Detectives have solved the cold case of a 15-year-old girl found dead almost three decades earlier – the accused killer took his own life after being confronted about her death.
Danielle Houchins was found face down in a puddle of just four inches of water in a swamp near Belgrade, Montana, on September 21, 1996.
The case was reopened in 2019 and Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer said Thursday that investigators had identified the killer.
Paul Nathaniel Hutchinson, 55, killed himself on July 24, a day after police questioned him on suspicion of the teenager’s death.
Dannielle Houchins was found face down in a pool of water in a swamp near Belgrade, Montana, on September 21, 1996.
His DNA was later matched to four arm hairs 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, He 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, and described it as “a crime of opportunity.”
“They believe Hutchinson and Houchins met by chance at the river, where Hutchinson raped her and then suffocated her in shallow water,” Springer said.
Springer said Hutchinson “displayed extreme nervousness” when two detectives questioned him on July 23.
“Investigators observed him sweating profusely, scratching his face and biting his hand,” he said.
“When shown a photo of Houchins, Hutchinson slumped in his chair and showed signs of discomfort. Upon his release, his behavior was observed to be erratic.”
Houchins with her younger sister, Stephanie Mollet, now 39
Paul Nathaniel Hutchinson, 55, took his own life on July 24, a day after police questioned him on suspicion of the teenager’s death.
Houchins disappeared after driving to Cameron Bridge Fishing Access on the Gallatin River following a family argument.
Her mother and a friend went looking for her when she didn’t come home and found her truck unlocked in the parking lot but no sign of her.
After two hours of searching, they reported her missing to then-Sheriff Bill Slaughter’s office at 5 p.m.
The search was called off at dusk, but two locals continued searching with flashlights and found her body around 9 p.m.
Houchins’ autopsy found he drowned, with mud in his stomach and airway, but his cause of death was “undetermined.”
Police said at the time that she may have accidentally drowned or even committed suicide, much to the fury of Houchins’ family, who always believed she had been murdered.
The case was reclassified as homicide last year when semen was found on the girl’s panties.
Springer was sworn in as a sheriff’s deputy five days before the killing and brought renewed attention to the case, which was reopened in 2019 after he became sheriff in 2021.
“The investigation remained open because we knew that Danni had been murdered and one day we were going to have the tools available 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 had retired to Bozeman, Montana, and ran a global security firm.
Houchins’ autopsy found he drowned, with mud in his stomach and airway, but his cause of death was “undetermined.”
Houchins disappeared after driving to Cameron Bridge Fishing Access on the Gallatin River (pictured) following a family argument.
Police have interviewed numerous people over the decades since Houchins’ death, but have only been able to rule out people she knew.
Springer said this stalled the investigation, as homicides committed by unknown persons were the most difficult to solve and relied on physical evidence.
But with new DNA technology, detectives were able to trace hairs found on the body back to Hutchinson using genealogical research.
The DNA profile was sent to a lab in Virginia, where staff searched databases for partial matches and built a family tree that ultimately led to Hutchinson as the most likely suspect.
Elfmont and Sgt. Court Depweg confronted Hutchinson outside the BLM field office in Dillon on July 23 as he was finishing work and interviewed him.
At 4:17 a.m. the next day, Hutchinson called the Beaverhead County Sheriff’s Office, saying he needed help before hanging up.
Local officers found him minutes later on the side of the road, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Police kept the secret until they tested Hutchinson’s DNA and found it was a “100 percent” match to hairs at the scene.
“This case exemplifies our relentless pursuit of justice. We never gave up in our quest to find the truth for Danni and her family, exhausting every means necessary to close this heartbreaking chapter,” Springer said.
‘Our commitment to justice for the victims and their loved ones is unwavering and we will continue to use all resources at our disposal to resolve these cases, no matter how much time has passed.’
Gallatin County Sheriff Dan Springer focused on the case after being appointed in 2021, having been sworn in as deputy just five days before the teen’s death.
Springer said Hutchinson, who had no criminal record and no traffic violations, would never have been identified without the new DNA technology.
“This resolution brings a long-awaited sense of closure to Danni’s family and the community,” he said.
But Houchins’ family, particularly his younger sister Stephanie Mollet, now 39, are extremely critical of how 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 all my life about losing someone and how people I loved were going to be taken away from me. I wake up crying in the middle of the night.
“I had to work through my trauma. I had to go to therapy and figure out how to live a life and then come back and fight for it.”
Mollet accused police in 1996 of “lying” to the family and “hiding information,” and criticized the “undetermined” manner of death, given the evidence.
An autopsy showed Houchins had a fresh laceration to her vagina, her underwear was displaced and her bra was pushed up over her breasts.
Her gold, elastic-band watch was partially placed on her hand, as if it had been dragged by the arm.
Slaughter said at the time that the lack of bruising or other injuries meant “we have to be prepared for the fact that this could have been an accidental drowning.”
Former MPs Keith Farquhar and Cindy Botek told MFP that Slaughter wanted to end the case and was too willing to give up.
Hutchinson and Houchins did not know each other, according to investigators, who described it as “a crime of opportunity.”
Houchins’ family is extremely critical of how the 1996 investigation was handled.
Slaughter insisted the case was always investigated as a homicide and that he, too, was frustrated by the medical examiner’s decision.
“We can tell you how she died because we all felt she was a strong young woman,” he said.
“She didn’t fall into a four-inch puddle of water or a three-inch swamp and drown. She just didn’t drown. I mean, all she had to do was roll over onto her back, right?
“We were all frustrated by that call because it wasn’t a homicide. I think it was a pretty obvious homicide and we told the parents that.”
Mollet was skeptical and said that was not the impression his family had at the time.
“What they said was, ‘Well, we don’t know, but it really could have been an accident. You know, she had a knee brace on and she just tripped and fell,'” he said.
Springer said police were still investigating to tie up loose ends.
“The information we have received will be shared with federal and local law enforcement agencies in an attempt to locate possible victims of similar crimes,” he said.