Wynn murder case to be featured on Forensic Files

Publication:Daily American Republic; Date:Sep 16, 2007; Section:FRONT PAGE; Page Number:1A

Message in a Bottle

Wynn murder case to be featured on Forensic Files

By MICHELLE FRIEDRICH Associate Editor

On May 7, 1992, a Poplar Bluff woman was found dead in her Cherry Street apartment. She had been strangled and sexually assaulted.

For nearly 14 years her death remained unsolved, but advancements in DNA technology ultimately lead to the arrest and conviction of her suspected killer.

Viewers tuning into “Forensic Files” on Court TV at 8pm

Wednesday Sept.19 will see an episode entitled “Message in a Bottle.”

That episode is set in Poplar Bluff and depicts the life and death of Laura Ann Wynn as well as the investigation into her death and the 2006 trial of her suspected killer, Samuel Andrew Freeman.

Freeman, now 41, of Jefferson City was tied to the crime scene through DNA analysis of evidence seized more than 13 years earlier. A Ripley County jury convicted Freeman, a sergeant first class in the Missouri Army National Guard, of first degree murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Authorities had alleged Freeman was embarrassed when the 31-year-old confronted him in front of other patrons over a pool game on the night of May 6, 1992, at the VFW on South Broadway.

Authorities believe he waited for Wynn to arrive at her 623 Cherry St. apartment after the VFW closed. There, he allegedly used one of Wynn’s nylon stockings to strangle her.

“We were looking at some of these old cases and happened to pick up on that there might be some forensic evidence that might be available now that wasn’t available back then,” explained Poplar Bluff Police Chief Danny Whiteley. “ … If it had not been for that evidence, this case would still be unsolved.”...

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