Williamsport 
Deaths Possible 
Murder/suicide

Alice Hill 
Jan. 26, 1994 
Alice Hill, Of Easton, Died Wednesday, Jan. 26, In The Easton Hospital.

By MITCH MORRISON; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Tuesday, February 15, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A QUICK WORDS: TODD FAMILY MEETS WITH
INVESTIGATORS 





WILKES-BARRE -- "I talked more today than in the past 22 years," an
exhausted Mimi Todd said as she exited a large room tucked inside the Luzerne
County Courthouse. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Todd has wanted to talk for more than two decades about who may have
fatally stabbed her daughter, Juanita, inside the 22-year-old's Academy Street
apartment in 1972. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; But no one wanted to listen, she said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Until Monday, when Todd met with city and Luzerne County detectives to tell
what she knows. She was accompanied by Juanita's two daughters, Odetta and
Tamu, and Juanita's sister, Onerene Todd, who was 10 in 1972. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 First came the get-acquainted session -- a 35-minute briefing with nine
investigators including District Attorney Peter Paul Olszewski Jr., city
Police Chief Joseph Coyne and chief investigator Det. Capt. Bill Maguire. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We told them we are committed to conducting a full investigation,"
Olszewski said. That investigation will include interviews with witnesses,
some of whom live in other states, and reviews of two briefcases full of
police reports. Investigators would not comment when asked if they had any
suspects. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "It's going to take time. We told them not to get their expectations or
hopes too high," Olszewski said, adding a weekend homicide in the city could
temporarily delay their investigation. Olszewski said he reactivated the case
after reading columns by Times Leader columnist Steve Corbett. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The Todds, who live in Wilkes-Barre, then spent the next 1 hours behind
closed doors with city Detective Tom Bird and Lt. Dan Yursha, a county
detective. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The police asked questions about Juanita's life, her friends, and her final
days, the Todds said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "They didn't ask me any of these questions then," Mimi Todd said, recalling
her 1972 meetings with Wilkes-Barre police. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Mimi Todd has been critical of that probe, which was directed at the time
by Capt. John Lowe. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Lowe ignored crucial evidence and conducted a half-hearted investigation,
family members contend. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In contrast, the Todds seemed pleased after Monday's meeting with police. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "I didn't have any new information. I told them of old leads we had known
about that the police didn't check into (in 1972)," said Odetta Todd. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The family entered Monday's meeting with fear and distrust of the police,
they said. They arrived in the courthouse amid a glare of television cameras
and curious onlookers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A private family, the Todds appeared nervous by the sudden attention. Tamu
Todd, the second of Juanita's two children who was 5 months old and asleep in
her crib when her mother was stabbed 22 times, stood behind family members,
shielded from the cameras. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Odetta and Mimi responded to reporters' questions in polite, yet terse
language. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Police also seemed somewhat nervous, if not cautious. Asked whether police
had dropped the investigation 20 years ago, Coyne said, "We never forgot it." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Moments earlier, he pronounced, "It is now an active case." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Local police have admitted the case has not been active since the early
1970s. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TIMES LEADER/RICHARD SABATURA &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Mimi Todd and her granddaughter, Odetta, arrive at the Luzerne County
Courthouse to meet with city and county detectives Monday on the investigation
into the fatal stabbing of Mimi Todd's daughter, Juanita, 22 years ago

Todd Family Meets With Investigators 
Mother Of 1972 Murder 
Victim Relates Information 
To Authorities, Who On 
Monday Said The Unsolved 
Case Is On `active' Status

Todd Family Meets With Investigators Mother Of 1972 Murder Victim Relates Information To Authorities, Who On Monday Said The Unsolved Case Is On `active' Status