Spokane 1997 cold-case killing of floral designer, mother of 2 solved through DNA
After 28 years of no answers, DNA has helped solve the cold-case homicide of a floral designer and mother of two who was raped, bludgeoned to death and left face down in a Spokane alley in 1997.
The Spokane Police Department announced Wednesday that they believe 45-year-old Margaret Anselmo’s killer was a Pend Oreille man identified as Brian James Anderson, who died by suicide in 2009.
Anselmo’s body was found by a delivery driver on the afternoon of Jan. 3, 1997 in a snowy alley on the fringes of downtown Spokane at 714 E. Pacific Ave. Police believed she was the victim of an apparent random act of violence. Her cause of death was due to blunt force trauma to the head.
The driver discovered Anselmo lying face down under an abandoned semitruck trailer and tried to check for signs of life but found none, according to previous reporting from The Spokesman-Review. Evidence left by Anselmo’s killer was collected, but rendered no leads.
That was until three years ago.
In 2022, the Spokane Police Department and the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab submitted the evidence left at the scene to a Texas-based forensic laboratory owned by Othram, a corporation specializing in forensic genetic genealogy to help solve cold cases. Othram scientists used genome sequencing, a process to identify variations in someone’s DNA, to develop a profile for Anselmo’s killer, the company posted on its website.
Scientists then used the profile in a genetic genealogy search to identify relatives of the killer to turn over to law enforcement, the company said.
When Spokane detectives contacted the family and asked for their assistance in providing their DNA, they expressed concern for Anselmo’s loved ones and a desire to help solve her case, police wrote in a news release. Scientists tested the DNA and found one family member was the child of Anselmo’s killer and the other was a half-sibling. The only person that matched that criteria was Anderson, police said.
Anderson went on to have two children and worked at a hardware store, according to his obituary. He was just 20 years old when he is believed to have murdered Anselmo. She was only outside that day because she had left her apartment to cash a check. When she was found underneath that semitruck trailer, money was still inside her purse.
Anselmo was a lifelong Spokane resident who graduated from Marycliff High School and went to Spokane Community College to pursue an education in banking, her obituary states.
“She was a beautiful, loving mom,” Anselmo’s daughter, Lisa Anselmo told KHQ in 2019.
If Anderson was alive today, he would be charged with first-degree rape and murder for Anselmo’s death, the Spokane Police Department said Wednesday. Police have not established a motive.
The conclusion to her case using DNA forensic technology is the 41st case in Washington in which law enforcement has identified a suspect of a crime, Othram’s website states.
“This case is a powerful reminder that time and persistence, combined with advances in forensic DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy, can bring long-awaited answers even decades after a crime,” Othram wrote.