Police Twitter campaign helps lay a trap for the killer of 11-year-old girl
CBSN
For nearly 45 years, the murder of 11-year-old Linda O'Keefe haunted the Newport Beach Police Department in California. Her image hung among the faces of other unsolved cases, reminding each new generation of officers of the work they still had to do. Could new technology and social media turn the tide? JENNIFER MANZELLA [reading tweet aloud]: "Orchid Avenue. That's the street I grew up on. It's a small house, and we've lived here most of my life. At 8:00 am, I walk out my front door … and have no idea that it will be the last time." JENNIFER MANZELLA [reading tweet aloud]: "I go to Lincoln Intermediate School… A lot has changed between the last time I was here, and what it looks like in 2018." JENNIFER MANZELLA [reading tweet aloud]: Late tonight the police will talk to a young woman named Janine. She and her mom are driving up Marguerite right now, and they see something they won't forget for a long time. It's me. And a turquoise van. JENNIFER MANZELLA [reading tweet aloud]: "The sun is setting, and there's still no sign of me." JENNIFER MANZELLA [reading tweet aloud]: "They see a young girl's body … Still in my mom's homemade dress. I've been strangled … this is now a homicide investigation." JENNIFER MANZELLA [reading tweet aloud]: "The search for Linda Ann O'Keefe is now the search for Linda Ann O'Keefe's killer. Was It someone I knew? A stranger? The man in the van? There are so many questions." SGT. COURT DEPWEG [police interview]: You remember this girl, Jim? SGT. COURT DEPWEG: Single source, male. Guess whose? Yours. … It's a 100% match. JAMES NEAL: I'm not gonna admit to something I didn't do. I would never kill anybody. JAMES NEAL [talking to Linda's photo]: I'm sorry baby, but it wasn't me. DET. MIKE FLETCHER [police interview]: Jim, you've had 45 years to convince yourself that you did not do this … It's time to take responsibility for what you did to this little girl. SGT. COURT DEWPEG: You did do it, Jim. CHIEF JON LEWIS | NEWPORT BEACH PD: James Neal, now 72 years old, was arrested by our detectives yesterday at 6:29 a.m. Pacific Time in Colorado Springs for the murder of Linda Ann O'Keefe. DA TODD SPITZER: He's being charged with murder and two special circumstances … kidnapping … and … an act during the murder of a lewd and lascivious act upon … a child under the age of 14.
Former Newport Beach Police spokesperson Jennifer Manzella had come up with the idea for telling Linda's story on Twitter after lead investigator Sgt. Court Depweg tasked her with bringing attention to the case. JAMES NEAL: No, sir. JAMES NEAL: I can't explain that. JAMES NEAL: I didn't – I don't need to be responsible for something I didn't do. JAMES NEAL: No, I didn't.
"Hi, I'm Linda O'Keefe (or Linda ANN O'Keefe, if I'm in trouble with my mom)", begins the first tweet. "Forty-five years ago today, I disappeared from Newport Beach. I was murdered, and my body was found in the Back Bay. … Today, I'm going to tell you my story." SGT. COURT DEPWEG: Have you ever seen her before? SGT. COURT DEPWEG: So, you're tellin' me — just miraculously your semen got on her? SGT. COURT DEWPEG: And you're being arrested for the murder of Linda O'Keefe.
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