Justin Michael Weinberger murder Hanna Sconce, DNA Evidance
Murder of Courtney Hanna Sconce: How Did She Die? Who got her killed?
'On the Case With Paula Zahn: Track the Footsteps' of Investigation Discovery is an episode whose official synopsis perfectly sets out the specifics and seriousness of the investigated crime. When a young girl's dead body is discovered on the shore of the feather river," it states, "police hope that they can lead them to her murderer by following a trail of footprints and discarded clothing items." And, to be honest, it did, but not before a few months had passed, and the long investigations had taken its toll on the officers as well as the young girls, Courtney Hanna Sconce's, fa, fa."
How did Hanna Sconce die, Courtney?
Courtney Hanna Sconce, a 12-year-old girl born on February 11, 1988, vanished from her neighborhood of Rancho Cordova, a blue-collar bedroom community in California about 10 miles east of the state Capitol, while on her daily after-school ride to the local supermarket. It was approximately 3 p.m. When the locals last saw her walking around the town, she was alive. So when she ended up dead on a faraway riverbank about two hours later, it shook their whole district to its heart.
On the banks of the Feather River near Nicolaus in Sutter County, it was before nightfall on November 8, 2000, that Courtney's body was found. Subsequently, to prosecute her death, the Sutter County Sheriff's Department, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of Justice joined forces. It was determined from her formal autopsy that the young girl had been sexually assaulted and then strangled.
Who got Courtney Hanna Sconce killed?
At the scene of the crime, there were different things left behind that the police in charge assumed were the suspects, including a black Adidas sun visor and a pair of sunglasses. They also discovered after speaking to witnesses that a black BMW 325 had left the area near the Feather River shortly before Courtney's body was found. But even with all that, before Justin Michael Weinberger was confirmed to be the perpetrator, it took about eight months and the collection of over 100 DNA samples from different potential suspects.
Around that time, the former delivery driver worked at several locations in the Rancho Cordova district. In addition, just two days before the kidnapping and killing of 12-year-old Courtney in November, law enforcement officers from the FBI and El Dorado County entered his home and confiscated his archive of child pornography. Some assume that what motivated Justin to act on his urges and commit such a heinous crime is this investigation. The then-19-year-old also purchased a pistol on the same day as the disappearance of Courtney.
Justin allegedly purchased an Adidas sun visor in October 2000, had glasses similar to those left behind at the crime scene, and, due to his family and contacts, also had access to a black BMW. Justin fled to New Mexico after the incident, where he was charged in connection with the case, and was held in a local prison until he could be extradited to California. The indictment took place in the summer of 2001 after the DNA sample of Justin, taken early in the investigation, provided a match with the DNA left on the body of Courtney.
Finally, ten days before the 14th birthday of Courtney Hanna Sconce, her assassin, Justin Michael Weinberger, was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. This was the direct outcome of him pleading guilty in November 2001 to the charge of murder under the three special circumstances of child neglect, abduction, and rape to escape the death penalty. At his sentencing, Cindy Sconce, Courtney's mother, said, "No matter what punishment [he] gets, my Courtney Hanna will not come back." "[But] one thing that can't be taken from me is something Courtney often used to tell me, 'I love you, Mother of Infinity.'"