Twenty-five years after a College of California, Davis (UC Davis) pupil was discovered lifeless in his fraternity dorm room with 29 stab wounds, a dying formally dominated a suicide, a brand new true-crime podcast is taking a recent take a look at the case and the questions Andrew Wieman’s household says have by no means been answered.
Wieman, a 20-year-old junior and member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, was discovered lifeless inside his locked room Jan. 4, 2001.
After a 13-month joint investigation involving UC Davis Police, the Yolo County Coroner’s Workplace and the California Division of Justice, authorities dominated Wieman’s dying a suicide.
Investigators pointed to a number of components supporting that conclusion, together with the invention of a handwritten word in Wieman’s room, the very fact the knife believed to have brought on the injuries belonged to Wieman and contained his fingerprints, and the shortage of indicators of compelled entry or wrestle contained in the room.
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Andrew Wieman was 20 years previous when he was discovered lifeless in his fraternity dorm room at UC Davis in January 2001.
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Officers additionally famous Wieman’s room was locked, the home windows had been secured, and all keys had been accounted for. In keeping with investigators, there have been no defensive wounds on Wieman’s physique, and there was proof one other individual had been current within the room.
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In an announcement launched on the time, UC Davis Police Chief Calvin Helpful described Wieman as a “troubled particular person” and stated investigators believed the proof, taken “in totality,” was most per suicide.
However Wieman’s household has by no means accepted the official ruling. For years, they’ve continued pushing for solutions, elevating considerations about whether or not all points of the case had been totally examined.
Now, Emmy Award-winning producer Kyle Olson is revisiting the case in Season 2 of the true-crime podcast “Love & Justice,” which premieres Might 26.
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The College of California Davis campus
Olson stated his staff was instantly struck by a number of particulars within the case when it started reviewing investigative information and proof.
“While you begin to piece all this stuff collectively, and you then hear the dedication is suicide, it’s inherently one thing that brings curiosity,” Olson informed Fox Information Digital.
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Olson stated the case stood out due to a number of particulars investigators acknowledged on the time, together with that Wieman suffered 29 stab wounds, a number of of them deadly, had no medication or alcohol in his system and was discovered inside a locked room.
“These are all issues that make you scratch your head,” Olson stated. “That’s not one thing we usually see in a case like this.”
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UC Davis pupil Andrew Wieman was 20 years previous when he was discovered lifeless in his fraternity dorm room in 2001.
The podcast host stated one other element that shocked his staff was studying Wieman was allegedly discovered “tucked into mattress” and sporting earplugs — particulars Olson stated weren’t broadly mentioned publicly on the time.
“What does it imply?” Olson stated. “Does it imply one thing, or is it only a small tiny element in a a lot greater story?”
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The collection additionally explores a roughly 60-hour hole between the final confirmed sighting of Wieman within the early hours of Jan. 2, and when he was in the end discovered lifeless.
“Sixty hours is a really very long time,” Olson stated. “What was happening throughout these 60 hours, and does anyone know one thing that maybe they haven’t shared in 25 years?”
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College students on campus on the College of California at Davis
In keeping with Olson, the podcast doesn’t try and pressure a predetermined conclusion, however as a substitute reexamines the case utilizing fashionable forensic reconstruction know-how and recent skilled evaluation.
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“We’re excited by listening to from all sides,” Olson stated. “There’s going to be some those who suppose perhaps, with the proof that we’ve seen, it might result in suicide. There’s going to be others that say, ‘I disagree.’”
Olson stated the investigation has concerned forensic specialists from world wide and focuses closely on whether or not developments in science and reconstruction know-how can higher clarify the circumstances surrounding Wieman’s dying.
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A view of the campus from the RMI North constructing, which homes the wine and meals division at UC Davis in Davis.
“One of many largest questions for me at all times comes again to feasibility,” Olson stated. “Is it attainable that somebody can inflict 29 stab wounds to themselves, particularly when a number of of these stab wounds are deadly?”
Olson stated the passage of time might additionally play an vital position in producing new data.
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Andrew Wieman with members of the family earlier than his dying at UC Davis in January 2001.
“There could also be those who had been too shy to deliver up data 25 years in the past which can be keen to speak now,” Olson stated. “Now could be the time to say one thing.”
Season 1 of “Love & Justice” targeted on the homicide of Olson’s childhood good friend, Ashley Love, whose killer has by no means been discovered.
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Andrew Wieman’s household has spent a long time questioning the official ruling in his dying.
Olson stated that have helped him higher perceive how households proceed dwelling with unanswered questions lengthy after investigations finish.
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“For me, I would love to search out justice for Andrew,” Olson stated. “We’re right here to search out out what the reality is.”
If you happen to or somebody you realize is having ideas of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Disaster Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Unique article supply: UC Davis fraternity pupil’s 2001 dying dominated a suicide after 29 stab wounds questioned in true crime podcast