Roy Melanson News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Found pieces of michele's clothing. the zipper from her jeans looked like it had been pulled apart violently. >> it's obvious that the zipper has been torn apart, as opposed to simply open in the normal way. so there's evidence of some violence here. >> a forensic odontologist compared michele's dental records to the teeth in the skull and made a positive identification. police and prosecutors now focus their attention on roy melanson, the last known person to see her alive. >> what do you want to do? you want to kill, that's what you want to do. even if it cost your life. >> prosecutors knew ...

>> in september of 1993, a jury found roy melanson guilty of first-degree murder. he was sentenced to life in prison. >> see these bastards, the devastation they leave behind, nobody knows. they think they killed an individual, but they killed dozens of people. >> michele's father is thankful to forensic science and the volunteers who worked so diligently to find his daughter. >> you can't express the gratitude. i just couldn't believe that it finally came to an end. >> the system of justice worked in this particular case. whether the system itself ever awards justice to a victim or their fami...

>> in melanson's possession was michele's backpack, driver's license and pawnshop ticket for a 35 millimeter camera. >> on the camera was was a roll of film. the last photographs on the roll of film were photographs of michele's dog, okie, wearing his hiking packs. in the very last photograph on the roll was a picture of roy melanson with a young woman he met in pueblo, colorado. >> melanson denied having anything to do with michele's disappearance. he said they stopped for coffee and he admitted sneaking out the back way and stealing her car. and he said michele's dog was tied up outside. mel...

Michele dropped one of the ranch hands off at the local bar, but the other, roy melanson, asked her if she would drop him off farther down the road so he could get his truck. she agreed. >> all right. >> prosecutors believe somewhere along the way, melanson ordered michele to stop the car. he let the dog out. there was a struggle, resulting in the ripped zipper. and he killed her. the evidence suggests he dumped her body down the side of the mountain. okie made his way to a ranch about 15 miles away, an indication that michele was dead since he wouldn't have left her side if she had been alive...

>> there were certainly the inferences that were drawn from the fact that he was buying clothing in downtown gunnison, driving michele wallace's vehicle at that time, which told us he knew she was dead and he knew she was not around to make a report of a stolen vehicle. he was brazen about that particular fact. >> by this time, roy melanson was serving time in a kentucky prison for burglary, but was extradited to colorado to face trial for murder. melanson pleaded not guilty and even refused to attend the trial. instead, he listened to the proceedings from his prison cell. >> we are not requir...