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20/20 season 47 episode 20 explores two separate cases, covering the murders of Cathy Swartz and Catherine Edwards. Both victims were young women who were brutally murdered at their residence.
Cathy Swartz, a young mother, was found dead beside her infant on December 2, 1988. A few years later, on January 13, 1995, Texas schoolteacher Mary Catherine Edwards was discovered ra*ed and murdered in the bathtub of her residence.
Despite extensive investigations, both cases went cold due to a lack of concrete evidence or suspects. However, nearly three decades later, with the development of forensic technology, the investigators could finally find the culprits with genetic genealogy databases.
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Although the two cases are unrelated, they signify the development in forensic science, which is bringing cold cases to light. 20/20 season 47 episode 20 premiered on March 7, 2025, at 9 pm EST on ABC.
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20/20 season 47 episode 20: What is the story of Cathy Swartz?
As per Wood TV on December 16, 2023, 20/20 subject Cathy Swartz was a young mother who stayed with her infant daughter, Courtney, and her fiance at a two-story apartment in Riverside Townhouses, in Three Rivers, Michigan.
On December 2, 1988, police found Cathy's body in the bedroom of her residence. She was gravely beaten, and her throat was slit to death. Most parts of the room were splattered with blood, with the telephone cord cut.
However, Cathy's infant daughter was still in her crib in another room, left completely unharmed. Michigan State Police Crime Scene Technician Ken Laninga, who was present at the crime scene, described that the victim was beaten, strangled, and then left to die with a slit throat.
Laninga described that there were bloody footprints on the bathroom floor. This indicated that the 20/20 episode culprit had taken a shower after the murder. The killer left no fingerprint of himself, except for a bare footprint of size 9.
As per the Wood TV article, the killer consciously left two prime traces of himself. These markings were only visible with a tech device and special goggles and couldn't be seen with the naked eye.
After closing the light, police discovered some neon words glowing on the refrigerator. Laninga recalled:
“When we hit it with that alternate light source, it said ‘Metallica’ and the name ‘Harley’ on the refrigerator.”
However, things turned more strange when investigators moved the light towards the victim's body. They found that the killer had written something on her thigh:
"I was here."
Police also found some marks on the doorknob but soon realized it was consciously done to fabricate the murder as a burglary. There were no signs of forced entry, indicating that the victim knew her killer.
Kenny Baker from the Three Rivers Police Department was one of the first people to reach the crime scene. As per Baker, someone had moved the body. He said:
“turned it around 180 degrees, pulled it out to the doorway so she could look at the baby in the baby crib.”
When Cathy's autopsy reports arrived, it indicated that she had three separate cuts across her throat. It was also found that the killer had strangled her, as multiple bruises were found across her neck. She had cuts on her hands along with defensive wounds, indicating that Cathy tried to fight back before she died.
Though no murder weapon was found, a print of a pair of scissors covered in blood was found on a pair of sweatpants. Initially, Cathy's fiance, Mike Warner, was interrogated as a possible suspect, but no concrete evidence against him could be retrieved.
Over the next three years, police collected over a thousand footprints from potential suspects, but none matched the one found at the crime scene. With no further leads, the case went cold.
As per the Wood TV article, more than 20 years after the murder, the Three Rivers Police Department discovered a crucial piece of evidence that would change the direction of the investigation. The bloodstains retrieved from the telephone had two DNA samples. One belonged to the 20/20 episode victim Cathy Swartz, while the other belonged to an unknown male DNA.
Investigators ran the DNA through the Combined DNA Index System databases. Students from Michigan University's cold case program collaborated to scan through 10,000 pages of documents around the complete investigation.
The preserved unknown DNA sample found in the phone was sent to Othram, a forensics genome sequencing lab, in Houston, Texas. First opened in 2019, Othram is known for providing more than 1200 investigative leads.
By January 2023, Othram had narrowed the DNA samples to four possible suspects. They were the four sons of Judith and John Walters. Three of the brothers were ruled out after their DNA failed to match.
The last remaining suspect was Robert Walters, a childhood friend of Cathy's fiancé, Mark. Just a month before the murder, Robert and his girlfriend had visited their apartment. When his DNA was tested, it was a perfect match to the unknown male DNA found at the scene. On April 30, 2023, Robert Walters was arrested for the murder of Cathy Swartz. However, in May 2023, before he could be sentenced, he died by suicide in his prison cell.
20/20 season 47 episode 20: The murder of Catherine Edwards
As per Texas Monthly in August 2024, Mart Catherine Edwards was a school teacher who was found dead at her residence, handcuffed behind her back.
She was last seen alive on January 13, 1995, by her identical twin sister Allison Brocato. Both sisters graduated from Lamar University, Texas, later moving to West Beaumont, where they worked as public school teachers.
When Catherine didn't show up for family lunch, her parents drove to her residence the next day. They found her semi-naked body in the second-floor bathroom. Her wrists were handcuffed from the back, and she was slumped over the bathtub.
Similar to the 20/20 subject Cathy's murder, there were no signs of forced entry. When the autopsy reports of Catherine arrived, it revealed that the victim was s*xually abused. Forensic pathologists retrieved a semen sample from her bed.
Detectives concluded that the culprit had ra*ed her before drowning her in the bathtub. Authorities identified a dozen potential suspects, including her ex-boyfriend and colleagues from her workplace.
However, none of their DNA samples matched the one collected at the crime scene. The FBI updated the DNA sample in their Combined DNA Index System, which included the profiles of convicts, missing persons, and forensic samples collected from crime scenes.
Despite months of investigation, the case eventually went cold due to a lack of witnesses or suspects. As per the Texas Monthly article, it was almost three decades later, in 2020, when the case of Catherine Edwards opened again. A scientist and entrepreneur from Texas named David Mittelman contacted the Beaumont Police to reinvestigate the case again.
In early 2020, a group of Beaumont detectives, including Aaron Lewallen, reinitiated the search for Catherine's murderer. The preserved DNA samples from the bed cloth and vaginal swab were sent to Othram Labs, similar to the 20/20 episode subject Cathy's investigation.
The procedure, which cost $10,000 and took almost a year, ultimately led to a match. The DNA belonged to Clayton Bernard Foreman from Franklin, Ohio.
Investigators discovered that Catherine and Clayton had attended the same high school, and she was even the bridesmaid at his wedding. As reported by People on November 7, 2024, Clayton was charged with the capital murder of Catherine Edwards in June 2021. In March 2024, Clayton Foreman was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Check out our other articles to know the details about other cases of 20/20 season 47 on ABC.
