"From day one, the investigation was up against a storm of department politics, personality conflicts, and poor investigation techniques that may have let a killer go free." — Charles Memenger (quoted from Honolulu Star Bulletin)
This episode of Crime Junkie revisits the 1982 murder of Lisa Owl in Kailua, Hawaii. The investigation began after Owl's roommate reported her missing when she didn't return home. Her car was found abandoned a few miles from her residence, with signs suggesting a struggle or forced removal, including a missing driver's license and car registration from her purse, leading to theories of a police impersonator. Despite extensive searches and the discovery of Owl's body ten miles away, decomposed to the point that cause and time of death were indeterminable, the initial investigation focused heavily on individuals impersonating police officers.
Further complicating the investigation were allegations of departmental politics and procedural errors. A key focus became Thomas D. Byrne, a police officer with a prior conviction for sex abuse. While Byrne was questioned and his home searched, no charges were brought against him. The investigation also considered other suspects, including Owl's boyfriend, Doug Holmes, who reportedly failed polygraph tests and had scratches on his face, but he was never charged. A later investigation by a former police lieutenant and private investigator for the family raised significant questions about the handling of evidence, including the initial autopsy and the whereabouts of body parts, and cast doubt on the police impersonator theory by suggesting Owl's driver's license was left at a grocery store earlier that evening.
Ultimately, the case remained unsolved. A subsequent exhumation and second autopsy in 1983 yielded no new definitive answers. The family pursued legal action for perceived negligence. A retrospective article in 1991 highlighted significant flaws in the investigation, suggesting that poor techniques and internal issues may have allowed the killer to go free. The case also revealed that Owl had cocaine and possibly amphetamines in her system at the time of her death, information that was not immediately available to investigators. Despite renewed efforts and the emergence of new information over the years, including a witness identifying a suspect who later failed polygraphs and was seen with a woman matching Owl's description, no one has ever been charged, leaving Lisa Owl's murder an enduring cold case.