Oldest Cold Case FINALLY Solved | Lisa Holstead’s Case | Mysterious Hook

It’s still a very sad case. You know, we have a young woman here who lost her life; she was robbed of her future by someone. We’re hoping that this brings a small bit of comfort to her family members.

On August 12, 1986, 22-year-old Lisa Holstead disappeared without a trace, leaving behind an ominous silence. Her boyfriend reported her missing, after which authorities launched a frantic search. Just an hour into the search, they made a grisly discovery: Lisa’s lifeless body was found in a marsh within the Ken Euers Nature Park, and she had been brutally strangled. The case remained a mystery for years, with no leads or suspects to speak of. Who could have committed such a heinous crime? Why would someone want to end the life of such a young and vibrant woman?

Welcome back to Mysterious Hook, where we shed light on mysterious cases across the country. Today, we’ll be looking at how the oldest cold case murder investigation in Green Bay was solved after 34 years. But first, if you still haven’t subscribed to our channel, please don’t forget to like, subscribe, and click the bell icon below, as it helps motivate us to create more intriguing content for you. So without further ado, let’s dive right into this mystery.

The crime took place in Green Bay, a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin located on the shore of Lake Michigan. With a population of around 104,000 people, it is the third-largest city in the state. Known for its strong football culture, Green Bay is home to the Green Bay Packers, one of the most successful teams in the National Football League. The city has a diverse economy with industries including healthcare, education, manufacturing, and tourism. Visitors to Green Bay can explore attractions such as the National Railroad Museum, Bay Beach Amusement Park, and the historic downtown district. It was here in Green Bay that a tragic murder took place in 1986.

On April 18, 1964, a bright-eyed baby girl was born. Her name was Lisa Holstead. Raised by a strong, resilient single mother named Judith Karen Pearl Thompson, Lisa’s childhood was not without its challenges. Her father, Frank Holstead, was absent from her life, but that didn’t stop Lisa from shining bright. From an early age, she exhibited a curious mind and a creative spirit that defined her life. She grew up with two loving older sisters—Deborah, who was three years older, and Susan, who was two years older than Lisa. They were always there for her to lend a listening ear or serve as a shoulder to cry on. Lisa felt a sense of security and warmth with them that could not be easily replicated. Her older brother, Stephen Holstead, who was five years older than her, was her protector and always looked out for his little sister, making sure she felt safe and loved.

Despite the financial struggles of being raised by a single mother, their love for each other was unwavering. Judith worked tirelessly to provide for her children, and her love for them knew no bounds. Lisa Holstead had a passion for horseback riding and was also artistic, sketching during her spare time. However, her life took an unexpected turn when she got pregnant at the age of 17 and gave birth to her beloved son, Jeremy, in 1981. Despite the challenges she faced, Lisa was a loving and devoted mother who doted on her son. She worked tirelessly to ensure that Jeremy had the best life possible. Her kind, outgoing, and creative personality shone through as she raised Jeremy on her own, just like her own mother had raised her and her siblings.

Lisa Holstead was a woman of courage and independence. Despite the comfort of living with her family, she yearned for something more. So, she made the brave decision to move across the country to Los Angeles to pursue her dreams in 1981. After some time, she realized that what she truly wanted was a stable and peaceful life for her and her son, Jeremy. She found that in the town of Green Bay, Wisconsin, where they settled and made a home in 1982.

While she never attended college, Lisa was determined to continue her education and took a goal-oriented, non-credit adult learning course at the Northeastern Wisconsin Technical Institute between 1983 and 1984. By the time she returned to Green Bay in 1986, Lisa was only 22 years old, but she had already accomplished so much. With her son by her side—who was now five years old—she was ready to take on whatever challenges came her way in this new chapter of their lives. She had even found love again with a man named John Saad, with whom she shared a cozy home in Green Bay. The couple enjoyed simple pleasures like fishing and playing darts together, and even had a quirky collection of pets: an eel and a bird named Herbie. Lisa’s love for her family and her zest for life were evident in everything she did, and she cherished every moment spent with her loved ones. However, fate had a cruel twist in store for her, and her bright future was tragically cut short.

On August 12, 1986, the moon was high in the sky in Wisconsin as Lisa and John embarked on a late-night adventure. Lisa and John seemed to be having a great time, their competitive spirits shining through as they played game after game of darts. But as that night came to a close, tension began to rise, and the alcohol seemed to take its toll.

When they were driving back home, the car came to a stop at the intersection of Mason and Taylor Street at 2:30 AM. Lisa and John had been having an argument, and she opened the door and stepped out into the cool night air. The argument with John had left her feeling frustrated and upset, and she needed to clear her head. She told John that she would walk home and that he could go ahead and get some rest. He hoped that she would come back soon and that they could make up and put this argument behind them.

As the hours passed and the sun began to rise over the quiet town of Green Bay, John’s worry grew into a gnawing sense of dread. Lisa still hadn’t returned, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong. He scoured the streets and alleys, calling out her name, but there was no response. Desperately, he made his way to the police station and reported her missing, his heart heavy with fear and uncertainty.

After just an hour of John reporting her missing, a gruesome discovery was made by two unsuspecting workers in the Ken Euers Nature Park. It was an ordinary day for the workers, but as they made their way along the riverbank, something caught their eye: a hand jutting out from the water’s surface. Intrigued, they pulled their truck to a stop and approached the water’s edge. What they found there would haunt them forever: the lifeless body of a woman lying partially unclothed, as if she had been cast aside like an unwanted object.

They immediately called the authorities, and within minutes, the officers from the Green Bay Police Department arrived at the scene and were met with a gruesome sight. The unknown woman’s lifeless body lay in the marsh, surrounded by tall reeds and murky water. As the detectives combed through the marsh in search of any clues that could lead them to the woman’s identity, they stumbled upon a small piece of fabric poking out from under the murky waters. With a sense of urgency, they waded through the marsh to retrieve the fabric. Upon closer inspection, they discovered an identity card hidden in the back pocket of a pair of jeans. It was then that they were able to confirm the victim’s identity as Lisa Holstead.

When they approached her body, they saw the telltale marks on her neck—grim evidence that she had been strangled to death—and the case was ruled as a homicide. The autopsy report delivered a gruesome account of Lisa’s final moments. Her blood alcohol level was found to be sky-high, clocking in at a staggering 0.25%, well beyond the legal limit at that time. The autopsy further revealed that she had suffered from multiple wounds that left her body streaked with blood—a sight that could haunt even the bravest of souls. Worse still, the medical examiner’s findings pointed to a heinous sexual assault prior to her death.

The only hope they had was the foreign DNA sample that they had managed to extract from the victim’s body. The discovery of the DNA was like finding a needle in a haystack for the police. They knew it was a crucial piece of evidence, but they didn’t have a suspect to match it to. The tiny sample was carefully stored away like a precious gemstone. The detectives hoped that someday, technology would catch up to the potential of this evidence and give them the answers they desperately sought.

The news of Lisa’s death spread like wildfire, leaving a trail of grief in its wake. Her boyfriend, John, was shattered by the loss of the woman he loved, racked with guilt over their final argument, and haunted by the fact that he could have done more to keep her safe. Her family was plunged into a world of pain and confusion.

The police moved swiftly to investigate, interviewing everyone who might have had a motive to harm Lisa. Detectives followed up on every lead, questioned every suspect, and revisited the crime scene numerous times in the years that followed, but nothing seemed to break the case wide open. They went back to the drawing board numerous times, piecing together any possible lead or hint that could reveal the identity of Lisa’s killer, but their efforts were met with dead ends.

The passage of time only seemed to add another layer of obscurity to the case. Evidence deteriorated, and potential suspects slipped out of sight. The case was eventually archived and sat gathering dust on a shelf for over 30 years.

In 2020, after 34 years of the case laying cold, hope again flickered as Detective David Graf from the GBPD reopened the case and took the lead in the investigation. With dogged determination, he and his team combed through the old case files, and their eyes fell upon a small vial forgotten in the back of the storage unit. Inside was the key to unlocking the case: the DNA of the perpetrator.

It was time to bring in the latest forensic technology behind her brutal murder. He reached out to a pioneer in this space: Othram, a company specializing in forensic genetic genealogy, hoping to unlock the secrets of the killer’s identity. This cutting-edge technology would not only reveal more about the suspect but also provide a fascinating insight into the killer’s familial connections. With this new knowledge, the detective was finally able to unravel the twisted web of this cold case.

The DNA was sent for analysis in June 2020. When the results came back from the lab, the Green Bay Police Department found themselves with a wealth of information about their suspect. With every bit of information gleaned from the DNA analysis, the police were one step closer to the killer. The police started carefully tracing the family trees of distant relatives, piece by piece. They constructed a web of connections until they had built 10 to 15 different family trees.

As the investigation progressed, they scoured databases and websites to find groups of people who could potentially be related to the victim. After much investigation and digging, they stumbled upon a group of individuals living in other states. Following their trail, they found a connection to Wisconsin, and finally, the trail led them to Green Bay—the very place where the brutal murder took place. The police found a family member who had been living in Green Bay in 1986, the same year the crime was committed.

Finally, after countless hours of work, they found a suspect whose DNA potentially matched the sample taken at the crime scene. The long-awaited breakthrough had come at last. The man was Lou Griffin.

The investigators found that Lou already had a history of violence against women, including strangulation, and had been released on parole from the Green Bay Correctional Institution, where he had been serving time for the heinous crime of second-degree sexual assault. What shocked them the most was that Lou had a previous conviction for sexual assault in 1981—a fact that had gone unnoticed during the initial investigation. It seemed that the police had missed a vital clue that had been right in front of them all this time. However, thanks to the groundbreaking technology of forensic genetic genealogy and the tireless work of Detective David Graf and his team, Lou’s past finally caught up with him.

With a suspect in their sights, the investigators knew they had to be absolutely certain before making an arrest. They needed to test Lou Griffin’s DNA against the profile from the crime scene. So, in September 2020, the police embarked on a thrilling mission to track down their prime suspect, Lou Griffin, who had moved to the city of Racine.

The Green Bay detectives joined forces with the Racine County authorities, the FBI, and the DCI (Division of Criminal Investigation) to put Griffin under surveillance, hoping to uncover evidence against him. The hunt was on, and the authorities were not going to let him out of their sights. They trailed him to another town in Wisconsin, watching his every move. On September 18, 2020, while they were watching him, they saw him disposing of some beer cans in a dumpster and carelessly tossing a cigarette butt on the ground. Little did he know that these seemingly insignificant acts would lead to his undoing.

The discarded items were quickly collected by the police and sent back to the lab for further DNA testing. The results came back on September 29, 2020, and the authorities were ecstatic. The DNA was a perfect match to that found at the crime scene over three decades ago.

On October 28, 2020, at around 6:00 AM, there was the sound of handcuffs clicking into place as Lou was escorted out of his home. Neighbors peeked out from behind their curtains, whispering amongst themselves as the police car drove away with Lou to the Brown County Jail.

In the interrogation room, Lou sat stone-faced as he denied any involvement in the murder. When the questioning intensified, Lou’s resolve began to waver, and he finally confessed to having a sexual encounter with the victim. But he claimed that his memory of that night was hazy at best, citing intoxication with drugs and alcohol as a reason for his confusion. As the details of the crime unfolded, it became clear that Lou’s intoxication had clouded his memory, and he was unable to recall the events that led to Lisa’s death.

The once elusive suspect was now in custody. In 2021, it was time for his trial. The courtroom was packed with reporters, family members of the victim, and curious onlookers as Lou Griffin entered, flanked by guards. All eyes were on him as he took his seat at the defendant’s table.

As the trial began and the prosecution presented their evidence, the jury listened intently, absorbing every detail of the case. Lou recounted the events of that fateful night in 1986 and told the jury that he had simply stopped at McDonald’s and then taken a route that happened to pass by the spot where Lisa’s body was later discovered. But with every word he spoke, the weight of the crime he committed seemed to hang heavier on his shoulders.

As the trial went on, the evidence against him continued to mount. Ultimately, Lou was booked on a first-degree intentional homicide charge, and his bail was set at $1 million.

After a long and grueling legal battle, on January 27, 2023, Lou made a dramatic decision to plead no contest to the charge of homicide by reckless conduct. The courtroom was tense as the judge read out the verdict, and Peter Heyne, one of Lou’s attorneys, argued for a more lenient sentence, citing Lou’s poor health and the two years he had already spent in jail.

However, Judge Timothy Hinkfuss was unmoved by Heyne’s request, stating that Lou’s lack of accountability and failure to take responsibility had only continued to victimize Holstead’s family. Judge Hinkfuss went on to explain that the sentence he was able to give was limited by the laws in place at the time of the crime, and that current Wisconsin law only allowed for a maximum of 10 years for homicide by reckless conduct (a Class C felony back in 1986).

There was a collective gasp from the crowd as Lou was found guilty. It was a bittersweet victory for the prosecution, who had worked tirelessly to bring justice for the victim’s family. On March 27, 2023, 67-year-old Lou Griffin was sentenced to 10 years in prison—the maximum penalty available under the law in 1986. Under the old sentencing law, Lou could be released after serving two-thirds of his sentence. He was also granted two and a half years of time served, which means he could be eligible for parole in less than six months.

When delivering the sentence, Judge Hinkfuss acknowledged that Lisa Holstead’s murder was a despicable and heinous act but emphasized he was constrained by the laws in effect at the time of the crime. Despite acknowledging the maximum sentence was woefully inadequate, Brown County District Attorney David Lasee called for it to be imposed, citing the severity of the crime and its impact on the victim’s family. “He failed to take accountability and avoided justice for 34 years,” Lasee said. “The impact that that has had on the family is significant.”

The emotional impact on the family members was evident throughout the hearing, and they made it clear that no sentence could bring back their beloved Lisa. The courtroom was filled with emotion when five of Holstead’s family members stood before the judge to deliver their witness statements. Their voices trembled with grief and anger when they recounted the pain and trauma they had endured for over three decades. One sister, a brother, a niece, a son, and a granddaughter all spoke passionately, sharing the impact the long cold case had on their family. They described the void left by their beloved sister, mother, and grandmother, and expressed their disappointment with the maximum sentence available.

Stephen Holstead, Lisa’s brother, had a voice thick with emotion as he addressed the man who had caused his family so much pain. “The pain it caused our family cannot even be described to you,” he said, his eyes fixed on Lou. “Many tears. I’ve thought about Lisa all these years. Every day spent… 13,377 days since you murdered her.”

They painted a picture of a kind and loving woman, a devoted mother to her young son. The family spoke of Lisa’s creative spirit, her love for art and music, and her trusting and outgoing nature. They shared that they had few photos of Lisa and no videos, but one family member brought a framed picture of her to the stand, and another played an audio recording of her singing as a child.

The case of Lisa Holstead is a testament to the power of perseverance and the remarkable advances in forensic technology that have been made in recent years. While it may have seemed like an unsolvable mystery for decades, the tireless efforts of law enforcement and the use of cutting-edge forensic techniques ultimately led to justice being served.