Cold case: Family, Durham sheriff's still searching for answers in woman's 2005 murder
IMPACT ON THEM. AND THOSE
AGENCIES AS ALL OF THIS GETS
WORKED OUT.
>> NEARLY 2 DECADES AFTER THE
MURDER OF AN ELDERLY DURHAM
WOMAN. HER FAMILY IS NOW
CONTINUING TO PUSH FOR JUSTICE.
68 YEAR-OLD ROSALIE CRABTREE
WAS STABBED TO DEATH IN HER
HOME IN ROUGE, MONT IN NOVEMBER
OF 22,005. THAT IS WRAL'S
MONICA CASEY SAT DOWN WITH
CRABTREE'S NICE TODAY. SHE
SHARES WHERE THIS CASE STANDS
NOW, 20 YEARS LATER.
>> IT'S KIND OF HARD. ARE WE
LOOKING RIGHT AT THAT PERSON?
WE KNOW THAT PERSON AND ROUGE
NOT WAS IN 2005 AND IS NOW A
QUIET COMMUNITY. THAT PEACE
SHATTERED BY THE MURDER OF
ROSALIE CRABTREE, THE FIRST IN
THAT AREA IN 40 YEARS. WRAL
HAS COVERED THIS CASE FOR
YEARS. SECOND, WHEN SHE
PROBABLY WASN'T 100 POUNDS.
CRABTREE'S NIECE TANYA MILLER
LIVES NEARBY AND SHE LOVED
KIDS. HE WAS INVOLVED IN
CHURCH. SWISS TONIGHT SUNDAY
NIGHT SUNDAY MORNING. SHE TOOK
THE KIDS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
TO BIBLE SCHOOL. THE 68
YEAR-OLD WIDOW WAS STABBED TO
DEATH WITH A PAIR OF SCISSORS
AFTER COMING HOME FROM CHURCH
FOUND BY HER SON THE NEXT
MORNING. 2 TV'S A DVD PLAYER
AND SOME JEWELRY WERE TAKEN
TO MILLARD. IT STILL FEELS
SENSELESS
>> I KNOW SHE WAS SMART AND
DISABLING OR FOR ANYBODY WITH
SOME MONEY IN THERE AT I DON'T
KNOW. NOVEMBER WILL BE 20 YEARS
SINCE THIS MURDER. THAT'S 2
DECADES WITHOUT CLOSURE.
NOW, THE DURHAM COUNTY
SHERIFF'S OFFICE SAYS THEY ARE
REEXAMINING THIS CASE WITH
FRESH EYES. OUR FAMILY HAS
GRIEVED DEEPLY.
>> ABOUT THIS WONDERED ABOUT
THIS FOR SO LONG.
>> THE KIDS HAVE GROWN UP.
MILLER TELLS ME ALL OF
CRABTREE'S 4 SIBLINGS HAVE
PASSED AWAY WITHOUT KNOWING WHO
KILLED HER. NOW SHE'S LEADING
THE CHARGE TO CLOSE THIS
CHAPTER HAS BEING WITH ALL
>> THESE NEW TOOLS AND THE DNA
THAT MAYBE WE COULD GET SOME
CLOSURE AND
>> AT SOME STUFF OUT MAIL THAT
THEY DIDN'T HAVE. BUT THEN
BECAUSE I KEEP SEEING ALL THESE
COLD CASES SOLVED IN DURHAM,
MONICA CASEY, WRAL NEWS.
YEAH. AND IN A STATEMENT,
DURHAM COUNTY SHERIFF CLARENCE
BIRKHEAD SAID IN PART, QUOTE.
>> AT THE TIME OF HER DEATH
SHERIFF'S OFFICE DETECTIVES
CONDUCTED A THOROUGH
INVESTIGATION, HOWEVER, WITH
THE ADVANCEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY
AND FORENSIC SCIENCE, THERE MAY
BE NEW WAYS TO LOOK AT THIS
CASE.
>> HE'S ENCOURAGING ANYONE WITH
INFORMATION TO CONTACT THEM.
WE HAVE THE NUMBER FOR THE