Columbia, Mo. — Nearly four decades have passed since the harrowing night when a 17-year-old girl was found raped and left for dead in a Columbia creek. Today, the community and the victim, who bravely faced her alleged attacker in court, anticipate a jury verdict in a case that has haunted the area for years. James F. Wilson, a 61-year-old man from Mooresville, North Carolina, stands accused of the 1984 assault, with the verdict expected to be announced Thursday, as per Judge Brouck Jacobs.
As the sun rose over the courthouse, the jury convened to deliberate shortly before 11:30 a.m., following closing arguments from both the prosecution and defense that laid bare the emotional and complex dimensions of the cold case. The incident, which occurred on Wellington Drive, saw the young woman attacked brutally — a crime that remained unresolved despite the initial investigation.
The breakthrough came in 2020 when Columbia Police Department reopened the case, sending the original sexual assault kit to Sorenson Forensics in Salt Lake City, Utah, for advanced DNA analysis. The results pointed unmistakably to Wilson, catalyzing a sequence of events that would see him finally standing trial.
Prosecuting Attorney Susan Boresi provided a dramatic recount in her closing argument, painting a chilling picture of the victim’s plight on that cold March night. She also highlighted a confession Wilson made to a detective in 2022, portions of which were played during the trial, where Wilson identified the moment he decided to attack the victim as “game time.”
Defense attorney Kaitlyn Bullard presented a case steeped in doubt about procedures and potential evidence contamination, pointing out numerous uncertainties regarding the handling of the original evidence and questioning the integrity of the forensic process. She questioned the lack of photographic evidence of the original assault kit and why certain personnel involved in the kit’s processing were not called to testify.
The argument extended to the logistics of evidence handling, with Bullard highlighting that the kit was sent to a private lab instead of a state facility, suggesting financial motivations might have influenced this decision. In response, Boresi dismissed these claims as distractions from the factual DNA evidence linking Wilson to the crime.
During the three-day trial, the jury listened to testimony from 11 state witnesses, including law enforcement officials, medical professionals who initially treated the victim, and forensic scientists who linked the DNA from the crime scene to Wilson. The testimony also included input from a former detective who assisted in the covert collection of Wilson’s DNA from items discarded at his residence.
In a notable moment from the trial, Laura Matheson, a senior forensic scientist, testified about the DNA comparison results that conclusively matched Wilson’s profile with the one from the sexual assault kit, detailing the astronomical improbability of such a match being coincidental.
As Columbia awaits the jury’s decision, the community reflects on a narrative of sorrow and delayed justice, hoping for closure for the victim and her family after a long, painful saga.
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