They moved here to start a new life. Julie’s was a terrible case
“As a mother it’s horrendous for me to think of this family moving from England to start a new life and it ends this way. It’s devastating. This case really got to me.”
In spring 1983 the Fullers were searching for the American dream and left Essex for Arlington, Texas. They did not know the area so booked into a motel while they hunted for a house and looked for jobs.
On the evening of June 27, 1983, Julie took the bins out. The motel dumpster was full so she went around to the back to find an empty one.
In the heat she was barefoot and wearing a white skirt and blouse. She never returned.
The next day, builders found Julie’s naked body dumped 15 miles from the motel. She had been raped and strangled.
Police had no suspect. With a rapist and child murder on the loose, local communities were terrified.
DNA had been collected from Julie’s body but there were no matches on the FBI’S criminal database.
The case went cold. Until last December, when Cece put the details into a genetic genealogy database and found a relative of Julie’s killer had a profile.
Police contacted the relative and discovered the monster was Mcnichols. He had lived in the area at the time of Julie’s death.
For Julie’s brother Lee, solving the case ended a 36-year search.
He had never stopped looking for his sister’s killer.
Cece said: “It lifts a huge burden off the shoulders of murder victims’ families to finally find out.
“Big tough detectives often break down and cry when I identify the suspect in a cold case. It’s such a relief after so many years.
And for every