investigators rushed to her home, which was less than a mile from the murder scene. >> so, those sneakers were absolutely essential. the mother could have taken them and thrown them in a trash can, or he could have called her and said get rid of them, and that could have been very damaging. >> but police found a worn pair of spaulding tennis shoes in john skinner's bedroom. amy mechaud compared skinner's pair to the transparent overlays of the impressions found from the murder scene. >> on both of the impressions, the one from the linoleum and the one from the glass, there were enough accidental markings and characteristics that were visible in the impression that lined up with the known shoes that we were able to say without a doubt that these were the shoes that made those impressions. >> based on the forensic evidence, prosecutors say that skinner kicked in the back door