Kidnap Suspect May Be Linked to Homicide

July 16, 2008 — -- Investigators in Wisconsin are working to determine whether 46-year-old Edward Lanphear, accused last week of kidnapping and sexually assaulting two men, is connected to the murder of a female college student in April.

According to Dean Berres, an investigator with the Wood County sheriff's department, inquiries into a link between the two crimes began with a small, but ominous piece of evidence.

"We don't have the indication that this case is linked to the homicide other than the small newspaper clipping we found at the suspect's residence," Berres told ABC News.

The clipping Berres referred to is an article written about the April 2 murder of 21-year-old University of Wisconsin-Madison student Brittany Zimmermann. The only other newspaper clipping found was one regarding the disappearance of a 23-year-old man — the same man that was rescued by police last week from the suspect's home.

According to Berres, Wood County investigators are currently "comparing notes" with the Madison police, who investigated Zimmermann's murder, in attempts to confirm or eliminate the possibility that Lanphear was involved.

In a phone interview with ABC News, Joel DeSpain, a spokesman for the Madison police, downplayed the possible connection.

"[Lanphear] is not really even on our radar here," DeSpain said. "But anything's possible. We don't rule anything out."

"We have no suspect in the [Zimmermann] case. We take anything that comes our way," he added.

Lanphear is being held in the Wood County Jail on $1 million bail and is charged with 12 felonies unrelated to Zimmermann's death, including kidnapping, sexual assault and battery.

Passing Out, Waking Up Naked, Chained

According to a criminal complaint, an unnamed 23-year-old man was kidnapped by Lanphear on July 8 after he accepted a ride home from Lanphear. In Lanphear's truck, the man was struck by a flashlight and passed out.

When he awoke, the man found himself stripped naked and restrained by chains in a basement. He was then allegedly sexually assaulted by Lanphear.

The same day, a 21-year-old man was allegedly kidnapped by Lanphear after a night of drinking and awoke naked and hanging by a chain that was attached to the ceiling of Lanphear's garage. The man was able to escape, however, and quickly alerted police, according to The Associated Press. Once police were on the scene, Lanphear surrendered and brought the 23-year-old up from the basement.

Court records show that more than 20 guns, chains, prescription medications, a computer and pornography were confiscated from Lanphear's home by Wood County sheriffs.

But most telling were the newspaper clippings — one of the 23-year-old man's abduction, a crime that police say he was in the act of committing, and one of Zimmermann's homicide, a crime police are investigating his link to, and one that some people think could have been prevented.

911 Call Ignored

On April 2, University of Wisconsin-Madison student Brittany Zimmerman urgently called 911 when someone was attempting to break into her off-campus apartment. The busy dispatcher, however, heard nothing and, in a breach of protocol, did not call the number back.

It was not until much later that day that police checked out the call, only to find Zimmermann's body in her apartment. Had the call been properly fielded it is possible Zimmermann could have been saved or her killer apprehended.

News only got worse a month later when the Madison reporter who broke a bombshell story about the unreturned 911 call said that police and county dispatchers intentionally withheld from the public details about the breach of protocol, causing a community-wide outcry.

On May 2, the Wisconsin State Journal hammered the Dane County dispatch in an editorial today titled "No apology? You better find one."

While the community searched for an apology, the police searched for answers and came up with few. The case remained unsolved.

But that could change now that police are looking at the possible connection to Lanphear.