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Authorities Doubt Tom Tomich Was A Serial Killer

January 20, 2007

Tom Tomich took his secrets with him as he leaped to his death from an Omaha high-rise, leaving behind investigators who now say they doubt Tomich was a serial killer.

The 50-year-old committed suicide on Nov. 16, a day after his former wife's remains were identified. Soon after that, authorities said they discovered a link between him and a slain Omaha prostitute.

In November, Douglas County chief deputy Marty Bilek said, "Tomich is a killer who was also active in the 1980s, and we know now he might have killed again."

Tomich soon was being investigated in the slayings of four prostitutes. But Iowa and Nebraska investigators now said they haven't found enough evidence to implicate Tomich.

The slayings remain unsolved.

Prosecutor Confident He Could've Convicted Tomich

November 29, 2006

If a man had not jumped to his death the day after his wife’s body was identified, could prosecutors have brought him to justice?

The Pottawattamie County Attorney’s Office has declared the case of Lois Tomich’s 1983 death officially closed. The 28-year-old’s body was found in barrel in May near the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department, but the remains weren't identified until earlier this month. The next day, Tomich’s ex-husband, Tom, jumped from the Rorick Condominiums in downtown Omaha to his death.

For Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber, Tom Tomich’s demise was an opportunity
lost.

"I was looking forward to this trial. I knew it'd be a tough one, but I felt like we had enough," Wilber said.

Lois Tomich was murdered more than 20 years ago, forensic research showed. As researchers worked to identify her, her ex-husband became the lead suspect."Spouses are always top suspects for us," Wilber said.

Proving the case, however, would have been challenging, Wilber said. The best evidence linking Tom Tomich to the murder was admissions Tomich himself allegedly made.

"I have two different ladies who were involved in romantic relationships with Mr. Tomich that both said over the years, he confessed to them that he put his wife Lois in the barrel, in the water," Wilber said.

Wilber said those witnesses were scared of Tom Tomich and reluctant to testify."So, just trying to figure out what do we do to make sure they feel safe and get the information that we need," Wilber said, was a challenge.

Had the case gone to trial, Wilber said he believes those witnesses would have come forward. But there would have been other challenges for the prosecution."I'd consider probably one of my biggest hurdles is I have no crime scene," Wilber said.

Investigators surveyed the area where the body was dumped but they said they had no idea where Lois Tomich was actually killed. They did, however, know how she was murdered. At a trial, Wilber said, a forensic anthropologist would have testified that Lois Tomich died of strangulation, and the murder weapon had been preserved.

"There's a piece of wire around the neck," said investigator Leland Bennett. "There was a clothes hanger attached to the wire; hanger used as an anchor to tighten that wire."Bennett said the wire was still imbedded in her vertebrae ."Honestly, if it wasn't for that coat hanger, we'd have never known, because all soft tissue was gone," Wilber said. "It had deteriorated over the years."Wilber said there was also evidence that the killer knew his victim."Obviously, the manner of her death -- the fact she was fully clothed -- this was someone who knew her, had the ability to get up close," Wilber said.

The way the killer disposed of the body, in a barrel filled with cement and weighing close to a ton, also gave the prosecutor a clue."It had to be someone who had access to heavy construction equipment," he said."Her ex-husband worked around a construction company at that time, and was involved in certain paving," Leland said.

Wilber said he believes he would have eventually gotten the barrel's manufacturer and the type of cement that was used to use in his prosecution.

Beyond the physical evidence, Wilber said he was building a circumstantial case against Tom Tomich that included a history of domestic violence. Even his daughter, who was only 5 when her mother disappeared, told investigators about the stormy relationship her parents had.

"She remembers several beatings and her mom always going to the hospital," Leland said.

Wilber said jurors would have heard Tomich's motive for killing his ex-wife."We answered that question when we learned about the relationship she was entering into with his brother, and how that drove him insane, got in a fight, physical altercation with his own brother," Wilber said.

Finally, investigators said, Tom Tomich's nervous demeanor when they interviewed him the day before he jumped indicated guilt.

"He couldn't sit still," Leland said. "(We) caught him in several discrepancies. We knew he wasn't being truthful with us; only simple questions we were asking.

"Would it have been enough to convince a jury? Creighton University Law School professor Collin Mangrum said it all lies in the testimony."If the jury believes the witnesses, you almost certainly will get a conviction," Mangrum said. "You can talk about a case in the abstract. The prosecutors have to try it. The defense attorney have to put on the best case they can, so to judge it in the abstract is a precarious thing to do."Despite that, Wilber said he is confident he would have won."We had some hurdles to get over, but nothing I thought we couldn't overcome," he said.

Investigators Look Into Link Between Unsolved Murder Cases

November 21, 2006

Several unsolved murder cases in the metro are getting another look as investigators look for any possible connection to Tom Tomich.

Investigators said Tomich killed his ex-wife, Lois, in 1983.

As details of the case emerged, he jumped to his death last week.

Tomich also has a connection to Debra Ann Barajas who was found dead in Mills County last week.

County records show Tomich bailed her out of jail shortly before she went missing.Tomich has just been called a person of interest in Barajas' disappearance.

Those close to Brianne Smith said they wonder whether Tomich has any ties to her murder. She was found dead in June near Glenwood, Iowa.

The woman who helped raise Smith said she's especially curious about her last phone call with Brianne.

Edie Derry said Smith called her just before she disappeared in April, but Derry did not recognize the incoming phone number."I would say that I think he's connected. It just seems a little strange that all of it came full circle this way," Derry said.

The Mills County Attorney said that at this point there's no reason to believe Tomich has anything to do with Smith's death.

A History of Violence

CrimeSceneBlog.com

21st November 2006

Thomas Tomich and Lois Fraisonnet were married in 1980 and began their life together. By 1981, however, they were divorced and their baby girl was living with her mom. In the background where hints that the reason for the divorce was Thomas’ temper and physical abuse of Lois.

In 1983 though, things were looking up for Lois. She had gotten some distance from her ex-husband and there was a new man in her life. He was Mark Dawson, Thomas’ brother. This evidently did not sit well with Tomich.

Later in the same year Lois mysteriously disappeared. Her father filed a missing person’s report with the local police. During their investigation they talked with her friends, even her ex-husband. His assertion was that she had moved to Texas. But police were not sure they believed his story.

“Tomich had gotten in a fight with his brother over her, and made some statements that he wasn’t gonna put up with his brother living with his ex-wife and raising his kid,” according to investigators.

But with no firm evidence of foul play and no body they could not investigate further. And so the disappearance followed the path of so many missing person’s reports, into the basement of the police department, where the cold case files were stored.

Thomas went on to remarry. But this wife also reported being a victim of abuse at his hands. She however, never disappeared.

In 1997 it was again remarked that Thomas Tomich had a temper, when a woman whom he lived with filed an order of protection against him after she claimed he struck her in the leg and mouth, requiring stitches and visit to the hospital. But this still did not link him directly to his first wife’s disappearance.

Twenty three years passed.

In May of this year, men searching in a tree dump for mushrooms found a barrel partially buried. They kicked at its rusty sides, and when it fell open, they saw bones encased in concrete within the barrel.

The police were notified and recovered the 55-gallon drum, which had been filled with 800 lbs. of construction-grade concrete. This opened up an interesting theory, because Tomich was working at a construction company during the time that Lois disappeared. The construction company he worked at used construction-grade concrete similar to that used in the barrel.

They recovered the body of a woman between the ages of 24 and 32 years of age. She was approximately 5′ 8″ tall and had kept good care of herself. She had short brown hair. The clothes that were found with the body were identified as having been manufactured in 1983. The description matched Lois Tomich, and probably dozens of other missing women in the area.

A forensic artist then went to work, creating a portrait of the woman from her facial features. Again the likeness to Lois Tomich was there.

“Even though I’ve got a photo that’s similar, I still got to have DNA,” said Leland Bennett, a Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department investigator assigned to the case.

So a DNA sample was extracted from Lois’ daughter, now 23-years-old. Two months later, the results were back, proving Bennett’s theory correct. This was the body of Lois Tomich.

An autopsy confirmed that her death was also not an accident. She was most likely strangled with the metal coat hanger that was found in the barrel.

Now the investigation moved from identifying the body to finding the killer. The first and best suspect was her ex-husband, Thomas Tomich.

Police began to check out their suspect and located his other wife. She told investigators something interesting he said to her during an argument.

“One night he told her that she would end up in a barrel like Lois did,” Bennett said.

By Wednesday investigators were speaking with Tomich and his story was not matching up well.

“(We) caught him in several discrepancies,” Bennett said. “We knew he wasn’t being truthful with us. These were only simple questions we were asking.”

Police felt they had their man, and were in the process of obtaining an arrest warrant. But then the unexpected happened.

Tomich went to the Rorick Apartments in Omaha, NE where he worked as a janitor. He climbed to one of the top floors and then jumped to his death.

Police feel that this proves, at least to them, his guilt in the murder of his ex-wife Lois. The open case into her disappearance has been closed.

But now more questions have been raised, and more women are being found dead that knew Tomich. Investigators are asking the obvious question, is he responsible for these deaths as well?

During their investigation, police realized that Tomich associated with prostitutes. The Rorick Apartments, according the reviews found on Google Maps paint a dim picture of life in the building.

Hookers sat outside on the front steps 24/7 & the place was crawling with disease. Oh, not to mention the night I came home to find an unknown male passed out on my living room floor, drunk with pee all over himself & the rug.

If you want roaches as roommates and hookers as neighbors, then move into the rorick!!

So as you can see, if these are to be believed, his job gave him the ability to find plenty of “action” if he wanted. It also appears, if these cases turn out to be attributed to him, that he liked to travel between Nebraska and Iowa.

There are several cases, none with many details that are being investigated as possible victims of Thomas Tomich.

Amy Hajek, 23 - Found on Christmas Eve in 1999 in an irrigation ditch just northeast of Fremont.

Teresa Windham, 17 - Found about two miles northwest of where Hajek’s body was found.

Debra Barajas, 44 - Last seen May 25 — nine days after Tomich bailed her out of jail — and was discovered dead on November 14, 2006 in southwestern Iowa.

Brianne Smith, 25 - Prostitute from Omaga that was found in June in Glenwood, which is the same town where Barajas’ body was found.

Police are also looking at Tomich as a person of interest in the deaths of two other Omaha prostitutes, Michelle Lamere and Stephanie Caldwall.

23-Year Murder-Suicide

Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker says officials were able to identify the body with a match to a family member's DNA.

Body In Barrel Belongs To Woman Who Disappeared In 1983

November 15, 2006

Pottawattamie County investigators said a body found earlier this year in a barrel solves a 23-year-old mystery.

DNA analysis from an FBI lab showed that the remains were those of 28-year-old Lois Tomich, of Council Bluffs. Tomich was reported missing in November 1983 by her father.

Mushroom hunters found the remains in a 55-gallon barrel north of Council Bluffs near the Pottawattamie County Jail in May.

Tomich was divorced and the mother of one daughter who is now 28 years old, authorities said. Investigators said they took DNA from the daughter to use in a new type of analysis called mitochondrial DNA testing. The test was done in a crime lab in Minnesota.

Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker said this is one of the first times the lab has used this particular test."Any information we can get now -- this case is 23 years old. All we have is what was found out there, so, yes. This case is going to be tough," Danker said. "We not have not been able to find the Council Bluffs police report. It's been 23 years ago, so we don't have specific details as far as specifically the date, and the details as far as what exactly, where she was last seen, who she was last seen by."It's not clear how long Tomich had been in the barrel, Danker said.

Investigators are not saying how Tomich died, but said they are confident she was murdered. Danker said some names have been mentioned about who may be responsible for Tomich's death and investigators are checking out all leads.Anyone with information about Tomich or the case is asked to call a tip line at 877-414-1031 or 402-616-5065.

Tomich's family still lives in the Omaha metro area. Danker said his investigators spoke with them on Wednesday morning, and said that this is an emotional time for them. Investigators said they explained their findings to the family and answered questions.

Investigators said contact was made with both the Tomich family, into which Lois married, and her family, the Fraissinets."It's just tough," Denker said. "When you have a loved one that -- I mean, I'm sure there's closure, but it's final now. Their loved one has been determined that they are deceased."Attempts to reach the Tomich family by KETV NewsWatch 7 were unsuccessful. The Fraissinets were located at their home near Glenwood, and a reporter was told to leave the property.

  

Pottawattamie County Works To Identify Body In Barrel

May 15, 2006

Dozens of phone calls have poured into Pottawattamie County authorities since the discovery of a body was found in a barrel was announced on Friday.

Mushroom hunters found the remains of a woman believed to have been murdered and sealed in a barrel years ago in Council Bluffs. Pottawattamie County officials said on Friday that the body was discovered Saturday, and tests were performed this week to learn more about the victim.

The woman was approximately 24 to 32 years old and about 5 feet 8 inches tall. She is believed to be Caucasian, but could have black ancestry. She had straight brown hair.

Wilber said the remains are not those of Tracy Tribble, who is missing and was last seen in her Council Bluffs home on May 3. They are also not the remains of missing Omaha 12-year-old Amber Harris. Wilber said the physical description also does not match that of missing Iowa anchorwoman Jodi Huisentruit.

Many of the phone calls taken by authorities over the weekend came from the families of missing persons."A family loses a loved one, they never give up hope they never give up looking, if for no other reason than to get closure," said Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber. "Right now, we're trying to sift through the leads and figuring out which ones are potential good leads and which ones are hopeful."

Wilber said the county wants a dental expert to take a look at the victim's teeth, and professionals will also try to reconstruct the woman's face to try to make identifying her easier."Our No. 1 priority is identifying our victim," Wilber said. "I know every time a family even hears a whisper of a story like this it puts a sick feeling in their stomach, because they're wondering could this be it."Wilber said one of the biggest difficulties authorities are having in narrowing the list of possible victims in this case. They're not sure exactly how long the remains have been sitting in the barrel."Our anthropologist couldn't give us a narrow range of times. We've got a lot of potential missing people our victim could be," Wilber said.

Wilber said he's confident investigators will be able to identify the woman."If we make an ID, if nothing else, even if we can't prosecute the case, we can give one family some closure," Wilber said.

  

Remains Found In Barrel Near Council Bluffs

KETV.com

May 12, 2006

Mushroom hunters found the remains of a woman believed to be murdered and sealed in a barrel years ago in Council Bluffs. Pottawattamie County officials said on Friday that the body was discovered Saturday, and tests were performed this week to learn more about the victim. "It's clear to us what we're dealing with is a homicide," said Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber.

A woman's skeletal remains were found north of Council Bluffs near the Pottawattamie County Jail. Some areas nearby are covered in water, while others have dried up. Wilber said it was in one of dry areas that mushroom hunters found the 55-gallon barrel with the remains inside.

"Our belief is that it was put there because it was at least, at that time, under water," Wilber said. Investigators wouldn't say how the woman died. They said she was inside the barrel for years, but aren't sure exactly how long. "We've got a window of time from five years to 25 years. We've got a lot to sift through," Wilber said. "We really have two separate investigations going on. Obviously, we want to identify the body. Then, of course, we have a homicide we are dealing with.

"Investigators were able to recover a size 11 Lee Jeans tag from the victim's clothes. They're hoping manufacturers can give them a production date that could narrow down their search. Wilbur said the victim has extensive dental work, and he hopes a dental expert that could be very helpful in identifying her.

The woman was approximately 24 to 32 years old and about 5 feet 8 inches tall. She is believed to be Caucasian, but could have black ancestry. She had straight brown hair. Wilber said the remains are not those of Tracy Tribble, who is missing and was last seen in her Council Bluffs home on May 3. They are also not the remains of missing Omaha 12-year-old Amber Harris. Wilber said the physical description also does not match that of missing Iowa anchorwoman Jodi Huisentruit.