At just 18 years old, Eric Schubert contacted the Pennsylvania State Police and said he believed he could help solve a murder that had remained a mystery for 57 years.
He was right.
On this episode of “Greta Wire,” Greta Van Susteren speaks with the now-25-year-old genealogist about how he used DNA matches, public genealogy information and approximately 50 to 60 interconnected family trees to help identify the man responsible for the 1964 murder of a young girl in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.
Eric explains how he traced distant genetic matches to the Forte family, why 21-year-old bartender James Paul Forte emerged as the leading suspect and how DNA from relatives—including evidence recovered from an old hairbrush—helped investigators narrow the case to one man.
The investigation ultimately led to a court-approved exhumation and the final DNA test that confirmed the killer’s identity. Eric also shares what happened when the Pennsylvania State Police called him with the answer while he was still sitting in a college classroom.
Greta and Eric discuss the devastating impact the murder had on the victim’s family, the parents who prayed for answers every night and the remarkable power of modern forensic genealogy to bring resolution to cases once considered unsolvable.
Viewer discretion advised: This episode includes discussion of the abduction, sexual assault and murder of a child.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Eric Schubert solves a 57-year-old mystery
01:15 How Eric discovered genealogy
02:01 What is genetic and forensic genealogy?
02:43 The tragic 1964 Hazleton murder
03:22 Why an 18-year-old contacted state police
04:21 Pennsylvania State Police agrees to meet
05:20 A cold case remembered for generations
06:32 How the murder changed the community
07:12 Old suspects, rumors and false leads
08:12 Building 50 to 60 family trees
09:06 Starting with publicly uploaded DNA
09:57 Tracing the killer’s Italian ancestry
10:50 The genetic network points to one family
11:28 Preserved DNA from the crime scene
12:21 Why the CODIS search produced no match
13:13 Narrowing the Forte family tree
14:58 James Paul Forte emerges as the suspect
16:18 Relatives provide crucial DNA evidence
17:20 A judge approves the exhumation
17:44 The mysterious cross from the casket
18:33 Waiting for final DNA confirmation
19:14 “It’s him”: Eric receives the call
19:48 Giving the victim’s family an answer
20:59 A family’s forgiveness and nightly prayers
22:53 The killer’s family and friends react
24:47 “The DNA doesn’t lie”
25:51 Eric’s genealogy work today
26:59 Subscribe to “Greta Wire”
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