Cold Case Files: DNA Speaks on Friday night on A&E examines the tragic murder of 23-year-old Mary Scott, who was found murdered in her San Diego home in 1969. The case initially stalled due to a lack of leads, but decades later, Mary’s daughters sought answers about their mother and the cold case was reopened.
On November 20, 1969, Mary Scott, a 24-year-old mother of two and a dancer at a local club, was found strangled to death in her ground-floor apartment in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego. The investigation stalled for years, with investigators unable to identify any suspects.
However, the case took a new turn in 2020 when Mary’s sister, Rosalie Sanz, reached out to a retired detective with the San Diego Police Department on the 50th anniversary of the murder. She inquired about the possibility of using genealogical DNA technology, similar to what helped capture the Golden State Killer, to solve her sister’s case.
The investigation was reinvigorated, and through the use of forensic genealogy and DNA evidence collected at the crime scene, investigators identified a suspect: 75-year-old John Jeffrey Sipos. Sipos was arrested at his home in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, and subsequently faced justice for his crime. He was sentenced in the San Diego Superior Court to seven years to life in prison for first-degree murder.
Cold Case Files: DNA Speaks ‘Justice for Mary’ airs on Friday, August 16, 2024, at 9:00 PM on A&E.
