In January 1986, the town of Bremerton, Washington was petrified when Helene Anderson and her 4-year-old daughter, Adrienne, were found murdered in cold blood inside their home. Helene’s ex, Kenny Hale, discovered the horrific murder, and since then authorities have been trying to make sense of the incident. Investigation Discovery’s “On The Case With Paula Zahn: Capable of Murder” paints a vivid picture of the murder and traces the police investigation to date. If this case interests you and you want to know more about the murder, we have what you need.
How did Helene and Adrienne Anderson die?
At the time of her death, Helene “Nikki” Anderson was residing with her daughter, Adrienne, and 8-month-old son, Marcus, on Magnolia Drive in Bremerton. Although she co-parented Adrienne with her ex, Kenny Hale, Helene was engaged and shared Marcus with her fiancé, who was stationed in San Diego for the US Navy. She worked at Arby’s to make ends meet and reports indicate that Helene was preparing to move to California with her children to live with her fiancé.
Kenny mentioned that on January 29, 1986, he spent the whole day with Hélène and Adrienne and was due back the next day. However, the show mentioned that many people came knocking for Hélène the next day but got no response. When Kenny entered the house on January 30, all he heard was the sound of Marcus crying. The house was completely dark and Kenny reached out before tripping over his daughter’s leg, which seemed solid and cold. Frightened and anxious, Kenny entered to find mother and daughter killed in cold blood.
Fortunately, Hélène’s infant son was still alive and Kenny picked him up before handing him over to a neighbor. When police arrived at the scene, they determined that both victims had been strangled to death. Although there were no signs of a break-in and authorities believe Helene knew her attacker, it appeared they were involved in a major physical struggle prior to the murder. Moreover, nothing was stolen, but the investigators found that it was a crime of a sexual nature directed against Hélène.
Who killed Hélène and Adrienne Anderson?
Unfortunately, the case remains unsolved, although it is an active investigation and the police are confident of reaching a conclusion soon. Authorities managed to obtain a partial alien DNA sample from the murder scene, but with no eyewitnesses or other leads, progress slowed. Initially, Kenny Hale was considered a person of interest because he had not had a good relationship with law enforcement since the start of the investigation.
Kenny seemed impatient when questioned and claimed the real killer would manage to get away if the cops kept staring at him. However, once Kenny’s DNA sample turned out to be different from that found at the crime scene, he was cleared of suspicion. For years, the case lay dormant until Detective Marty Garland stepped into the equation.
Determined to find a solution to the case, Detective Marty interviewed acquaintances of Hélène and even compiled a list of serial killers active in the area at the time of the murders. Asked about the DNA sample in evidence, Marty claimed the sample was not complete enough to run in the offender database or use genetic genealogy to create a family tree. The only way to get a match was to do an individual comparison with another sample.
Although there was no person of interest at the time speaking of the killer, Detective Marty said: ‘It’s this weird mix of it’s not someone who’s that close from her that he becomes an obvious suspect, but he is someone close enough to her that she had put some trust in this person and that they betrayed her in the most heinous way. So, while the police are determined to see an end to the case, the authorities and Kenny Hale are still hoping to bring justice to Helene Anderson and Adrienne.
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