How did Paul Hutchinson die? Details explored ahead of 48 Hours on CBS

The upcoming 48 Hours episode on CBS will focus on the 1996 murder of a Montana girl named Danni Houchins, who was killed by Paul Hutchinson. The killer was finally traced with the help of modern DNA technology, 30 years after Danni’s murder in 2024.

Hutchison shot and killed himself in July 2024, a few hours after he was interviewed by the investigators concerning the 15-year-old’s 1996 murder.

The episode focusing on this decades-long homicide is titled It’s About Danni. It will air on CBS on February 8 at 10 pm ET.

---

Danni Houchins's murder was considered death by drowning and the case grew cold

As per CBS news, 15-year-old Danni Houchins’s corpse was found in the Montana wildernesses on September 21, 1996. Notably, the victim had an argument after which she drove to a swampy region near the Gallatin River. Later when she failed to return home, her family became concerned.

After filing a missing complaint, Danni’s family and friends eventually located her body in a swampy region near the Gallatin River. Her face was buried in the mud.

The coroner eventually declared the cause of her death to be drowning. At the crime scene, four male hairs were discovered. However, that did not help with the investigations and the case grew cold with no further leads.

In 2020, Danni's sister Stephanie Mollet met new detectives and also learned that her sister’s autopsy report claimed that she was murdered, ra*ed, and even assaulted in 1996. There were marks on her neck and back and there was also semen on her underwear and the victim had va*inal injuries.

Soon, Tom Elfmont, a retired investigator dedicated himself to cracking this case. He first created a DNA profile from the semen and also made a full suspect DNA profile with the help of one of the four hairs found on the crime scene.

---

How was Paul Hutchinson tracked?

The aforementioned DNA profile was forwarded to Parabon NanoLabs in Virginia. In this lab, genealogists used additional DNA databases and identified Paul Hutchinson as the primary suspect in the 1996 murder.

As of 2024, Hutchison was 55 years old, married with two adult children, and had no prior criminal records.

Paul Hutchinson was interviewed following the indentification and he showed signs of uneasiness and restlessness when questioned and interrogated about the 1996 murder. A day after the investigation, he shot and killed himself. As per reports, Hutchinson called the Beaverhead County Sheriff's Office at 4:17 a.m. on July 24 and asked for help before hanging up. His body was later discovered on the side of a road.

After Paul Hutchinson's death, his DNA was matched with the semen found on the victim’s body after which it was concluded that Hutchinson ra*ed her and killed her. The two deceased did not know each other and it was a crime of opportunity as alleged by authorities.

With the case being solved, at the presser, Stephanie Mollet said:

"Even though this man [Paul Hutchinson] will not face a jury of his peers, I have no doubt he was the one who forcefully and violently se*ually assaulted my sister, then held her head down in a marsh until she choked to death on mud."

She added:

"When the time came to face up and account for his [Paul Hutchinson] violence, he instead chose to end his life. He knew of his guilt and couldn’t face my family or his family and the pain he had caused.”

According to CBS News, it was later discovered that Mollet's friend Rachelle Schrute knew the murderer, Paul Hutchinson, and regarded him as a friend and even went fishing and hunting with him in the past. Schrute is said to have never questioned or suspected that Hutchinson was capable of ra*e and murder of a 15-year-old.

---

To learn more about this case, watch the upcoming episode of 48 Hours titled It’s About Danni. It airs on CBS on February 8 at 10 pm ET.