A Montana man died by suicide one day after new DNA evidence led police to interview him in the cold-case rape and killing of a teenage girl nearly 30 years ago.
Paul Hutchinson, 57, of Dillon, "displayed extreme nervousness" during the two-hour interview last month, including by sweating profusely, scratching his face and chewing on his hand, according to the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office.
Around 4:15 a.m. the next day, he called authorities and said he needed help before hanging up, then was found dead on the side of a road with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the sheriff's office said on Thursday.
"After Hutchinson's interview and subsequent suicide, we received confirmation the DNA evidence was a complete match to Paul Hutchinson," Sheriff Dan Springer said during a Thursday news conference.
Hutchinson's online obituary has since been replaced with a statement from his wife, Kristi, who said that his family was "absolutely heartbroken to learn this news" and that "our hearts go out" to the family of victim Danielle "Danni" Houtchins.
"It is good to know that they will at last be able to find the closure that they deserve. Our own family was already reeling from dealing with Paul's suicide," she wrote. "In 24 years of marriage there was never any hint that something like this could be lurking in the background. Paul was an exceptional husband and father. This latest news makes our grieving so much more complicated."
The case stemmed from the Sept. 21, 1996, disappearance of Houtchins, a 15-year-old resident of Belgrade, Montana, whose body was found face down in the Gallatin River that night.
The cause of death was determined to be drowning and the manner was classified as "undetermined."
Potential suspects were identified and interviewed but no one was arrested and no new leads were developed until four hairs found on Houtchins' body were sent to a California lab for analysis that wasn't possible at the time of her death, according to the sheriff's office.
A partial DNA profile from one of the hairs was run through the FBI's database without producing a match but private genealogists in Virginia used additional databases to identify Hutchinson as the suspect and he was interviewed on the evening of July 23.
Investigators believe Hutchinson raped and killed Houtchins shortly after he began studying fisheries wildlife biology at Montana State University in September 1996.
Following graduation, Hutchinson worked for the Montana Bureau of Land Management for 22 years, got married and fathered two adult children, and never ran afoul of the law — even for a traffic violation, the sheriff's office said.
"This case exemplifies our relentless pursuit of justice. We never gave up on finding the truth for Danni and her family, exhausting all means necessary to bring closure to this heartbreaking chapter," Springer said.
In the U.S., the national suicide and crisis lifeline is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org
