On the one-year anniversary of Susie Jaeger's disappearance, the killer called the Jaegers and spoke with Marietta. "You wanted to talk to me? Well, here I am. I have Susie," she recalled him saying, per "Don't Kill in Our Names." She recorded the hour-long call, but an FBI trace failed. It didn't matter. Between the profile and the killer's recorded voice that matched one suspect, Special Agent Dunbar believed he had his man: David Meirhofer. Following his arrest, investigators found a severed hand in his refrigerator, per the New York Daily News.
Even with the psychological profile and the other evidence the FBI used to catch Meirhofer, it took Marietta Jaeger having a face-to-face conversation with the suspect before he confessed to the crime, per A&E True Crime. Meirhofer admitted he'd strangled Susie Jaeger to death and also confessed to the three other killings, according to ABC News. Afterward, Meirhofer went back to his jail cell and died by suicide. When the BSU aided Dunbar with their criminal profile, the higher-ups in the agency hadn't approved it, but thanks to this case and others, the FBI eventually adopted this and other techniques created by the unit, per Publishers Weekly.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by dialing 988 or by calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
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