23-year-old Julia Niswender was a junior at Eastern Michigan University and was majoring in communication, media, and theater arts, and who had a dream of becoming a reporter and moving to New York. She was described as fun-loving, and that she loved both her friends and family very much. She wanted to get married and have a large family with four dogs. Her dreams would sadly never be fulfilled when she was murdered in December 2012.
The last time Julia was heard from was on the night of December 9th, 2012, when she texted her roommate. The next day, December 10th, the same roommate heard Julia’s alarm clock go off when she stopped by the off-campus apartment while heading to class. Her roommate soon became worried when she hadn’t heard back from Julia in a few days, and later contacted police. On December 11th, police entered her unit in Peninsular Place Apartments located on Huron River Drive in order to conduct a well-being check, and attempted to open the door, which they found was locked. They used the master key, entered the apartment, and found the body of 23-year-old Julia Niswender.
Julia’s body was found submerged face-down inside of the bathtub of her apartment, which was filled with water. Her arms were pulled behind her back and her feet were together, and her cellphone was found below her body. She was nude from the waist down, her yoga pants were cut off and placed on the bathroom floor. Her pink shirt was also cut, with only her right sleeve remaining on her body, leaving her upper body exposed. Her wrists and ankles had ligature marks on them, which led police to believe that she had been bound. The cutting instrument that was used to cut Julia’s clothes, the ligature that bound her wrists and ankles, and her underwear were missing from the scene. Seminal fluid was found on the body, and a scientist from the Michigan State Police Crime Lab has stated that it’s consistent with a male who’s had a vasectomy.
The cause of death was asphyxia associated with drowning, but police have stated that she was deprived of oxygen before she was placed in the bathtub. There were no signs of injury or trauma found on her body, with the exception being two small circular abrasions on the area around her left elbow. The inside of her mouth also appeared to have been bleeding, due to a deep contusion on the right side of her tongue caused from biting it. Her toxicology report came back as negative for drugs or alcohol.
Her apartment showed no signs of forced entry, but it was reportedly left in disarray. Her dresser drawers were left open with her clothes thrown all over the apartment’s floor, plastic drawers from an organizer were pulled out and had their contents dumped on the floor. Police believe that one black and white zebra striped pillowcase was taken from the scene. Julia’s apartment keys were also missing. Initially, it seemed that Julia was a victim of a home invasion, but her IPad, television, computer, and wrapped Christmas presents were not taken. Police initially found the bathroom door closed, with two white latex gloves tied together, with a dark substance within them. It was later confirmed that the substance was Julia’s blood.
In relation to Julia Niswender’s murder, more than 100 people have been interviewed and dozens of search warrants have been executed, the department has also spent around 1,000 man hours on the case, but it still remains unsolved. Male DNA was found inside of the latex gloves, specifically two different male DNA donors were discovered. FBI experts think that the different DNA samples may be the result of a calculated killer and that the latex gloves were placed at the scene in an attempt to confuse police. Investigators have also stated that they believe that the murder was not random. The FBI Behavioral Analyst Unit who reviewed the case concluded that the killer knew the victim and “took their time” and that they were also very organized. An FBI agent also said that the police department handling the case should regard Julia’s stepfather, James Turnquist, as their number 1 suspect.
Turnquist has been named as a person of interest in the case, due to a variety of factors. Two days after the murder, on December 14th, 2012, a friend of Julia reported to police that Julia had been sexually abused by Turnquist while she was a child, but she later denied making these statements to police during an interview on February 15th, 2013. Turnquist also had a vasectomy after having his first child, which is consistent with characteristics of the seminal fluid found at the scene. When told about Julia’s murder, Turnquist appeared to be “unemotional and composed” while he sat in the lobby chair of the police department.
Turnquist was also arrested by authorities on child pornography charges when they discovered at least thirty pornographic images of whats believed to be underage women on his computer. They were discovered during a search which was related to Julia’s death. Turnquist was later acquitted of the child pornography charges and released from custody. In April 2014, police had realized that a purple rug which was seen next to the bathtub in crime scene photos was not collected as evidence. Julia’s mother allowed Police to search the storage unit where she kept her daughter’s belongings, but it was nowhere to be found, and to this day, the rug remains missing.
There are a large number of factors that deny Turnquist’s involvement in the murder, and that point to him being innocent. He has reportedly passed two polygraph test, one which was administered privately, and another which was administered by Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office. His wife, who is the mother of Julia, told police that Turnquist was home sleeping on the night that Julia was murdered. Turnquist was also not a match for one of the samples of DNA found inside of the latex gloves, with the other sample being too weak to compare.
Despite all the information and evidence, the police still haven’t made an arrest or have named an official suspect, and the case still remains unsolved. Those with information on Niswender’s death are asked to contact the Ypsilanti Police Department at 734-482-9847.
SOURCES
http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2017/12/family_reflects_five_years_aft.html
http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2013/11/julia_niswender_family.html
http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2015/09/documents_detail_allegations_a.html
http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2015/12/investigators_family_still_see.html
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