New Atlanta cold case squad to start with girls 1989 death

<p>The rape and murder of Bricola Coleman still haunts Fulton County investigators, more than 14 years after the girl was found dead in a northwest Atlanta apartment complex infested with drugs and crime.</p><p>Grief and outrage spread across economic and racial lines, but prosecutors never managed to bring the killer of 12-year-old Bricola to trial.</p><p>Fulton District Attorney Paul Howard vowed Thursday that her death would not be forgotten, pledging that it would be a priority for a new cold case squad being formed by his office, Atlanta police and Fulton County law enforcement agencies.</p><p>The squad, which will re-examine years-old, never-solved homicides, rapes and sexual assaults, is expected to begin work by the first of the year, Howard said.</p><p>The Bricola Coleman case was a horrific crime, and her murder will be one of the first cases for the squad, Howard said. He declined to disclose other cases the squad will investigate.</p><p>Della Belle Coleman returned from work on Sept. 12, 1989, to find her young daughter lying on the kitchen floor. Bricola had been beaten, strangled with her jump rope and sexually assaulted with a broom handle.</p><p>The case against the top suspect, Juan Marichal Fox, was dropped several years ago because tissue found under Bricolas fingernails did not match his, according to DNA evidence.</p><p>Fox is now in Hays State Prison in North Georgias Chattooga County, serving three consecutive life terms for raping a 39-year-old Marietta woman in 1992.</p><p>That Cobb County rape case led Atlanta authorities to Fox, who was a frequent visitor to Bricolas apartment complex, where his mother lived.</p><p>Then-Police Chief Eldrin Bell noted striking similarities in the two crimes, including the use of a broomstick to overpower a victim.</p><p>Atlanta Police Maj. Horace Walker, a lieutenant in charge of the homicide squad when Bricola was killed, also recalled that investigators found Foxs palm print on the refrigerator and a pubic hair consistent with Juans.</p><p>But the case against Fox in Bricolas death took an abrupt turn in 2000, when Howard announced that a DNA test conducted by a private laboratory determined that skin tissue recovered from under Bricolas fingernails did not come from Fox.</p><p>Fox has maintained his innocence in the crime, saying he was the one who rushed to revive the girl after her mother found her.</p><p>I thought I was doing the right thing, to try to get her some oxygen, Fox told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a recent interview. I think she was still alive.</p><p>Bricolas mother also has doubts of Foxs guilt.</p><p>Juan knew Bricola since she was a baby, and I just cant believe he killed my daughter, Coleman said. If they can re-examine the case, thats great. If they can make out a major suspect, thats wonderful, but I cant and dont dwell on her death.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2003/11/183875