On October 9, 1980, Sheriff's Deputies responded to a condominium complex at 10586 Kerrigan Court in Santee for a woman who found her roommate, twenty-year-old Michelle Louise Wyatt (pictured above), deceased.  The Sheriff's Homicide Unit responded and assumed responsibility of the investigation.

The Medical Examiner's Office conducted an autopsy on Michelle.  The cause of death was asphyxiation due to strangulation.  The manner of death was homicide.  Michelle had been sexually assaulted and seminal fluid was recovered.

In the early morning of October 9, 1980, Michelle's boyfriend left her condominium and locked the front door.  Shortly after the boyfriend left, witnesses heard screaming coming from where Michelle lived, but nobody called 911.

The telephone cord used to kill Michelle was obtained from her condominium.  The contents of Michelle's purse were strewn about, but it did not appear to be a robbery or burglary of the residence.  Numerous possible suspects were identified and interviewed.  After an exhaustive investigation, all leads were followed until the case went cold.

In October 1996, Michelle's murder was reviewed for additional leads and use of new DNA technology.  Nearly ninety potential suspects were methodically contacted and interviewed.  Many of these potential suspects provided biological samples for examination against the previously collected evidence.  These samples were sent for examination utilizing forensic techniques and comparison current for the day.  Again, a suspect was not identified, and the case went cold.

In June 2000, the items of evidence were re-examined utilizing more sensitive methods.  Through these tests, evidence was found that supported the belief there were two separate DNA profiles at the crime scene.  The sexual assault kit recovered from Michelle revealed one of the DNA profiles was Michelle's boyfriend and the other profile came from an unidentified male subject.  Michelle's boyfriend was eliminated as a suspect.  Again, detectives interviewed numerous subjects and were unable to identify Michelle's killer.  The case went cold again.

In 2001, the unknown suspect's DNA profile was entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS).  There was never a match to the unknown suspect's DNA in CODIS. 

In March 2020, the case was reviewed to determine if any new technologies existed that could advance the case.  The California Department of Justice (DOJ) was contacted and tested the unknown DNA using a familial DNA search.  After conducting familial testing, the California DOJ did not obtain any viable suspects in this case.

In September 2020, the Homicide Unit's Cold Case Team in coordination with the Sheriff's Crime Laboratory, selected Michelle's murder to be worked using investigative genetic genealogy.  Over the next nine months, the team, with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other law enforcement agencies throughout the country, identified John Patrick Hogan (AKA: Pat Hogan) as a potential suspect utilizing genetic genealogy.

The Cold Case Team began an intensive investigation into John "Pat" Hogan's life (pictured above in 1979).  Hogan was born in Arizona in 1961 and moved to Santee sometime in the 1970s.  Hogan went to Santana High School and at one time may have lived in the same condominium complex as Michelle.  Hogan had friends in Michelle's complex, which he would frequently visit.  At the time of Michelle's murder, Hogan lived in Santee just over a mile from her condominium.  Hogan also joined the U.S. Air Force in 1979 and was stationed in New Mexico for a brief stint.  Hogan would travel back and forth from Arizona, Idaho and California until his death in 2004, at the age of forty-two-years-old.

Through further DNA testing, Hogan (pictured above in 2000) was determined to be the donor of the previously unknown DNA.  The investigation revealed substantial and convincing evidence that Hogan sexually assaulted and murdered Michelle.

The Sheriff's Homicide Unit only utilizes investigative genetic genealogy when all other methods have been exhausted.  This technique combines the science of DNA with the art of genealogy.  In this case, the goal was to find relatives whose own DNA profile matched those of an unidentified suspect in the homicide.  The suspect's profile was developed and uploaded into commercial genealogy sites that allow law enforcement agencies to participate.

The Cold Case Team then formed family histories in the form of "trees," which led detectives to other potential relatives of the man.  When speaking with relatives, detectives identify themselves, tell the person what they are investigating, explain the process, and ask for their assistance.  This process eventually led investigators to closer relatives and ended with contacting John's direct relatives who provided DNA samples, which confirmed the identification.  

Michelle's murder would likely have gone unsolved if not for the use of investigative genetic genealogy.  The San Diego County Sheriff's Department would like to thank all those members of the public contacted during this investigation for their cooperation.

In May 2021, the Cold Case Team successfully identified a 2003 homicide victim, Laurie Potter, utilizing investigative genetic genealogy.  The Team subsequently arrested her husband, Jack Potter, for her murder.

In 2020, the Cold Case Team successfully solved the 1978 murder of Orbin Holiway and the 1984 murder of Teresa Solecki utilizing investigative genetic genealogy developed from suspect DNA.  Both suspects were deceased.  You can listen to our Sheriff's Podcast on the Teresa Solecki case by visiting www.sdsheriff.gov.

The investigation into the murder of Michelle Wyatt is on-going.  The Cold Case Team would like to speak with anybody who has information about the murder or knew John "Pat" Hogan (pictured above in 2004) in the late 1970s and early 1980s.     

Anyone with information about this investigation is asked to call the Homicide Unit at (858) 285-6330/after hours at (858) 565-5200.  You can remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

Prepared by:  Thomas Seiver, Lieutenant
Sheriff's Homicide Unit  (858) 285-6330