Suspect Found Dead Hours After Being Questioned About 1996 Murder of Montana Teen

The Gatlin County Sheriff's Office said Thursday that advanced DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy recently led authorities to identify 55-year-old Paul Hutchinson as their suspect in Danielle "Danni" Houchins' murder.

On September 21, 1996 at about 11:00 a.m., Houchins left her home in Belgrade, Montana, but when she never returned, worried family members called police. Her mother found Houchins' truck at a popular fishing access site on the Gallatin River, and later that night, her body was found face down in shallow water, the sheriff's office said.

DNA evidence was collected at the scene and suspects were interviewed over the years, but no arrests were made and the case went cold.

That is until authorities renewed efforts to solve the case, spearheaded in large part by Dan Springer, who became Gallatin County's sheriff in 2021. Springer brought in two outside experts from California to assist -- private investigator Tom Elfmont, a retired Los Angeles Police Department officer, and Sergeant Court Depweg, who specializes in using DNA technology to solve homicides.

Four hairs that were collected from Houchins' body at the crime scene were used to create a partial DNA profile, the sheriff's office said. That profile was ultimately sent to a lab in Virginia, where genealogists used DNA databases led authorities to Hutchinson.

The married father of two -- who lived about 100 miles away from the crime, in Dillon, Montana -- was quickly identified as a possible suspect ... but in a twisted turn of events, he died by suicide just hours after he was interviewed by investigators about the case, said authorities.

"During the nearly two-hour interview, Hutchinson, who had lived in Bozeman at the time of Houchins' death, displayed extreme nervousness," the sheriff's office said. "Investigators noted he sweated profusely, scratched his face, and chewed on his hand. When shown a photo of Houchins, Hutchinson slumped in his chair and exhibited signs of being uncomfortable. Upon release, his behavior was observed to be erratic."

Officials say Hutchinson called the Beaverhead County Sheriff's Office the next morning, saying he needed assistance before eventually hanging up. He was found on the side of the road, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the sheriff's office said.

Investigators determined that Houchins and Hutchinson didn't know each other prior to the the murder and described the killing as a "crime of opportunity." They believe Hutchinson, who at the time was a student at Montana State University, met Houchins randomly, before raping her and suffocating her in shallow water.

Authorities say Hutchinson graduated with a degree in fisheries wildlife biology before working for the Montana Bureau of Land Management for 22 years. He had no criminal history and was married with two adult children at the time of his death.

"This case exemplifies our relentless pursuit of justice. We never gave up on finding the truth for Danni and her family, exhausting all means necessary to bring closure to this heartbreaking chapter," Sheriff Springer said. "The investigation remained open because we knew Danni was murdered and someday, we were going to have the tools available to solve this case."

In a news conference Thursday, Houchins' younger sister, Stephanie Mollet, also spoke, sharing her confidence that the Sheriff's department got the right guy.

"Even though this man will not face a jury of his peers, I have no doubt he was the one who forcefully and violently sexually assaulted my sister, then held her head down in a marsh until she choked to death on mud," Mollet said. "When the time came to face up and account for his violence, he instead chose to end his life. He knew of his guilt and couldn't face my family or his family and the pain he caused."