Marilyn Allen’s murder
Marilyn Allen was killed by Roosevelt Bernard Gipson II in California in 1992. Gipson, originally from Louisiana, had paid Allen $10 for sexual favors. Angered at receiving a raw deal, as he saw it, he supposedly snapped, banged her head against a car dashboard and strangled her. He then dumped her body in a lake on naval base Camp Pendleton.
At the time NCIS had suspected naval or marine personnel might be connected with the crime, but they had no evidence, no witnesses and no leads. Unfortunately, the case went cold.
Gipson subsequently left the marine corps, returning to Baton Rouge to be closer to his family. It was here that he informed a girlfriend (Seanice Etienne) that he had killed another woman in 1992.
Etienne was becoming scared of Gipson, in an effort to get him out of her life she informed police of his confession to her. In January 2000 undercover officer Lt. Jeff Winn having gained Gipson’s confidence, managed to prompt him into making another admission of guilt.
Gipson was convicted in 2001 of voluntary manslaughter, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Meghan Landowski’s murder
Megan Landowski was found dead in 2008 in her home in Portsmouth, VA. she had been bound, gagged, and brutally slashed. She had been raped and murdered by Robert Barnes.
Suspicion initially fell on a man who had served with her stepfather in the Navy, he had been accused of inappropriately touching the 16-year-old ballerina just a few months previously. The subsequent NCIS investigation caused this individual to be ruled out by DNA evidence.
A counselor at a youth center came under suspicion, especially when he refused to give a DNA sample, however, this also led to a dead end when he was ruled out.
It was Meghan’s old bus driver who eventually suggested police look at a Robert Barnes, he was involved with the same performing arts program as Meghan. Barnes’s DNA matched with that found at the scene of the crime.
Barnes pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, attempted rape, aggravated sexual battery, abduction, and statutory burglary, he was sentenced to 42 years in prison.
Both murders are examined tonight on 48 Hours: NCIS at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery.
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