer, Springer said.
Hutchinson, who was married for 22 years and had two adult children, lived 100 miles from Belgrade and worked as a fisheries biologist for the Bureau of Land Management in Dillon, Montana.
Investigators said Hutchinson and Houchins did not know each other, describing it as “an opportunistic crime.”
“They believe Hutchinson and Houchins met by chance at the river, where Hutchinson raped her and then strangled her in shallow water,” Springer said.
According to Springer, Hutchinson appeared “extremely nervous” when he was questioned by two detectives on July 23.
“Detectives noted he was sweating profusely, scratching his face and chewing on his hand,” he said.
“When shown a photograph of Houchins, Hutchinson slumped in his chair and showed signs of discomfort. When he was released, his behavior was noted as erratic.”
Houchins with her younger sister, Stephanie Mollet, now 39
Paul Nathaniel Hutchinson, 55, committed suicide on July 24, the day after police questioned him as a suspect in the teen’s death.
Houchins disappeared after driving to Cameron Bridge Fishing Access on the Gallatin River following a family dispute.
When she didn’t come home, her mother and a friend went looking for her. They found her pickup truck unlocked in the parking lot, but there was no sign of her.
After a two-hour search, she was reported missing at 5 p.m. to then-Sheriff Bill Slaughter’s office.
The search was called off at nightfall, but two local residents continued searching by flashlight and found her body around 9 p.m.
Houchins’ autopsy revealed she had drowned, with mud in her stomach and airways, but her cause of death was “unknown.”
Police at the time reported that she may have accidentally drowned or committed suicide, much to the anger of Houchins’ family, who always believed she had been murdered.
Last year, the case was reclassified as a murder after semen was found on the girl’s panties.
Five days before the murder, Springer was sworn in as a deputy sheriff and the case came back into the spotlight. The case was reopened in 2019, after he became sheriff in 2021.
“The investigation continued because we knew Danni had been murdered and we would one day have the resources to solve this case,” he said.
Springer decided the case needed a fresh look and brought in retired Los Angeles Police Department Captain Tom Elfmont, who was retired and now living in Bozeman, Montana, and running a global security firm.
Houchins’ autopsy found she had drowned, with mud in her stomach and airways, but her cause of death was “unknown”
Houchins disappeared after driving to Cameron Bridge Fishing Access on the Gallatin River (pictured) following a family dispute
Police have interviewed numerous people in the decades since Houchins’ death, but have only been able to rule out people who were known to her.
According to Springer, this stalled the investigation, as murders committed by strangers were the most difficult to solve and relied on physical evidence.
Thanks to new DNA technology, detectives were able to trace hairs found on the body back to Hutchinson through genealogical research.
The DNA profile was sent to a lab in Virginia, where workers searched databases for partial matches and constructed a family tree. Ultimately, Hutchinson was identified as the most likely suspect.
Elfmont and Sergeant Court Depweg confronted Hutchinson on July 23 outside the BLM Dillon Field Office as he was finishing work and questioned him.
The next day at 4:17 a.m., Hutchinson called the Beaverhead County Sheriff’s Office and said he needed help, then hung up.
Minutes later, officers found him on the side of the road, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Police kept quiet until Hutchinson’s DNA was tested and was a 100 percent match to hairs found at the crime scene.
“This case is an example of our tireless pursuit of justice. We have never given up on finding the truth for Danni and her family, and have used every means possible to bring closure to this heartbreaking chapter,” Springer said.
“Our commitment to justice for victims and their loved ones remains unwavering and we will continue to use every resource at our disposal to resolve these cases, regardless of how much time has passed.”
Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer took on the case after being appointed in 2021, having been sworn in as a deputy sheriff just five days before the teen’s death
According to Springer, Hutchinson, who had no criminal history and had not even committed any traffic violations, would never have been identified without the new DNA technology.
“This resolution provides long-awaited closure for Danni’s family and the community,” he said.
But Houchins’ family, and particularly her younger sister, Stephanie Mollet, now 39, has been extremely critical of the way the 1996 investigation was handled.
“I always knew in my heart that it couldn’t have been an accident,” she told the Montana Free Press.
‘I’ve had nightmares my whole life about losing someone and how people would just be taken away from me, people I love. I wake up in the middle of the night sobbing.
“I’ve had to deal with my trauma. I’ve had to go to therapy and figure out how to live a life and then come back and fight for her.”
Mollet accused police in 1996 of “lying” to the family and “withholding information,” and criticized the “undetermined” cause of death given the evidence.
An autopsy revealed that Houchins had recently suffered a tear in her vagina, her underwear had been displaced and her bra had been pulled over her breasts.
Her gold watch with an elastic strap was partially pulled over her hand, as if she was being pulled by her arm.
Slaughter said at the time that the lack of bruising or other injuries meant “we had to be prepared for the possibility that this was an accidental drowning.”
Former agents Keith Farquhar and Cindy Botek told MFP that Slaughter wanted the case “closed” and was too willing to give up.
According to investigators, Hutchinson and Houchins did not know each other, and they described it as “a crime of opportunity.”
The Houchins family is highly critical of the way the 1996 investigation was handled
Slaughter maintained that the case was always investigated as a homicide and that he, too, was frustrated by the coroner’s ruling.
“We can tell you how she died because we all felt she was a strong young woman,” he said.
“She didn’t fall into four inches of water or three inches of water in a swamp and drown. She just didn’t drown. I mean, all she had to do was roll over, right?
“We were all frustrated about that phone call, that it wasn’t murder. It seemed to me that it was pretty clearly murder, and we told the parents that.”
Mollet was skeptical, saying her family did not get that impression at the time.
“What they depicted was, ‘Well, we don’t know, but it definitely could have been an accident. You know, she had that knee brace on and she just tripped and fell,'” she said.
According to Springer, police are still investigating to tie up loose ends.
“We will share the information we receive with federal and local law enforcement agencies in an effort to identify possible victims of similar crimes,” he said.