May 13, 2004

"48 HOURS INVESTIGATES" GOES BEHIND THE SCENES WITH SEATTLE'S COLD CASE SQUAD TO DETERMINE "WHO MURDERED THE ROCK STAR?" -- THIS SATURDAY (15) ?
48 HOURS INVESTIGATES goes behind the scenes with Seattle's cold case squad as they attempt to crack two of the city's most notorious unsolved murder cases -- that of rising rock star Mia Zapata and of 13-year-old Kristen Sumstad. Correspondent Harold Dow reports for 48 HOURS INVESTIGATES: "Who Murdered the Rock Star?" to be broadcast Saturday, May 15 (8:00 -- 9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. ?
On the morning of July 6, 1993, Zapata's body was found raped and strangled to death on a deserted Seattle street. Zapata had just burst onto the local music scene in the early 1990s when grunge music was taking the country by storm. A lead singer in a popular local band called "The Gits," Zapata was about to start a national tour and was on the verge of signing a record contract, but her dreams of stardom would never become reality.

Police conducted an exhaustive investigation, but ultimately came up with few leads and little evidence. Eventually, Zapata's case grew cold and the files went into storage for nearly 10 years. Now, a decade later, with major advances in forensic science, Seattle's cold case squad, made up of only detectives Richard Gagnon and Greg Mixsell, has reopened the Zapata murder investigation. Gagnon and Mixsell have more than 300 cold cases in Seattle to solve and they have already solved 20 in the last three years. With new technology, the detectives are able to pinpoint the murderer, who now lives across the country, through DNA evidence found on Zapata's body. ?
Also in the broadcast, 48 HOURS follows Gagnon and Mixsell as they try to solve the cold case murder of Sumstad. In 1982, the teenager was found viciously raped, strangled and left in a cardboard box. For years her case was cold. The detectives had a good idea of who the murderer was, but needed to somehow acquire his DNA without him knowing it and without traveling to New Jersey to obtain it from him. The detective's idea help them to catch the killer, but will their technique be frowned upon in court?

48 HOURS INVESTIGATES: "Who Murdered the Rock Star?" is produced by Paul Ryan. The senior producer is Peter Schweitzer and the executive producer is Susan Zirinsky.

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Press Contact: Marcy Erhard 212-975-2888 erhardm@cbsnews.com ?