Deadline For Justice

Two Cold Cases, Two Families, On 48 Hours Mystery

(CBS)  Vermont is a beautiful tranquil serene place, and that's what attracted 28-year-old Patty Scoville, a Cornell graduate, who was looking for a more laid back lifestyle.

In October 1991, after working at a corporate job in Boston, Patty moved to Vermont and applied to become a children’s ski instructor.

Patty's dad David and mother Ann couldn't wait to visit their daughter. But before they could make that trip, Ann became concerned when Patty's roommate hadn't heard from her in two days.

"When I hung up from that call I knew there was something very wrong," Ann remembers.

Patty's roommate called the police. Just three weeks after moving, Patty had vanished.

"Initially we were looking for a lost or injured person and the search was far and wide," remembers Detective Bruce Merriam. "There was an elderly gentleman that called in and said, 'Jeez, I think I saw her bike.'"

That tip led police to Patty's bike, which was found at Moss Glen Falls, a local scenic hiking trail.

A command post was set up and the search was on. Det. Merriam says more than a hundred people were in the search party. The search involved helicopters, divers, dogs and volunteers. The whole community, even her parents, was looking for Patty.

The second thing that was discovered were Patty's gloves. More than a week would pass without finding any more clues and police were about to call off the search.

But on Oct. 28, eight days after Patty was last seen, a searcher found her bottle; minutes later, Patty's body was discovered, covered with leaves, dead wood, and branches.

"The killer took the time to hide and conceal the crime that he committed and did so in such a way that we were fortunate to even recover a body that season," Merriam says.

"The investigation clearly showed that Patty Scoville was raped and killed and the killer left behind his DNA," Merriam explains.

With the DNA evidence, police and her parents were confident Patty’s killer would be easy to find. But incredibly, it would take the efforts of the police, the FBI, the governor of Vermont, and Patty’s own parents to bring the killer to justice.

Patty's murder touched everyone, even former presidential candidate, and then-Governor Howard Dean. "It was a real shock to the community. When somebody gets murdered you feel like it’s you neighbor," Dean says.

And the job of solving that murder fell largely to a young detective, Bruce Merriam, then 28. "I have to tell you I was the youngest guy on that team. So I caught a lot of flack from some of these senior police detectives."

A 15-man squad was assigned to the investigation. They looked closely at Patty's whereabouts the day she disappeared. "We collected all the material tracing her movements during the time she was in Stowe -- banking records, phone records and calendar information," Merriam explains.

The last pictures of Patty alive were captured by a security camera, as she was making a bank deposit before she rode her bike to Moss Glenn Falls.

Asked what story the crime scene told him, Merriam tells Dow, "It rather quickly told me that we were investigating a sexual homicide. She was struck from behind and she was raped and murdered right there."

The best physical evidence would be the DNA recovered from the crime scene

[carolcape]

I still feel that Ralph is the murderer of Jennifer Servo and I believe the police should charge him and go with what they have. There must be enough circumstantial evidence there to arrest this man. Funny how he all of a sudden took of to Kuwait when all of this was going on. He ran, the sign of a guilty man, get out of the limelight. I hope you get this *** behind bars. He will kill someone else and then the police will be saying, oh, we didn''t have enough. This woman made a very bad judgment on having this man follow her to another city. She did not know him. Young women should be very aware of moving in with someone they do not know anything about. I would tend to think Jennifer was smarter then that, but she saw too much good in a man that was full of evil. I still hope they nail this guy and they do not stop investigating this case. It should be on the front burner, for sure. Those are my views.

[adc1232]

for the other family, i''m glad they caught their killer.true loving parents don''t give up on their child, even if they''re no longer with us.But for Jennifer, i think it was also Ralph who had killed her.

[carolcape]

I believe Ralph is the killer.He couldn''t stand it when he saw how happy Jenn was when she moved out. He saw another man on her arm and I bet anything he was stalking her and knew every move she made. The police should have got a search warrant immediately and searched his apartment for evidence, also they could have searched Brian''s, but did they? And I believe that Jenn dropped her friend off because she could have been secretly scared that Ralph was following her or watching her and did not mention it to anyone. I don''t think that Brian had anything to do with her murder. The police did not do enough to solve this crime. They will never solve this murder unless the murderer talks when he''s drunked up or something along those lines. A bright light taken out and so many bad seeds still roaming around, unfair for sure. Condolences to her family.

[rational717]

Dear Curious51, I did look at the web link you provided and I read about the loss of your son, Joshua. I am so sorry for your pain and sorrier still that you don''t have any closure. I myself don''t have any answers, but I would like you to know that I will be praying for peace, for both you and your family.

[curious51]

WOW!!!
HOw about someone look into the questionable death of my son, Joshua?
www.realcrimes.com/Robinson/Robinson.html

[roscoezzz]

This is a tough one, but Brian and Ralph are still suspects to this day. Jennifer and Ralph agreed to part as friends and he moved out into the next apartment. Remember though what Jennifer told her coworker. It was revealed after the murder that Jennifer confided that when Ralph and her were intimate, he wanted to strangle her. The police said she was either strangled or beaten to death. Ralph must''ve been scared because he suddenly stopped cooperating with the police.
There was no sign of a break in and Jennifer knew the murderer. Hopefully, something will come up with the investigation. Sad, because Jennifer was on her way to such big things.

[rational717]

Dearest, rat206. Although I appreciate your interest in the case, I did want to take a few moments to address some of your questions. Brian and Jen did have a romantic relationship, however it wasn''t a secret. In fact, it was common knowledge among her friends and coworkers. I also have a question for you...have you heard of Ralph exploding into violence? Do share if you have. Any little piece about Ralph could lead to justice for Jennifer. Just one other note, you mentioned that Brian was accompanied to Jen''s apartment with their coworker. I think you have to remember that the show may not report the entire timeline of events. So, even though we saw the same show with a different perspective, I think any discussion is a good discussion if it ultimately leads to justice for Jen.

[rat206]

In the Jennifer Servo case, I believe that Brian Travers would be just as viable a suspect as anyone else in this case. Besides being the last person seen with her and having a secret romantic liason with her as well, he appears to draw attention away from himself and directs it towards Ralph Sepulveda by saying such comments as "how she seemed to blossom after Ralph moved out". If Ralph was as jealous as he was portrayed to be, it would have been harder to move him out of Jennifer''s apartment and it wouldn''t have taken him as long as eight weeks to explode into violence. Have any of the other women in Ralph''s life raised red flags? Also, why didn''t Brian go by himself to Jennifer''s apartment when she turned up missing? Probably because he needed a witness, and in this case, a co-worker and a friend as well was just what was needed to complete the ruse.