On the morning of the 21st of January, 1989, 12-year-old Stephanie Crowe was discovered on the her bedroom floor in Escondido, California. She had been stabbed nine times and bled to death right there on her bedroom floor where discovered.
There was so sign of a forced entry, however, Stephanie’s bedroom window was left unlocked along with the sliding door in her parents’ bedroom. Following the murder, Stephanie’s 14-year-old brother, Michael Crowe, was extensively questioned unbeknownst to his parents. Despite the lack of evidence against him, he swiftly became the prime suspect in his sister’s slaying. According to investigators, he appeared “distant and preoccupied” following Stephanie’s murder. Eventually, investigators led Michael into a vague confession after falsely telling him they had found evidence against him and that he had failed a lie-detector test. Moreover, they told Michael his parents believed he was guilty. In this so-called confession, Michael told investigators “I’m only saying this because it’s what you want to hear.” He was soon arrested and charged with Stephanie’s murder.
On the day of Stephanie’s funeral, Suzie Houser became concerned about a collection of knives that her 15-year-old son, Aaron Houser, kept in his bedroom. Aaron had been best friends with Michael before the duo had a falling out over missing cash and a computer game. Upon searching his knife collection, it was discovered that one particular knife was missing - the Best Defense knife. As it transpired, the day after Stephanie was found murdered, police had visited the home of 15-year-old Joshua Treadway, the best friend of Michael. Here they found a large knife and a school carving protect. When Joshua stepped out of the room, officers asked his brother, Zachary, who it belonged to; Zachary later said he believed they were referring to the carving project to which he replied “That belongs to my brother.” Zachary would later say he believed the officer was referring to the knife and not the carving project. These inconsistencies combined with Aaron’s missing knife led investigators to look at Joshua as another suspect in Stephanie’s murder.
During a search of Joshua’s home, investigators found Aaron’s stolen Best Defense knife and Joshua was arrested. He was questioned until 8AM the following morning, by which time he had been awake for around 26 hours. Despite the fact that no DNA was found on the knife and several experts said the wounds on Stephanie did not match the knife, investigators told Joshua they had evidence he killed Stephanie. After an exhaustive interrogation, Joshua confessed to killing Stephanie with Michael and Aaron. He was arrested and charged with Stephanie’s murder. Next to he interrogated was Aaron; while he didn’t confess, he presented a hypothetical account of how the murder could have happened. He too was arrested and charged with Stephanie’s murder.
All three boys subsequently recanted their confessions, claiming they were coerced. They were incarcerated for six months awaiting trial. However, shortly before the start of Joshua’s trial, DNA testing found blood on the shirt of 28-year-old Richard Raymond Tuite, a transient who was seen in the neighbourhood on the night of Stephanie’s murder. He was spotted peeping through windows and knocking on doors and was behaving so suspiciously that several people called the police on him. Tuite had been questioned on the day Stephanie’s body was found and had several cuts and scrapes on his hands. When investigators zoned in on the teenage boys, however, they practically ruled him out as a suspect. Now, the evidence against Tuite was damning and the charges against the three boys were dismissed.
In 2004, Richard Raymond Tuite was charged with voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to 18 years in prison. In 2013, he was found not guilty in a retrial and released.