The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

DNA links man charged with 1981 student's murder

After hearing Carbondale Police Sgt. Paul Echols present DNA evidence during a Wednesday preliminary hearing, Judge Rodney Clutts found probable cause in the case charging a Michigan man with the 1981 killing of SIUC student Susan Schumake.

Daniel M. Woloson, 45, of Brownstown Township, Mich., was arrested late last month and charged with three counts of murder. Woloson was working at the Quadrangle Apartments on South Wall Street when he allegedly raped and killed Schumake. The body of the 21-year-old senior was found in August 1981 in a wooded area between U.S. Hwy. 51 and the railroad tracks, near the SIU Physical Plant.

Jackson County State's Attorney Michael Wepsiec called Echols as the prosecution's only witness. Echols was involved with the initial investigation 23 years ago and presented DNA evidence matching an unknown male's DNA profile found at the scene to DNA collected from cigarette butts found in Woloson's recently sold car.

During cross examination, Patricia Gross, Woloson's attorney, questioned the DNA evidence because the Illinois State Police Crime Lab admitted to contaminating one of the swabs of DNA collected in Schumake's autopsy with an unrelated case in 1994.

Echols said the contamination of the swab does not affect the DNA profile because slides of the DNA were made after Schumake's 1981 autopsy and had not been contaminated.

Echols also testified that a red leather tote bag was found days after the murder near the area where Schumake's body was found and within 100 feet of Woloson's place of work. Echols said, in an interview with police, that Woloson "identified the contents as his."

Gross asked Echols during cross-examination if any of the interviews with Woloson were recorded and Echols said that none of the interviews had been.

Six months after Schumake's murder, Echols said students of the University found a yellow backpack near Piles Fork Creek, about 400 or 500 feet away from the crime scene. Items in the backpack were identified as Schumake's by her roommates and later by fingerprint analysis.

Woloson admitted in police interviews possessing the backpack before throwing it in the creek, Echols said. He also said Woloson admitted taking $10 from the backpack before discarding it.

When Wepsiec asked Echols about Woloson's whereabouts around the days of Schumake's murder, Echols said Woloson told police he had been renting a room at King's Inn, then located on East Main Street. Woloson went on to tell Echols that the day before the murder, he ran out of rent money.

Woloson told police a man named Mark allowed him to stay at his Carterville home, Echols said, but Woloson could not locate Mark when asked by police.

Echols said after that, a later meeting was scheduled, but Woloson "was nowhere to be found."

Inside the room Woloson had rented, Echols said officers found torn paper, which later pieced together to form what Echols referred to as a suicide note.

Echols said Woloson was one of three suspects being looked into after DNA ruled out the man they believed murdered Schumake. After the other two provided DNA, they were ruled out as suspects.

Because of Woloson's driver's license address, Michigan police became involved in the investigation, Echols said. Michigan police located Woloson's car, and the driver of the car said he had bought it from Woloson days before.

Five cigarette butts were taken from Woloson's sold car as DNA evidence to be tested. After testing, one of the butts was that of a female, whereas two of the cigarette butts matched the unknown male profile found at the scene of Schumake's murder.

Echols said crime lab technicians told him the odds of another Caucasian male other than Woloson matching the profile was one in 15.9 million.

Gross asked Clutts for a motion to reduce Woloson's current $500,000 bond. Wepsiec said that based on the nature of the crime, prior convictions and lack of ties to the county, he did not think the bond was unreasonable. Clutts denied the motion and set Woloson's pretrial for Dec. 7 and jury trial for Jan 3.

 

 

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